You don’t think about when to take a breath or beat your heart. These automatic actions are instinctive and a necessity of life. Less instinctive but no less essential are eating and drinking. Yet, where hearts and lungs work as regularly as clockwork, eating and drinking are completely satisfied by our own volition.

A set of 3s give the minimums for life. Three minutes without air, three days without water or 3 weeks without food and most people will die. At the opposite end, too much can be just as deadly. Too much oxygen, water or food can kill us. Interestingly enough, though we crave air when nearing the minimum, we don’t crave less air when we are at the maximum. The same is true for water and food. Our instincts guide us to stay above a minimum level, there is no corollary for too much.

We have another instinct to better our lives. Seeking improvement, we work harder, use more and obtain lots. A minimum of these is like an unfortunate accident victim who’s gone brain dead lying in the hospital. Again though, there is no maximum. Most people continually try to improve their life without limit.

With this true, then globally, we have an increasing number of people who want to improve their lives by working harder, using more and obtaining even more. Yet, we’re living on a finite Earth. Obviously an infinite number of people can’t continually maximize their existence, There’s not enough energy nor other base resources.

Hence, any plan for the future must give our instinct a focus. This can’t be simply seeking improvement as there is no general consensus on what represents a state of improvement. Our natural instinct needs to be aligned into a global effort. Thus, when we seek improvement by working harder, using more and obtaining lots, we are doing so with a direction with which all concur.

The logical conclusion is that a goal or direction is an essential element for planning for the future. With it, we can use our instinctive nature to excel and in result achieve something. Is there a goal that is sufficient for such an accomplished species? That is our challenge.

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Going off-grid seems semi-romantic, with visions of living off the land. There, someone can take what’s necessary and share the remainder with the wildlife. This may be true if you were living in isolation but, once a group of people get together, it’s another story. David Montgomery in his book “Dirt – The Erosion of Civilizations” shows that humanity’s natural competitiveness and largess is turning the vibrant land into a shallow existence of itself, where no wildlife is to be seen.

The word dirt is almost purely derogatory in literature. Perhaps it’s from the exhortations of a mother trying to keep a house clean after a horde of little feet tread across the floor. But, it’s dirt that’s essential for turning seeds into trees, into bushes, and, most important to us, into food stuff. Good dirt, also known as soil, will enrich a farmer and power a city. Without this basis, people and communities fail. Dirt, may not be illustrious in literature, but it’s essential for our existence.

Montgomery, in his book, doesn’t mince words about our treatment of dirt. He demonstrates that we’ve abused this essential commodity. The result, as he shows through historical examples, is that we’ve ruined small areas of planet Earth. Thousands of years or longer will be necessary before recovery, if at all. For example, the vibrant forest ecosystem of Iceland exists no longer. Without the protective trees, the soil got blown away. Without soil, nothing will grow. Hence today’s images of Iceland paint a landscape more in keeping with the Moon. This process, as Montgomery describes, is what drives us to our own destruction. Effectively, we replace a proven ecosystem with one suited only for the needs of humans. Usually this means to remove all the indigenous plant life and sow wheat or other crops. However, the wheat plant can’t protect the soil and, within a few years, air blows or rain washes the soil away. The farmer thus moves on to another self-reliant patch of land and repeats their destructive action. Thus, as Montgomery shows, in a brief couple of thousand years, we’ve removed the soil from much of the land on Earth. As well, we are well on our way to doing the same for the remainder!

Montgomery supports his observation with many detailed and quantified examples from history; from the ancient Greeks up to today. Aside from detailed descriptions of dirt, its purpose in growing plants and its structure, Montgomery expands. There are success stories. One is of population control that ensures enough food without needing new land. Another is of improved farming practises. Countering this, is a world going mad on monocultures that eulogize fertilizer and genetically modified seeds. Overreaching all of this is humanity’s apparent inability to plan, to consider the future. As Montgomery says, the lure of short term profit is too strong for most people to consider the necessities of later years or later generations.

Though the topic may be terribly, unglamorous, Montgomery does it justice. People who want to learn of another crucial link in humanity’s survival will be rewarded to read this. As well, farmers, biologists, and economists would all find something of value from this book that reminds us that we are so dependent upon a healthy environment. Most important of all, it shows that the future of civilization needs extensive planning and good stewardship for its very survival.

Cities began with the tilling of soil. Civilization began with cities. David R. Montgomery in his book “Dirt – The Erosion of Civilizations” makes it very clear that the continued existence of civilization depends upon a healthy soil. It shows that dirt may be a nuisance in a household, but it is a necessity for our way of life.

1. Dirt

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The Levant. A glamorous part of the world, rich in history, rife in strife. People have built communities here pretty well since towns were built. Such a past should mean quite a future. But is this likely?

Let’s look at the state of Israel. This small region bounds roughly 21 000 sq kilometres. Living and working within this are about 6.6 million people. This amounts to a population density of somewhere about 300 people per square kilometre. Just think, every square kilometre of land must grow enough food and provide enough water for 300 people.

The land within the state of Israel is quite a mix just like every area on Earth. The three major divisions are crop land and crop land/natural mix (36%), shrub land and savannah (33%) and, sparse and barren (26%). Given the population density, it is quite reasonable to expect that every scrap of land available for crop production is being used for this. Thus around 7560 square kilometres or 756 000 hectares provides for crops.

Let’s do an energy balance.

Assume all the crop land is for wheat. Wheat annually provides about 2.46 tons per hectare. Wheat provides 1.2e7 joules per metric ton of energy (not all digestible). This amounts to 2.2e13 joules of energy annually.

The 6.6 million people need on average 3.8e9 joules per year. In total, the population within Israel need 2.58e16 joules of energy annually.

This shows the huge energy shortfall. The land in this region can’t even provide 1% of the energy needs of the people. It is not surprising that 94% of food cereals have to be imported [1]. Israel obviously is hugely dependent upon food surpluses grown by other countries and then transported to them. If this didn’t happen, their people couldn’t survive.

Israel will have difficulties in the future. But consider the Gaza strip. This region is roughly 360 square kilometres. Nearly 1.4 million people call it home. This makes an incredible population density of almost 4000 people per square kilometre. Is there any wonder why strife is rampant here.

1. Israel’s crop production

Gaza

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Health and prosperity; buzz words for romance novels, vitamin supplements and political pundits. A main dream and desire sees us living long lives without ill. And, we’re succeeding.

In 2004 a citizen of the USA had a life expectancy of 77.9 years. Each person! In 1930, their life expectancy was 59.7 years(1). But times weren’t always this way. The life expectancy for the United Kingdom in the year 1800 was a paltry 36 years. Preceding that, life had even more unsolved problems and life expectancies were less.

One immediate result of our better knowledge is that populations blossom. The effect is seen globally today.

There’s other effects, some equally germane to civilization and the future. First, consider undertaking risks. A thirty year old in the 1800s knew they were near the end of their life. Yet, very likely they’d be physically strong. Hence, gambling their life on a quest via simple sailing ship, across untold oceanic hazards to land in a far away country with hostile locals and questionable rewards was reasonable. A large proportion of the resident population of Europe did just that. Their reason was that a short remaining life meant there was all to gain and little to risk on such a venture.

Ahh, seatbelts, safety helmets, crash test dummies; where has gone our sense of adventure?

Perhaps we’re thinking more about our future as we expect to live longer. A child on a bicycle may dread wearing a helmet but they have up to 70 more years of life. A cracked skull wouldn’t make this a pleasurable time. This brings us to the other effect of increased life expectancies. People are indeed beginning to broaden their thoughts into the future. Mortgages, especially in Europe, can be based on lifetimes. Some even extend to the home owner’s progeny. Yet, for the most part, governments have to force the constituents to lay away for ‘retirement’. This being the time of their lives when they can no longer work but still their bodies function.

Retirement indeed. When a person gets to live capriciously as their needs are accommodated. But look at the difference between people at the end of life today and those of the 1800s. Now, old people rely upon powered assistance to travel, fly, get up stairs and even breath. Then, ‘old’ people were at the peak of their physical efficiency and could run, race horses and sail ships.

So today, the people with the power and the money are the aged. They’ve survived by being careful and somewhat lucky. They want to keep living so they invest in products and research that tries to keep their living conditions they same as they were at twenty. They’ve run our of dreams and plans. Living for another day is their goal. As a group, they are steering our civilization. Toward what? Another day. Ahh, where’s our sense of adventure, a plan for our civilization, steps to a destination for others to achieve?.

(1) Life Expectancy

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