Dear everyone,

I sometimes feel like a big industrial machine.   Maybe we all are industrial machines to one degree or another.   It makes sense, from an industrial perspective, that we are all treated as machines. Nothing is more valuable from an industrial Earth perspective.   You give a machine energy or food, and it churns out all that you want it to.   The machine also has a conveyor belt attached, so the assembly line can be sped up or slowed down depending on the needs of the industrial earth.   I expanded the Sharing ideas to include a concept called Earth Share. Earth share is the broadest sharing kind of concept imaginable.   It considers everything that is potentially shareable.   Earth Share was meant to combat overproduction, excessive competition, and over-manufacturing.   It was also meant to make life more convenient for people, as they won’t have to use multiple storage spaces for all their stuff.   Moreover, I’ve had ideas like library share, where I learned from a library in Maine that it is possible to ship out library books to people as a sharing concept.   However, I think Industrial Earth countered the idea with its own market-based capitalist approach: purchasing books and returning them for money.  (In a holistic context, this could be considered cycling or recycling) I’m not sure which idea is better, because you need to conduct an Impact assessment to get a clearer sense of reality.   I have used the industrial Earth procedure because I moved out of the territory for the Maine book-sharing approach, and I found that I never return the books I purchase, and they pile up in my bedroom.    

Before we can share ideas on earth, we need loving, sharing, caring, giving, forgiving, and genuine kindness as the conditions for striving. So, we can bring about comfort, joy, love, hope, unity, equity, faith, and sustainable, striving happiness.   Otherwise, the items that you share may get abused.  That is why we need an Earth ethic and holistic, sustainable conditions for striving.  Yesterday, I noted that someone was looking for someone with a pickup truck to help them move a bunch of stuff out of their house.   Wouldn’t it be great to have a car-sharing kind of concept?   Even better, wouldn’t it be great if someone helped the lady by moving her stuff?   Regardless of what you choose, it is best to have a holistic, earth ethic, earth vows, and holistic, sustainable, striving conditions.   Once we have these conditions, we’ll feel more comfortable sharing our homes and our houses, especially.    In the 1980s, I had an idea to share sporting equipment (cycling) or to offer a place to buy used sporting goods that people no longer wanted or needed.   This idea is similar to thrift books and Amazon books.  Regardless of which idea you prefer, the goal is to minimize the amount of stuff people unnecessarily accumulate and reduce manufacturing output. 

 On the broad scale of things, the less people spend allocating energy towards assembly lines and industrial earth practices, the more time for loving, caring, sharing, giving, forgiving, genuine, kindness striving so we can bring around conditions of comfort, joy, love, hope, faith and sustainable, striving happiness.   Thus, we will have more time for living, learning, loving, exploring, discovering, and experiencing all life has to offer on this miraculous planet.   Moreover, the less industrial earth practices the more time we have for one another, so we can collaborate more, contribute more, innovate more, And share more of the experience of living.   

I’ve been reflecting deeply on our societal paradigms and the pervasive sense that, in many ways, modern life reduces us to cogs in a vast industrial mechanism. This perception stems from an “industrial Earth” mindset, where efficiency and output are paramount, often at the cost of human flourishing. We are valued for what we produce, our energy channeled into generating goods and services, much like a machine on an assembly line. This framework, while historically potent, often overlooks our intrinsic human needs and aspirations for deeper connection and purpose.

It’s within this context that I’ve been refining a concept I call “Earth Share.” This isn’t merely about lending a book or borrowing a tool; it’s an expansive vision for a fundamentally shared existence, encompassing every conceivable resource and human capacity. Earth Share aims to directly counter the relentless cycle of over-manufacturing and consumption that characterizes our current economic model. Imagine a world where the primary impulse is to share, reducing the demand for new production, minimizing waste, and liberating us from the burden of excessive personal accumulation. This shift promises not only unparalleled convenience but also a significant reduction in the physical and mental space dedicated to storing countless possessions.

Consider the practical implications of such a system. I recall an inspiring library in Maine that facilitates the shipment of books to patrons, a brilliant micro-example of resource sharing. Yet, the dominant “industrial Earth” response often defaults to market-based solutions, where books are purchased and resold, perpetuating a transactional model rather than fostering a truly shared commons. My own experience, with purchased books accumulating unread in my home, underscores this challenge. Similarly, the recent observation of someone seeking assistance with a truck for moving highlights the untapped potential for communal vehicle sharing or simply, neighborly aid, transcending purely economic exchanges. Even a decades-old idea I had in the 1980s – a communal hub for sporting goods – points to this innate human desire to share and conserve.

However, for Earth Share to truly thrive and not lead to the misuse or depreciation of shared resources, a profound shift in our collective ethos is essential. We cannot merely implement sharing mechanisms; we must first cultivate a foundational environment built upon genuine kindness, empathy, generosity, and mutual respect. These are the “conditions of comfort, joy, love, hope, unity, equity, faith, and sustainable happiness” that must precede widespread sharing. Without such an ethical bedrock, the risk of abuse and neglect of shared items remains high. This necessitates the development of a comprehensive “Earth Ethic” – a holistic and sustainable framework guiding our interactions with each other and the planet.

Ultimately, embracing the principles of Earth Share, underpinned by this robust ethical framework, offers a transformative pathway. By minimizing the relentless drive for manufacturing and accumulation, we reclaim invaluable time and energy. This liberation allows us to dedicate ourselves more fully to living, learning, loving, exploring, discovering, and experiencing the breathtaking richness of our miraculous planet. It frees us to collaborate more meaningfully, contribute more innovatively, and share more deeply in the collective human experience, fostering a truly interconnected and flourishing society.

Warmly,

Richard Thomas Simmons