US President Donald Trump. | Markus Schreiber/AP Photo
Submitted by Matthew Ehret
If there is one thing you are not allowed to do while mingling with the technocrats in Switzerland during the annual Davos Economic Summit is criticism Malthusianism (the cynical belief that mankind must adapt to nature’s limits rather than make creative discoveries). If one truly wishes to be seen as a complete pariah when in the company of Davos oligarchs, simply add a defense of sovereign nation states, protective tariffs and human creative reason to your speech and you are sure to receive about as much hate as any statesman could ever expect in a lifetime.
President Trump obviously either didn’t get the list of “things not to say when in the presence of the world’s financial elite” or just didn’t care. My guess is the latter.
After speaking of the success of new trade deals with China, and the overthrow NAFTA with the new US-Mexico-Canada Deal which permits nation states to play a role in the economy after 25 years of outsourcing, Trump distanced himself from the neocons swarming his administration pushing for war with China (and everyone else) saying “our relationship with China has never been better” and that while Xi is “for China and I’m for the U.S., but other than that we love each other.”
Suddenly, around the 24 minute mark, President Trump shifted gears and took full aim at the Malthusian Agenda which has sat atop the technocratic priesthood running the Davos Forum since it’s founding in 1971. Here Trump raised eyebrows saying:
“This is not a time for pessimism. This is a time for optimism. Fear and doubt is not a good thought process, because this is a time for tremendous hope, and joy, and optimism and action. But to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom, and their predictions of the apocalypse. They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortunetellers, and I have them, and you have them, and we all have them, and they want to see us do badly, but we don’t let that happen.
“They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the 70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s. These alarmists always demand the same thing:absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives. We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty. America will always be the proud, strong, and unyielding bastion of freedom. In America, we understand what the pessimists refuse to see—that a growing and vibrant market economy, focused on the future, lifts the human spirit and excites creativity, strong enough to overcome any challenge, any challenge by far.”
Tackling the issue of creativity’s essential role in raising human population potential by the introduction of new technologies, new resources and new forms of inspiration Trump stated:
“The great scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century, from penicillin, to high-yield wheat, to modern transportation and breakthrough vaccines, have lifted living standards and saved billions of lives around the world, and we’re continuing to work on things that you’ll be hearing about in the near future, that even today, sitting here right now, you wouldn’t believe it’s possible that we have found the answers: you’ll be hearing about it.
But we have found answers to things that people said would not be possible—certainly not in a very short period of time. But the wonders of the last century will pale in comparison to what today’s young innovators will achieve, because they are doing things that nobody thought even feasible to begin! We continue to embrace technology, not to shun it. When people are free to innovate, millions will live longer, happier, healthier lives For three years now, America has shown the world that the path to a prosperous future begins with putting workers first: choosing growth, and freeing entrepreneurs to bring their dreams to life.”
The President then did something unheard of, by introducing the great discoveries of the Golden Renaissance which ALL Malthusians from Prince Philip to Paul Ehrlich, David Suzuki and Al Gore point to as the moment humanity “went wrong” and population growth began skyrocketing at rates never before seen. In the eyes of such Malthusians the dark age is a much more sustainable period of human society, as the masses stayed ignorant, diseased and depopulated while the royals and their entourage lounged gloriously in their castles.
Human population growth chart created by the Schiller Institute
While the oligarchy tries to use these measurements to “prove” that humanity is just another malignant cancer killing Gaia unless human population can be driven down to “sustainable levels” which most computer models agree vary between 500 million to 2 billion, actual human beings who still have access to their morality don’t quite see it that way. What Trump did next was firmly distinguish himself as a member of the human species by describing the Renaissance project which some have called “the Apollo Project of the 15th century”: the Duome of the Santa Maria del Fioro in Florence and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He did this to emphasize something fundamental about human nature which is rarely permitted in Davos Forums:
“For anyone who doubts what is possible in the future we need only look at the towering achievements of the past. Only a few hundred miles from here are some of the great cities of Europe—teeming centers of commerce and culture. Each of them is full of reminders of what human drive and imagination can achieve.
“Centuries ago, at the time of the Renaissance, skilled craftsmen and laborers looked upwards and built the structures that still touch the human heart. To this day some of the greatest structures in the world have been built hundreds of years ago. In Italy the citizens once started construction on what would be a 140-year project, the Duomo of Florence, incredible, incredible place. While the technology did not yet exist to complete their design, city fathers forged ahead anyway, certain that they would figure it out someday. These citizens of Florence did not except limits to their high aspirations, and so the great dome was finally built….”
Describing the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral that was lit afire last year, Trump ended his speech with the important insight that true creativity, morality and freedom which distinguishes humanity from other animals (a fact which Malthusians refuse to admit), is located in our connection to the future and the past which transcend our mortal lives:
“The great bells will once again ring out for all to hear giving glory to god and filling millions with wonder and awe. The cathedrals of Europe teach us to pursue big dreams, daring adventures and unbridled ambitions. They urge us to consider not only what we build today but what will endure long after we are gone. They testify to the power of ordinary people to realize extraordinary achievements when united by a grand and noble purpose.”
Years of pessimism may prevent many readers from allowing themselves to believe the truth of those statements enunciated by Trump, and many cynics may wish to ignore their validity simply because they come from Trump whom they are committed to hating… others perhaps may defend Trump yet their own cynicism and Malthusian sympathies may blind them to the validity of the points developed in this speech and the battle lines which have actually been drawn. Whether you like it or not, those battle lines dividing the two views of mankind as a cancer on the one side vs a creature of divine reason on the other do exist. It is up to each of us to decide which side we wish to represent.
Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review, BRI expert correspondent on Tactical Talk and has authored 3 volumes of ‘Untold History of Canada’ book series. His works appear regularly on The Duran, Strategic Culture, Sott, Fort Russ, Zero Hedge, L.A. Review of Books, LeSaker.fr, Vigile Quebec, and South Front. In 2019 Matthew co-founded the Montreal-based Rising Tide Foundation. He can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com
That’s a very big bet that has consequences for all of us. Id prefer a more stable approach. Develop the tech, or expansion room first before aiming for more growth and production. Population and income should be several magnitudes smaller than existing sustainable capacity, and quality of life to account for time. I reckon a nice thesis can be made of this principle. lol
but seeing the vacuously staring female in the left of the picture makes me worried about our future. and when I see the slime in the right of the picture in combination with the goldfish gaping centerpiece I doubt that it can be much of a future anymore.
Yeah, what took so long time, huh, wrestling in the swamp, why bother, everybody, incl an sheep herder in Mongolia is seeing the problem, and something must be done. I really hate dooms day whining queens, we have packs of this f….. everywhere in the MSM, day in day out, and now with children straing deeeep into the camera, yeah, the use the well worn propaganda tech, the sledge hammer, and beat it into our retina, and on top of it, it works, on humans whom is either in denile of whatever oposition there is, or simply refuses to learn, the god dammed facts, and I can think of an mile long list of things to solve before we scream fire and brimstones about cars, aka CO2 scare, equally bonkers, and they fight it thru reduction, not inventions, electic cars are ok, even now, but thats as side issue when the economic restrains sucks whats left of more or less shitty payed jobs, and you cant have an vibrant society based upon the numbers of “summer house owners”, whom have made houses way over priced, and an curse for the natives.
If this indeed is said by Trump, I can asume that, and if so, I have to amdit that this is indeed intresting and the timing impecable, Davos is an death rathling, the top of the scam chain knows the bedside is sooner or later been light, and their insane MMT, is crashing, the heroin injections must some day just end, and then what, hang the FeD, and burn down wall street, and do you think the world would just end the day after, you are wrong, for some weeks maybe, but they need us, we dont need them, and they know it, you dont really want to know that, but its never the less an fact, we have an class war and we are loosing, since what to come, is much bigger, an paradigme shift, not armaggedon, one thing that surprices me in this debates, incl about racism and whom is an racist, is why do the green denie the 3 world an jurney into an future, where they can jump much faster that whay we did, and the potential is staggering high, and long term, but the consequences are to an part of the future, where to go and what to protect, but the present AGW cult screamers dont debate that, but wants everything to be much worse, since we must preserv whats to day and lower the so called emitions, by witch manily focuses on the scam de la grande, CO2, and then that means status quo, yup, I see the potential for the dieametrical oposite, when Africans deside what they want, how they want it, and use their recourses as they want, then, and control, since the list of sins comitted is biblical in scale and scope, over fishing to stealing the welth of the recourses witch could improve the nations and they they could pay them self for keeping their nations healthy, its not rocket sicense, its just what makes much sense. Africa for the Africans and then we can do the same for our nations, whom in all, have created problems for everybody involved. This can change. And then when Africans have begun to climb, again the high light on potential, in every way, just think about Libya before the west turned it to grawell, this is not even debated, the only thing we are feed is missery and so on, years of socoal hard core porn, and nothing else, and instead of focusing, we are not even in it when it comes to actually do something witch incl western corps, ups, dead silent. Corps whom have death squads, to large paraMilitay armys, etc, controlling the, eh….. enviriomennt, right.
Then we have the Asians, like Africa, and a lot of it, from Iran all the way to China, witch is for now under an spraying of liquid manure in an staggering amount, and most of them, is written by people whom is questionable to be nice, and forgets incl Chinas history, incl Tibet, where the facts, are always whats been prodjected in the west, but again, its the future we debate, and I leave Tibet, to the Tibetians, but hopes the Chines gives Tibet their past back and cooperate for the future, since the present plans will also imply Tibet as an region in an way they would never have been able to be an part of, and respects eatch others, you are after all, neighbors.
And Africans dont need to fire the house with no where near my power consumption and I have 6 months of winter, and I mean cold, and the house turns into an catacomb, its bone freezing my ass off cold, and my head is often IN to the fireplace I have, thank god, yeah, 6 months. I have to again underline the message, witch I found amusing and enlightening, humanity needs people that can carrie an touch, and hats off and have an nice day, cheers. And yes, there is ONLY one way that is what defines, never ending, the only way forward where the recoursess are “limitless” is upward, into space. Instead we went lost, hung up in bayways and sideways, and could have been out there for an long time ago and we havent moved much at all. Pitty.
I dont fear the future, what bothers me is the present, the past can we deal with, but the future is very much desided of events in the present, and how to avoid the big cluster f…… And then we drown in nonsensical yelling. I read an coment over at ZH, in one article where the comentar mentioned the gold standard, and what was not to be done and thru what ever means if that was to happen it sould be regarded as treason, because it undermines the will of the people and the constitution. You are spot on. Hang em all. Freedom is never given, freedom is always taken, thats where we are right now, maybe the near future will give us the means and balls to punch back, and hope it was just the last, piff in the back, and off the heads go or the more populare, jump mofo.
peace
What a totally stupid and naieve article, somehow we are supposed to beleive that trump is a well reasoned and educated man? The man is a narcissist and sociopath for gods sake, how can someone turn a blind eye to the fact that his dangerous and egoistic behaviour pattern has led the world to the brink multiple times? For gods sake its amazing how someone can write drivel, there are resource limits to the planet duh because the planet is limited duh its not Malthusian its just regular common sense, eventually innovation wont be able to keep up with the ecological and planetary catastrophe that is currently in progress.
This is the most stupidly-written article I have read in a long time.
Malthus was correct in pointing out that there is a limit to the number of people the planet can comfortably sustain, though he was clearly remiss in failing to predict the discovery of oil and the consequent Green Revolution of the 1970s, both of which enabled humans to proliferate as never before – though only temporarily.
The invention of a succession of technologies has enabled humans to solve many short-term problems of survival. But as Malthus implied, the solution of one problem by technological means ?????????? generates novel, bigger problems. ??????????, ??? ?????? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ?? ?????????? ???? ???? ??????????. Our attempts to do so have only bogged us down even deeper in the quagmire we now find ourselves in. An unfounded belief in a brighter, technology-enabled future is the fundamental fallacy espoused by those who, like Trump and Matthew Ehret, the imbecilic author of this article, trumpet the gospel of ‘progress’.
Now, especially, the onset of runaway planetary heating and multiple convergent ecosystem crises and collapses is in the process of giving the lie to the delusional techno-optimists, who see no restrictions on what is possible despite the absence of evidence that their visions are possible and plenty of proof that they aren’t.
As if the implications of those conditions were not already bad enough, the world is in the throes of multiple political implosions and instability, incessant sabre-rattling by the most belligerent – and nuclear-armed – nation on the planet, and the fact that we are on the brink of an irrecoverable global financial collapse triggered by the existence of trillions of dollars of unrepayable debt.
Ehret writes:
“If there is one thing you are not allowed to do while mingling with the technocrats in Switzerland during the annual Davos Economic Summit is [criticise] Malthusianism (the cynical belief that mankind must adapt to nature’s limits rather than make creative discoveries).”
In other words, we are not supposed to recognize the actual limits imposed on us or the planet’s ecosystems by the non-negotiable laws of physics and chemistry which ultimately govern our existence, but we should be willing to take a leap of faith that we are about to cross the threshold into some sort of technological never-neverland in which there are no limits.
If this doesn’t both encapsulate the hubristic idiocy of the author of that sentence and the tragedy of our species as a whole, I don’t know what could.