Fundamental Notions Of The Hive

The quality of our lives matters.

We don't have the political clout to change economic policy in our favor.  We have to adapt to economic conditions that will favor the rich for a long time.  If we can't become wealthy ourselves, we have to learn to think like the wealthy think, to anticipate their moves.

Debt is not a good thing to have.

Find a cheap, warm place to live.  Stay close to clean water.

Think of yourself as a producer. A maker of things.

Cooperate.  Contribute.  Serve.  Hold fast.  Don't fall through the cracks.

At it's limit freedom is the ability to reimagine and reprogram yourself in any way you choose.

The most important problem facing the world economy is how to divide work between people and machines. I'm not sure we're headed in the right direction.

And the most important problem facing the world in general is lack of education. I'm sure we're not headed in the right direction on that one.

The Right Way To Secure A Border

Whenever politicians and pundits talk about infrastructure projects that create jobs and put people back to work, they invariably trot out their favorite projects and hook them up to as many current issues as they can.  If they think green jobs are the wave of the future and global warming is a dire threat to the survival of the human race, they come up with something like a massive investment in renewable energy to put people back to work and slow down global warming. Things like that.

I have my own pet infrastructure projects  -- cleaning up Fresh Kills Landfill and other toxic dumps across America, for example.  That one might be incredibly labor intensive. 

Or how about something like the Tennessee Valley Authority along the Rio Grande and the Colorado rivers?

I don't know what it would take to clean up and dam up the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers along the U.S. - Mexico border to produce hydroelectric power, but I know you could put solar and wind farms, desalinization plants and hydroponic gardens along those rivers.  You could put factories with fences around them there. You could create Economic Development Zones -- joint ventures between the U.S. and Mexican governments, the border states and communities, and the private sector -- guaranteed to attract businessmen eager to create great fortunes by getting in early on government programs.  And the power plants and solar and wind farms, along with the desalination plants, factories and who knows what else entrepreneurs might crowd into the development zones, would create a massive barrier to illegal immigration, while providing thousands of jobs.