Plumbing the depths

The Golden Scramble for the World's Last Resources! The title of a book by a professor on peace and world security, this one paints a scary picture of our race digging the depths of the planet for resources, and profits. From deep oceans to the Arctic to jungles of Africa, the search is on for minerals and metals and energy.the extraction process just got tougher, as with fracking which involves high-pressure fracturing of the rocks, water laced with toxic chemicals, etc.


Nations which once were self-sufficient in coal or oil are now importing as there is a surge in demand given the higher standards of living. Not only coal, oil or minerals, the scramble is also for fertile land to grow food, even in foreign lands and get home the grains. There is no water often at home to grow the same. Even the moon has been short-listed for extraction.


Are we a doomed race? Is it the last Act in the survival drama? Or is this not so much about survival as it is about conspicuous consumption? Are short-term gains blinding us to imminent collapse? Is it possible to live without the comforts we have got used to? Is it possible to lock our cars and take to the bicycle? Most probably no, then how can we expect any halt to this frenetic scramble? Write in.