How Will Life Change if Basic Human Needs Are Met?

Jeff & Susan • January 31, 2022

A glass globe is sitting on top of a mossy rock.

Presently, most economies operate under a “not enough for all, you or me” survival theory. This has been going on for so long that it has become accepted as normal and inevitable. Our brains have been blocked by misleading information that keeps this illusion going. The reality is that all nations together have enough resources and technology to provide basic human needs as a birth right, worldwide.

Earth is alive because it is constantly receiving energy from the sun. Plants convert that energy into their food, insects and animals eat the plants, and we digest the stored sun energy for our own survival. Energy is not being destroyed, it is constantly being changed and reused. It is not “running down.” We are not running out of the essentials for life to survive on Earth, and humans will continue to survive here too, if we are wise.

The question is, can providing human needs as a right, renew our Earth, and our possibility of survival?

Yes, by breaking the cycles of poverty, war, racism, sexism, ignorance, student debt, unemployment, climate change, inefficient use of natural resources, inequality, and social unrest, which are destroying community and nature. How?

Meet basic human needs

When people are assured of survival needs, food, shelter, healthcare, education, from birth to the end of their lives, huge shifts occur in the way we interact with each other and with Nature. Most of the changes are obvious like, ending child starvation, (there is enough food for everyone, it is the distribution of food that is not efficient) increased preventative care, end of poverty, end of decisions based on ignorance and suspicion, empowerment of women, moderation of climate change through more efficient and less damaging use and practices and the end of wars worldwide. Also, more subtle changes like attitudes toward human differences and nature.

Why would these shifts occur?

Presently, most of our time and effort is dedicated to earning money to afford our survival needs and the special wants that we are convinced we must have. Most people work long hours at low wage, just for their survival needs. In the US, where I am writing from, we work some of the longest hours and most days without paid vacations or vacations of any kind or sick leave with pay or without, in the world. As a result, a highly unequal society has evolved, we have a few absurdly wealthy people, and the rest of the population are slaves to an economic system that banks control to the advantage of the rich.

Things can change

Many believe this cannot change, it has always been that way, people are greedy, born sinful, survival of the “fittest”. Let’s think for a moment that these are not our natural dominant tendencies. Isn’t it worth a try to believe that we can improve our social contracts and give humanity and nature a chance? Belief has played such a huge part in human development (religions, for example) maybe the time has come for belief in the positive potential of humanity.

“We don’t seem to be able to do peacefully the logical things we say we ought to be doing – by producing enough to satisfy all world needs. Under pressure we always find that we can afford to wage wars…” Buckminster Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.

Wars make money for rich people, companies, politicians, and governments. Another destructive result of for-profit economies. Economies of the world are dependent on unequal consumption and distribution of wealth. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, there is disruption, forced migration, broken lives, starvation and premature death. Not to mention the massive damage to nature that wars inflict, with bombs, defoliants and demands on local resources to feed armies.

Freedom of time

Enough excellent technology exists for every person to work fewer hours and have a better quality of life. This would relieve the stresses that bring on wars and conflict. So far the freedom of time that advanced technology has brought has mostly been enjoyed by a small percentage of world population. Freedom of time is more valuable than money. And the wealthy have bought it by using human labor worldwide to amass vast wealth. But this does not mean it is time for revolution and the guillotine. We are smarter than that. Economics is the key. There must be a shift in the functioning of world economics.

We have already learned from the demands of the pandemic that the internet makes it possible for work and work hours to change for some people. Even an acronym has surfaced, YOLO, “you only live once”. People see that they want to commit more of their time to what they enjoy and what is important to them, not just making money. They are organizing their lives and work to make this possible in varied creative ways. Work and wealth are being redefined. Our lives are becoming less about what we do to make money so that we can survive and more about how we can innovate individually, positively. Our wealth is not in our wallets, possessions, and banks. Our wealth is our living time and what we choose to do with it.

Final thoughts

We all own the sunlight, the air and water. We are made possible because of these elements. Each of us is a unique product of Earth chemistry and we must accept higher standards of living for ourselves and others as a right. The first step is to entertain a new idea. Each human creativity is a potential gift to the survival of Humanity on this Planet.

“I have learned about public reaction to the unfamiliar and also about the ease and speed with which the transformed reality becomes so “natural” as to mis-seemingly to have been always obvious.” Buckminster Fuller

We are the dominant species on Earth at this time. Our impact is so transformative that a new geologic era has been proposed for our presence, the Anthropocene, the time of humans. With this dominance comes great responsibility. We know the damage that we can do and have already done. We also know we are capable of innovative change for good. One change must be redesigning the way economics is practiced.

Renew the Earth has been developing a concept that we hope will help begin to turn economic practices toward a more positive path. Energy Currency, used for food, shelter, education, healthcare and infrastructure. Run parallel to existing currencies, circulating then destroyed at the bank so there is no possibility of inflation and speculation. And it cannot be taxed. Think about it.

Chapter 11: Japan Part 3

September 15, 2025

Japan Log, Part 3 General impressions, Japan and Jeju South Korea

Japan, special Nagasaki log

September 9, 2025

I went to the Nagasaki Museum of Art. There was a special exhibit there called War in the Eyes of Artists; from Goya to several Nagasaki artists. Though I had deliberately avoided visiting the epicenters of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for reasons I have already expressed, seeing this exhibit at the museum was just as intense. For this log I am going to highlight a display I found most moving. I am including the youtube address where it can be seen and heard. Place address here The display starts with a poem and an illustration. Both commemorate the bombing of Nagasaki. After viewing the illustration and reading the poem you enter a small theater to sit down and watch an animation of the illustration set to music. All the children, adults, animals and Shinto like creatures that are in the illustration (in a huge tree) come to life and move to the rhythm of the music. A male voice sings overall, lyrics that may have to do with the poem, written by singer/songwriter Masaharu Fujiyama and entitled, “Kusunoki; Blown by the 500-year Wind.” The illustration is the work of an artist named Junaida. The lyrics were inspired by the Kusunoki (camphor trees), which survived the atomic bomb.

Chapter 11: Japan Part 2

September 2, 2025

Shizuoka

Chapter 11: Japan Part 1

August 25, 2025

We dock at Hakodate, Japan on the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That stands as a singular horror among the many horrors humans commit on each other and Nature and continue to commit to this day. There is no apology possible and unfortunately nothing may have been learned. We still threaten each other with nuclear weapons. No treaty has stopped the building of nuclear bombs. I wonder how the Japanese people keep the memory of this tragedy so that living can continue with some normalcy. Maybe it can be equated to a typhoon or earthquake, like a natural disaster having no morality or intention. It has influenced their imaginations ever since though, revealed in movies like Godzilla and in their Manga. Threatening creatures, imagined power that cannot be controlled or resisted. People can be like a natural disaster to each other. People can also be wonderful. We saw this as we left the city. A small group of dancers appeared on the dock to say goodbye. The dancing they did was so charming and touching. It was a traditional dance, maybe 15 dancers. About 8 people played instruments to accompany them, flutes, drums and other unique percussion. Watching from the top deck of the ship the dancers appear like exotical dolls. Three warriors pantomime their strength, emphasized with elegant gestures of their fans and their golden, brightly tasselled headdresses that bow and flash in opposition. Then the little children emerge, five of them. Their elders position them precisely and they wait for the music to begin. Their tiny movements are sweetly in time as they step then extend their fans to tap the air with it lightly, creating a feeling of certainty and control. Moving to one side with a gliding motion they unfurl their fan, flourish and close it, then glide to the other side and do the same. The dance continues with variations of these movements and some new ones punctuate occasionally. So intent and serious, each tiny performer dressed in elaborate traditional clothing, a magical, miniature display. The dance becomes hypnotic as it continues to the simple rhythms of the drums and flutes repeating and repeating an ancient significance remembered by a few. After they finish, our ship pulls away with several blasts from the horn. The tiny dancers wave goodbye, with their hands crossing again and again in front of their faces, for so long it seems as if they might continue until we are out of sight. Finally we are too far away to hear the children cry out. This experience was fleeting and very moving. A dancing gesture of dignity and friendship. People are not their military, they are not their government. They have to participate in their society but they are first of all human. They want to create understanding beyond language and country.

Chapter 10: Alaska Part 2

August 12, 2025

Alaska feels like a different country; not like one of the United States. Maybe its vastness and extreme climate have created this unique presence. People who adapt themselves to living half the year in darkness and half in light, in a lot of cold and rain with magnificent beauty all around, this has an impact. The unique environment of Alaska transforms people. The Tlingit were one of the aboriginal Alaskan groups. They crossed the Bering Strait from Asia, approximately 9,000 years ago. There are also some theories about individuals island-hopping from Polynesia. Both scenarios may be true. Nonetheless, they formed a highly complex social, legal and political structure along with extraordinary creative arts and oral culture. Before European contact their population reached approximately 20,000. Status was based on birth and wealth, creating a hierarchical social structure. There was a noble class (determined through hereditary) followed by medicine men and women, warriors, traders, commoners and slaves. The Clan House was home to three resident classes; nobles, commoners and slaves. The construction of the Clan House was a sacred event involving rituals for the dead. The two ritual groups (moiety) were Raven or Eagle/Wolf, and they were expected to marry outside their group (exogamous). Tlingit followed a matrilineal clan system. Children inherited the clan side of the mother. All rights were through the mother; these include fishing, hunting and gathering places, the use of certain clan symbols, totem designs, house decoration and ceremonial clothing designs. The Clan had spiritual, psychological and medical protection from a medicine man or woman. They were also known to control weather, bring luck, predict the future, expose witches and speak to the dead. They did not cut their hair in order to keep their power strong. Their power would pass to a younger relative when they died.

Chapter 10: Alaska Part 1

August 4, 2025

Some context for this trip and log. The ship we are traveling on is the Villa Vie Odyssey. It is a small cruise ship with about 300 passengers and 300 crew. We have bought a cabin aboard. My plan is to document one circumnavigation. This will take about 3 and ½ years. So far this has been a record from when we boarded in Barbados, going through the Panama Canal, up the western coast of Mexico over to Hawaii then up the western coast of the United States to Alaska.The following is an account of Alaska. After this we will travel to Japan. Thank you for your interest. I was unprepared for the profound beauty of Alaska. The more you see, the more it astounds. How is it possible that people could hunt seals, foxes, wolves and beavers to extinction, log evergreen trees to bare brown ground - as if a massive electric shaver was used to mow the mountains- that grow back in patches and trails made for giants? Vastness is not endless. The harsh environment, remoteness and beauty did not protect them. Still, how was it possible? Only people caught in a frenzy of commerce could do this. The same frenzy that brought thousands of men with dreams of making fortunes in gold to remote outlands of Alaska. They became insane devourers. Luminous white water rushes from a cleft at the top of the mountain sliding in and out of evergreens to the river below, pinched along the way by grey rocks. This was the land of the Tlingit for at least 10,000 years. Theirs was a highly developed social structure equal to those found in Europe. Spanish contact in 1775 dropped their population by about 80 percent, with typhoid fever, scarlet fever, and measles. The Russian fur trade changed their lives even more. It began after Vitus Bering’s 1747 expedition and “discovery” of the Bering strait. Sea otter pelts were the incentive. Other fur was also sought but sea otter pelts were the most coveted. It is the warmest fur. It has the most hairs per square inch of any animal fur. An adaptation that allows it to live in the extreme environments of Alaska. Unfortunately for the otters its fur can be made into the warmest of coats. By 1799 the fur trade was thriving. It involved the forced labor of the indigenous people. Their local knowledge of the animals and their hunting expertise were essential. This industry brought significant change to the native communities, disease, dependence on trade goods and inter-tribal conflict. Russia traded furs to China and Europe. When competition for pelts and political factors involving Russia affected their ability to continue the trade, Russia sold Alaska to the United States. The US had been pressing westward and getting involved with trapping, fishing, mining, logging and homesteading. In 1867 the US bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. In 1788 the US entered the maritime fur trade; sea otter furs for Oriental goods. By 1801 the US controlled the fur trade at its height and Boston was at its center. When a major discovery of gold was made in 1896, Alaska became the gateway to the Klondike gold fields. Purple mountains are passing by my window as we glide to our next port. I can watch this ‘movie’ before I go to sleep. It stays light till around midnight and never becomes completely dark. The sun is up at 5:00. Locals describe the endless darkness of the winter months as depressing. “What do you do?” “Watch movies, watch TV.” Native people used the long dark Winters to create. The memories of summer beauty and important events, documented in beadwork, carved figures of animals from walrus bone, charms for hats and masks, hand made fur garments beautifully beaded with flowers, leaves and animals, scrimshaw pipes of bone, a crown for a baby beaded and decorated with carvings, two white pom poms hanging from thin leather strips on either side. The intensive summer hunting over, food dried and stored. Time for handwork, music, story telling and conversation. While the mountains and sky silently hover near in all their variety and beauty.