Chris Phoenix of the
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology has an interesting post on his
blog.
Basic Survival Package It's a list of basic life needs that he would like for everyone on the planet to have access to:
- Clean water
- Weatherproof and burglar-resistant housing
- Light at night
- The Web and voice communication
- Mosquito nets with long-lasting insecticide
- Optional birth control
- Clean cookstoves and/or solar cookers
- Vaccines
- Clothing: Depends on individual taste; already available in most areas
- Medical care: Can't be automated and manufactured (yet)
- Food: Grown, not manufactured; should be produced locally
- Education: Some comes with the Web; some requires major human resources
- Sanitation: Probably more about education, water, and habits than manufactured stuff
- Employment opportunities
- Healthy social structures
- Decent government (information can help keep governments accountable)
Since his blog is devoted to a discussion of nanotechnology and its benefits (and dangers), Chris discusses how developments in nanotechnology may facilitate the production and delivery of these needs:
As manufacturing gets less and less expensive (in large part, thanks to nanotechnology), it will be more and more possible for private individuals to make a world-class difference. According to The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist: Buckminster Fuller said in the 1970s that the planet now has the ability to provide for everyone, but it would take 50 years for us to fully act on it. In another ten years, a basic web appliance (with display, or maybe full voice interface) might cost $10 instead of $100. Likewise for a water filter. Adequate lighting might cost $3 instead of $30.
I'm not talking charity, nor communism, but simply preferring to live in a world where a small expenditure of money can give the world a billion fewer "poor people" and a billion more productive, participating citizens.
Chris promised to address more of these concerns and asked for additional ideas from his readers. There have already been interesting comments to this post.
I might add that, I've been increasingly dismayed over the way that conservative opinions have dominated futurist discussions over the last few years. Do some Google searches on: "Heritage Foundation" AND nanotechnology. That right-wing 'hive of scum and villainy' has sponsored a number of nanotech conferences and provided speakers for others. Chris Phoenix and other bloggers give me some hope that progressives can take back the dialogue on our future.
