I thought I'd post an idea, to suggest some things that we might consider, that would logically achieve goals both beneficial to ourselves - and those in need around the world. If we are smart, that mentality can reduce human misery, and also help us with some of the problems Western society has.
It can be win/win, with some foresight.
In North America, we throw away hundreds of millions of automobile and truck tires per year. Those wind up in our landfills, and in tire dumps all across North America. They lay there, doing nothing, and polluting our landscapes.
Now, what if we were to consider using them to create Earthship housing for those most in need of it ? How many homes could we provide for people, while solving one of our own problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship
Those same tires, and the containers they would be shipped in, could provide the basic essentials for building strong structures that were efficient and cheap. Using the labor of those who would live in them ( like the Habitat model) , with our supplied materials and expertise, would benefit all involved.
One could even use students, in the same way the Peace Corps proposed, to learn and then teach others to pass along this knowledge.
Those houses could be powered using other things we throw away - like electronic parts we now throw away in our junked cars. Various elements used in them could provide a goldmine of parts for 12 volt power systems.
We could provide hand cranked items, like radios or lights, quite easily.
We could even use elements of the computers we throw away to provide a workable, and free, means of communication between those houses. Even a simple Pentium 2, worthless here, could be turned into such a system, using Linux - for free, or almost free.
That could provide a method of educating people, as well.
We could provide these same structures with facilities that could use the human waste generated by them to assist in the production of methane gas to be used in heating and cooking.
That waste could additionally, after such use, be used to turn infertile land into croplands with composting.
We could also add solar facilities that could produce drinkable water without much cost, using the sun's rays to purify it, or even desalinate it. We could even use that waste water from the communities as part of that process - as we do in spacecraft.
We could build pipelines to take the ocean's water, direct it to arid areas, and then use the sun to desalinate it. I think that may be indeed possible, and cost almost nothing to do in comparison with other alternatives.
Desalinate the water, and then simply water the ground though a buried structure of hoses, that would trickle water into the ground slowly, while using solid human waste to add to it's nutrient base.
Things that could be done for limited cost, that would involve the creative use of things that we already have, and throw away ?
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
Robert Kennedy
I even would suggest the following name for it - " The Eden Project"
It works in Arab countries, as well as "Jannat'Adn .
When God created the Garden of Eden, He created in it that which the eye had never seen before, that which the ear had never heard of before, and that which had never been desired before by man's heart.
- Abu Mohammed Mu'afa al-Shaibani
What I like about it is that it teaches a man to fish, by giving him our old fishing poles and tackle that we no longer need, nor use - and one that is cluttering up our closet anyway.
All we ask is for his help to build a better future together for the both of us.
The things the Third World have in abundance are time, and labor. All they need is some knowledge and basic resources to complete the process. We certainly have the latter.
It fits a model we know works, of building from the base up. It places the effort in the hands of the people benefiting, and that will empower them, and isn't a charity that robs them of their dignity. Once built, those houses and things becomes symbols of their work, and they reap the benefits.
Our ideological enemies cannot compete with us here, and cannot bring this type of improvement to the lives of those who need it most. Only we can do that, and if we do we will win the battle for those hearts and minds without any question.
If I'm right, it can be done for a remarkably low cost. Most of it, the important parts, are things we now throw away. All we are looking at is the cost of collection and transportation to accomplish it - and that's minimal, compared to any other type of aide I can imagine.
It's also something that is remarkably altruistic and selfish at the same time. It's a Yin Yang solution to problems on both sides of the ledger accomplishing the goals of both.
It's something that accomplishes a moral good, and yet is completely subversive at the same time. Instead of hooking people on continuing charity, or using them as a means towards profit, it frees them totally from those chains and truly liberates them.
At the end of it they have a free house, and the basic needs to live through the fruits of their own efforts. That effort forms a sense of community, and that community's creation stands out like a bright light against the poverty and despair that surrounds it.
It also accomplishes a reduction in pollution, something we all gain in. That human waste that is now the source of pollution and disease is transformed into fuel (methane) , clean water, and then finally safely returned back into the soil to provide nutrients for the future crops the people grow.
Anyone wants it as an idea, it's yours for free.
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