A vision of a future for humankind

The best of humankind is love and technology. 

Let's put them both to work, together.

1. We need cheap and clean energy. Today, this means getting energy from the Sun (light, wind, etc) and nuclear processes that do not generate dangerous waste products. That energy can be used to produce hydrogen or other products which can be put to work on clean fuel cells, namely on vehicles. This technological leap should be led by political initiative, and funded not only by corporations but also by taxpayers/citizens. The technologies arising from this effort should be considered both as a humanity-hold conquest and as something with commercial value, when embodied in tradable goods.
   No one pays for the invention of the wheel, but we still buy wheels and pay for them. We could follow the example of Bill Clinton when he proclaimed, as president of the USA, that the genetic mapping of humans, though achieved by public and private institutions, was to be considered as "public", being impossible to register it as "private", though that knowledge could be used in commercial goods.
   The technologies of renewable energies and fuel cells should be designed so as to be easily understood by a wide range of professionals around the world, who could adapt it to local needs, ensuring  scientific and technological discoveries turn to be a source of global, sustainable development.

2. We need cheap and diversified food. Using biotechnologies to help people produce better crops, an average family (with abundant energy ...most food is edible energy ) should be able to get a proper diet out of a 10x10 meter agro-industrial field/plant. All the processes and technologies produced by the best brains available anywhere in the world, but put to open use and understanding to any medium-educated community / region / country.

3. We need communication. The internet available on every spot of the globe, free of censorship (I can go anywhere), free of bullions (intruders will be prosecuted) and almost free of cost.

4. We need alternatives. With cheap at-hand energy and food and information, all based on open high-tech, we can have a minimum of freedom and we can talk about market and democracy without sounding out of tune. Individuals or groups ( families, villages, regions, countries, associated states) can finally interact in a game where no-one is forced to play by the rules others have set. No game is fair if a player has no alternative. If someone is seeking a job, whereas he could easily survive without it, if a group is open to foreign trade, though it could do well without it, then we finally have a sound basis to play the games founded on equality: democracy, market, employer/employee, trade, capitalism, human rights.

NB. If you didn't find the above text full of references to 'love', and only read about 'technology', I'm afraid you missed the point. Don't worry, it should be clear, now.

Author Zpaulo Carraca

E-mail: zpaulo_carraca@yahoo.com

Language: English (which is not the author’s mother tongue; but English, even if poorly used, is a ‘de facto’ standard for communication in our global world)

First version 2005-02-13

This version 2005-02-18