So, what is so terribly wrong with the world as it is today? Good question. For the billions of people living in poverty or without food or water or in a war-torn country or one where they are being persecuted or are victims of the corrupt and powerful few, or for many of those who live in the Western world living paycheck to paycheck without any real hope of a future that is fair to them, the answer is easy. But for millions of others who live a life of plenty in their large comfortable homes with their nice cars, and their adult toys, and their fine dining, and relaxing vacations, life is pretty good actually.
So this is not a message for those in need who can see clearly why they will be much better off in Nutopia, it is a warning to those who don't or can't see what is coming to them because their lives are already rich with possessions, they live in beautiful neighborhoods, and they go to work in cities that are shining examples of what we have accomplished with our technology and our domination over nature by building anything we want out of anything we can find.
It's hard to look out from a bedroom window in the suburbs, or an office window in a high rise building in the city, and imagine how it's possible for all that amazing progress to come to an end. We know that brilliant minds are at work all around the world every day, coming up with the next scientific breakthroughs, or innovative ways to increase production, or designing and developing the next line of high-tech consumer gadgets, but all this will be such a terrible waste once the world starts its downward spiral once the ultimate tipping point is reached. What good is it to have advanced so much as a species only to find out that it was only for an infinitesimal moment in time in the Earth's long history because we failed to preserve the environment and the natural resources that we all depend on for our very existence?
All the progress we have made is incredible and we all marvel at what we have accomplished. We can certainly continue with our progress for thousands of years to come and who knows where we will eventually end up in the universe. But right now we are in danger of losing it all and what we have to focus on is "stabilization" not "advancement". When land masses are shrinking because of rising sea levels, and land is no longer able to support agriculture because of extreme weather, and when there are mass migrations of people trying to find water due to shrinking aquifers, then civil unrest, armed conflict, and fighting because of food and water shortages is inevitable. You won't be able to hide in the finished basement in your home, or your office on the 20th floor of a business tower in the city, or your lab in a secure science complex, because the barbarians will be at the gate, and they will want anything of yours they can get their hands on as civilization eventually collapses.
But it doesn't have to be like that. Nutopia is a model which allows us to switch to a sustainable way of living to avert this looming disaster and which paves the way for us to continue with our progress for thousands of more years to come. We have to act now though, the signs of what is to come are all around us so there is no time to waste.
