Usapang Bayan: Living Today in a "Use-and-Throwaway" Society in 6 Articles

Usapang Bayan 2-3 pm, Friday August 22, 2025

Living Today in a "Use-and-Throwaway" Society

Ms Melly C Tenorio, host, and Dr Abe V Rotor, guest

"We live in a disposable, 'cast-off and throw-away' society that has largely lost any real sense of permanence. Ours is a world of expiration dates, limited shelf life, and planned obsolescence. Nothing is absolute."

- Myles Munroe

Part 1 - There is no escape from our high tech world

Part 2 - Living with Technology's Obsolescence*

Part 3 - We are Living in a Plastic World!

Part 4 - Let's Learn Recycling from Nature.

Part 5 - 20 Ideas that are changing the way we live

Part 6 - "The Four Waves" that are Transforming Our Society

Review and Reference Articles

Dr Abe V Rotor

Part 1 - There is no escape from our high tech world

Virtually there is no escape from our high tech world.

Imagine life if there were no cell phones, cable TV, video games, malls, hospitals, e-mails, solar watches, MRT/LRT, ATM, and the like. And if we think about today's processes in making the many products we use everyday - from ballpoint pens to cars - imagine computers and robots at work in place of man.

Scenario: a quart clock awakens you. You switch on the light, tune in the TV or radio, take a bath, pick up the phone, cook breakfast, read the morning paper, dress up, take the elevator, drive the car, etc., etc., etc. All this is not surprising to those of us who live in urban centers.

Death lurks in the byproducts of "The Good Life"

But hear this. The milk you drink is genetically modified (human embryo hormone was injected into the cow to produce more milk); the corn flakes you eat comes from Bt corn (corn with a gene material of a bacterium - Bacillus thuringiensis); your potato and onion are irradiated for longer shelf life; your lettuce carries a trace of dioxin (the deadliest toxin ever synthesized), your tuna carries a residue of mercury; the microwave emits rays that are not good to health; the paint in your condominium contains lead; plastic deteriorates and you may not know you are suffering of the harmful effects; synthetic fabric is the cause of your allergy; there is nitrate (salitre) in corned beef and in tocino; MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) in noodles, aspartame in softdrinks, sulfite in sugar; Potassium Bromate in bread. And the list goes on, ad infinitum.

In an issue of Time magazine*, a new research links common chemicals and brain disorders in kids. This is how everyday toxins may affect our kids.

1. Manganese - Found in drinking water, is linked with lower math scores, hyperactivity, impaired motor skills and some drops in intellectual function.

2. Carbonates - Found in pesticides used to kill cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes, and lawn bugs, are linked to defects in brain development.

3. Tetrachloro-ethylene - Found in dry cleaning solvents, is linked to problems in brain development and a higher rate of psychiatric diagnoses.

4. Polybrominated biphenyl ethers - Found in furniture and toys as a flame retardant is linked with disorders in brain development among kids with higher in utero

exposure. (In utero is a Latin term literally meaning "in the womb". In biology, the phrase describes the state of an embryo or fetus.)

The deleterious by-products of today's science and technology exacerbate the problems of mankind. Paradoxically, science and technology have not successfully eradicated the ancient scourge of mankind - disease, poverty, and ignorance.

While man may have a grasp of history and his society, he has apparently lost control of his destiny.

Globalization also takes away our original identities as individual and as a people. It homogenizes diversity into a common pool, including our independence in belief, thinking and conviction - and the quaintness of alternative ways of living. Lower photo: Curitiba Botanic Garden

At this point we would like you to switch your thoughts and focus your attention on the following areas:

Environmental preservation/conservation
Saving the endangered species
Reducing wastage, recycling
Natural medicine, organically grown food
Pollution-free cars
Ecology tourism (eco-tourism)
Model cities like Curitiba, Brazil
Ban nuclear weapons
Free Willy movie, Fly Away Home, etc
Clean Air Act, stop CFC emission
Zoning, proper land use
Ban cloning, genetically modified organisms (GMO) and their products.

This is an open-ended list, and we ask you to continue it and share this lesson with your family and community in a lively and positive discussion.~

*Time, March 3, 2014

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid Dr Abe Rotor and Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

2. Living with Technology's Obsolescence*

2A - Keys and Locks - security turned oblivion

Framed obsolete locks and keys makes a fine museum piece.

On display at the Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

"Waste, waste, waste everywhere!"
once useful, handy in our home
likened to "Water, water, everywhere,
but not a drop to drink"* syndrome. - avr

*From Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Closeup of obsolete locks and keys at the museum.

Are your locks reliable, convenient and safe?
Seek help from your locksmith; restore unserviceable locks.
Choose sturdy and simple locks for long, if not lifetime, use.
Coded and computerized locks may lock up and become useless.
Protect locks and devices from the elements, specially rain, thieves and rascals.
Don't be a victim of promo locks with new designs, systems, other features.
Lock must be integrated with other safety devices of the establishment,
Stick to genuine brands. Be sure they are original.
Regularly check locks. Follow proper use and maintenance.
Locks must never be a hindrance in case of emergency. Set rules to enhance their usefulness and safety.

2B - Clean up your desk, clean up Nature - and save.

Spent ball pens and pencil stubs constitute a major waste in offices and schools.

Green pen - refillable with spare cartridge. These expensive ball pens need new cartridge after the original one has been spent. Substitute brands are cheaper. Ask your school and office suppliers.

Thousands of ball pens - millions actually, all over the globe, prematurely become useless. They die ahead of their time, so to speak, and we just don't give them decent burial. They are simply thrown away for nature to take over their demise. But they are non-biodegradable. They'll never decompose and become part of Nature's way of recycling them for the next generation.

Which lead us to a challenge. For our part as users the most practical way is to refill. Ball pens are generally refillable. Many are built to outlive their writing element, in like manner guns are built for long use. There are of course, use-and-throw-away types. Avoid these if you can. Otherwise you fall into the tender trap of planned obsolescence, a ploy of many manufacturers.

Expensive ball pens can be refilled for a lifetime. And there are substitute brands which are relatively cheaper than the original. One advantage to have a brand of your choice and use it regularly is that your penmanship remains the same. This is ergonomics which enhances natural feel in the use of the instrument. Your writing style becomes consistent. So with your signature. Look how beautiful your notes are.

Start a campaign in your school or community. Have a supplier of ball pen fillers. And have a refilling session. This is a practical campaign to save money and to save nature. This will send a strong message to unscrupulous manufacturers.

The art of gleaning extends far and wide, and now with pencils (and capless ballpens) thrown away before their time is up - why not give them another chance?

Simply wrap up, roll over each one a colorful, pliant paper from handouts and color magazines (just like the photos shown here), and there you have made a beautiful piece of art!

Pencil stubs once more fit for writing - oh, how precious they are to you their savior; they have defied the category of waste for the duration of their second life;

Like scabbards you sheath an unassuming dagger, saving someone from getting stabbed on the skin or in the eye, in a simple act of "prevention by protection" principle;

Why didn't the manufacturer think of that? To provide safety caps to pencils before they reach the market, to warn of danger to school kids, and grownups too?

There is meaning in small things, we do - a bit of economy, a little ingenuity, a simple expression of beauty, a little act of goodness - and a little prayer.~

Part 3 - We are Living in a Plastic World!

Microplastics are small plastic particles that come from the degradation of plastics, ubiquitous in nature and therefore affect both wildlife and humans. They have been detected in many marine species, but also in drinking water and in numerous foods, such as salt, honey and marine organisms.

Plastic rain is the new acid rain. Plastic dust is the new smog. Plastic continent is the new and eighth continent. Each year, Earth Day takes on a particular theme and the theme for 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics. According to the official Earth Day 2024 webpage, the organization is committed to helping to reduce global plastic production by 60% by 2040.

What is plastic?

How are plastics differentiated?

1. The first plastic was made by Alexander Parkes in 1862, after whom it was named: Parkesine. Actually it was an organic material derived from cellulose. Once heated, it could be molded, retaining its shape when cooled.

A world of plastics on wheels

Because of its high cost of production it was shelved until the later part of the 19th century when celluloid made a debut as replacement for ivory in making of billiard balls. To prevent the explosion of the highly volatile celluloid, camphor was added leading to the development of thermoplastics.

2. Soon, the first completely synthetic man-made plastic was formulated by a New York chemist, Leo Baekeland, hence the name Bakelite. This material does not burn, boil, melt, or dissolve under any commonly available acid or solvent. It also retains its shape. Bakelite could be added to almost any material, making the new substance more durable, light, heat-resistant and shatterproof. War machinery and automobile manufacturing made use of this new product to great advantage.

3. Other forms of plastics were then discovered. These include rayon (man-made silk), and cellophane (the first glass-clear, flexible and waterproof plastic). These materials have many uses today.

4. By 1920, the “plastic craze” spread out. Du Pont, one of the leaders of the industry developed nylon, replacing animal hair in toothbrushes. By 1940, the world saw the development of acrylic, polyethylene, and many more polymers, which replaced natural materials such as cotton, fiber, wood and steel.

5. DuPont later introduced Teflon, favored for lining cooking utensils for its acid and heat resistant while its non-stick properties make the utensils easy to clean.

6. Dow, another plastic manufacturer, on the other hand, came up with polyvinylidene chloride, better known as “Saran”, a perfect material for food packaging and storage.

7. Polyethylene, introduced in 1933, is currently the largest volume plastic in the world for making soda and milk bottles, grocery bags, and plastic food storage containers. This is the kind of plastic the goat ate and which made her sick. See Part 4 (below): The Case of the Goat that Ate Plastic.

8. There is virtually no end to the discovery of other forms of plastics. We have plastic putty developed by Velcro. This material is similar to rubber, but has a 25 percent higher rebound power. Its property of not being able to maintain a constant shape is compensated by its high flexibility, stretching many times its length without tearing. Initially, it was used in the manufacture of toys, but now many potential uses are seen.

A World Without Plastics?

Today’s world is incomprehensible without plastics. Plastics contribute to our health, safety and peace of mind. They are part of our dwellings, cars, toys, appliances, even body parts such as heart valves and prosthetics. There are countless uses in all aspects of our lives.

On the other hand, the biggest dilemma with plastics is its proper disposal. It has become a major waste handling challenge all over the world. While we see its virtually endless uses, we are also witness to its accumulation exacerbated by its inability to biodegrade. As a result, its rate of accumulation is alarmingly enhanced, creating an issue of concern to environmentalists, and citizens of the world.

Plastic Garbage

Plastic Flotilla

In a field trip along the coast of Morong, Bataan, in the Philippines, my students from the UST College of Pharmacy were surprised to see plastic material strewn by waves along the shore. A cursory examination revealed the following materials:

1. Plastic sack which has replaced the jute or gummy sack

2. Nylon rope and filament, which have replaced Manila hemp and cotton threads. Filament is used for fish net.

3. Plastic simulated leather used in shoes, canvas and bags. There are other kinds of artificial leather.

4. Styropore for packing and containers, replacing banana leaves, straw and paper.

5. Foam mattresses, slippers and furniture. Natural sponge is now a rare commodity. Foam has replaced coconut coir and kapok.

6. Plastic bottles, jars and containers. Glass is still the best material when it comes to food storage.

7. Plastic sachets, bags and wrappers have largely taken over the use of paper and cardboard.

These plastic materials are familiar to us. We see them at home and on store shelves. They are evidences of our modern, throw-away culture.

Trapped Fish Fry in Plastic

While gathering the garbage to help clean up the shore, my students found trapped fish fry in plastic bags. Wanting to find out how this happened, we looked for clues.

Trapped fish

The plastic bags, flushed down the river, or thrown by unscrupulous residents and promenades became homes for young, marine species. Since these materials are not edible seaweeds or seagrass, they become entrapments to the fry, causing their death through starvation and asphyxiation.

We have seen plastic materials stuck at the bottom of reefs preventing juvenile seaweeds from developing. Plastics also trap the polyps of corals, and microsopic zooplankton eliminating a major food source for marine life.

That evening, along the shores of Morong, we asked ourselves what each can do to rid the shores of plastics. While we reflected in silence, the tranquil waves washed ashore a plastic bottle.

Here are some things we can do with plastics.

1. Re-use plastic bags and bottles at home. Remember that plastics are durable. Be sure to clean them properly before using.

Biodegradable and compostable plastics

2. Gather plastic bottles and unserviceable plastic wares for recycling. Arrange with cart pushers, or your nearest junk shop for their regular collection. Do not attempt to re-melt plastics. The process is not as simple as you think. Don’t burn to dispose them, either. Burning plastics emits smoke and fumes deleterious to health. Dioxin is the most poisonous man-made chemical. Dioxins are called persistent organic pollutants (POPs), meaning they take a long time to break down once they are in the environment. Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones.

3. Do not use plastic if you can help it. Use paper or glass containers. This is also advantageous to your health. Do not use plastic containers for soft drinks, vinegar, salt, patis, toyo. Strong solvents tend to chemically alter in the presence of plastics. Studies show that some plastics that are carcinogenic.

4. Keep plastic materials away from your bedroom. As plastics age, they emit gaseous substances which may cause allergy, asthma and other ailments when inhaled.

5. Patronize products that use non-plastic containers, wrappers, bags and utensils.

6. Be part of a community environmental project. Attend seminars and workshops that talk about the environment. Read about ecology; learn to be a leader in this area; know about re-cycling, values formation, and the like. Be an ecologist yourself.

Part 4 - Let's Learn Recycling from Nature.

“Learn recycling from Nature – the passing of seasons that govern the cycle of life.”- AVRotor

“Everything on earth and in the universe undergoes a cycle, a beginning

and an end, and in between a period of growth, stability and senescence.

Yet no cycle could succeed unless it is part of an interrelationship with

and among other cycles in the biological and physical world, each lending

a vital role aimed at a holistic and perpetual oneness apparently designed

by an unknown hand.” - AVR

Dr Abe V Rotor

Conference Resource Person

2008 National Environmental Conference, SPU-QC

When asked what is the best way to keep “balance of nature”, an old man living by a small mountain lake atop Mt Pulog answered, “Leave Nature alone.”

I expected a different answer because the book says man is the “guardian” of living things, and of all creation for that matter.

But how could it be when the earth is five billion years old and man’s arrival is not earlier than two million years ago?

The difference in viewpoint is further aggravated by direct conflict between man and nature throughout the ages. And our Darwinian view that survival is an ultimate struggle.

Then this relationship took a different turn. Now the enemy of nature is man.

“The ultimate test of any civilization

is not in its inventions and deeds;
but the endurance of Mother Nature
in keeping up with man’s endless needs.”
- avr

But such thought is folly. We are still governed by the laws of nature. Our advantage is not necessarily the advantage of nature, and vice versa. Man’s periodicity of time and space is so brief; it is not even a wink of nature.

Now allow me to take up the subject assigned to me – does recycling enhance sustainability? On the point of nature yes. Let’s look into these phenomena.

1. Lightning is Nature’s quickest and most efficient converter and recycler, instant manufacturer of nitrates, phosphates, sulfates; it burns anything on its path, recharges ions. Lightning sustains the needs of the biosphere, it is key to biodiversity.

2. Fire is the Nature’s second tool. While fire is indeed destructive, in the long run, fields, grasslands and forests are given new life by it. Fire is a test of survival of the fittest. It re-arranges organisms and assigns them in their respective places. It gives chance to younger members, such as trees in a forest, to take over the older ones, rejuvenating the whole forest itself. It is the key to the continuity of life.

3. Volcanoes erupt to recycle the elements from the bowels of the earth to replenish the spent landscape, so with submarine volcanoes that keep the balance of the marine ecosystems, including those at the deep ocean floor.

The Tale of the Potted Tree

A scientist planted in a pot a tree seedling 1/2 kg in weight, 1/2 meter tall. He placed 20 kg of soil, and watered the plant regularly. After one year the sapling weighed 5 kg and reached 2 m in height. The weight of the soil is still the same – 20 kilos more or less.

But where did the incremental biomass (4 1/2 kg) come from? Gain in biomass is stored energy (of the Sun) + stored matter (water from the soil, and Carbon Dioxide from the air.) This is the Principle of Photosynthesis, which is the foundation of a complex system of energy flow in the biosphere – a system than encompasses interrelationships between and among organisms through a food web.

Perpetual Rhythm of Recycling on the grassland, field and forest.
This helps explain Homeostasis or dynamic balance in any ecosystem such as the Tropical Rain Forest

What are the practical applications of this phenomenon?

When we eat rice, we get that energy and release it in the form of work
When we burn firewood we release that energy in the form of heat and light.
When we step of the gas we release a bit of the sun stored millions of years ago.
A compost pile shrinks and releases heat and gas.
Wildfire clears forests, smoothers pasture; carcasses become part of soil; farm wastes become organic fertilizer.

The Laws of Nature always prevail

• Seasons, weather and climate

• Life cycle and alternation of generations

• Food chain, food web, food pyramid

• Continental drift, volcanism, ice age

• Naturally occurring Cycles –

- Carbon

- Nitrogen

- Phosphorous

- Calcium

- Water

- Other elements and compounds.

Be keen with the Continuity and Perpetual Rhythm in Nature

• Rhizobium bacteria restore N balance in soil.

• A forest or pasture grows back after fire.

• A volcano erupts, lava settles into fertile soil.

• Termites break cellulose into simpler compounds.

• Regeneration follows a typhoon or flood.

• Tides and currents keep the sea in a state of balance.

The key is Homeostasis or Dynamic Balance is the ability of Mother Earth to adjust with changing conditions through time.

Living to Non-living, and Back

Organisms are born; they grow, reproduce, then die. Inorganic matter is transformed into organic matter, and back. Elements form compounds in the non-living world (nitrates, phosphates, sulfates, etc.), to organic compounds (amino acids to proteins; fatty acids to fats and oils, etc) in the body of living organisms.

Recycling in home and community gardening includes composting, raising of animals and fish, integrated with beautification, health and nutrition.

Recycling leads to the development of many products. Fruits in season that otherwise go to waste are made into table wine. Typhoon or drought affected sugarcane make excellent natural vinegar and molasses.

Recycling with the Beast of Burden. The Carabao is the most efficient feed converter, a living garbage processor. Its digestive system can extract sufficient nutrients from roughage even during long dry spell.

Recycling through range poultry. Crossbred with our native chicken, these chicken thrive on palay and corn, forage, leftovers, ground shell, etc. They are more economical to produce, tastier and free of antibiotic residues, and growth hormones.

Recycling with Goats. Anything that grows in the field is food of goats, from weeds to crop residues. Goats are excellent gleaners, leaving no waste on the farm after harvest.

Recycling helps in controlling destructive organisms such as the mosquito, which is food of fish, spider and bat.

Recycling in home and community gardening includes composting, raising of animals and fish, integrated with beautification, health and nutrition.

Recycling wastes from wet markets Vegetable trimmings, and waste from fish and animals require efficient collection, segregation and processing into biogas and organic fertilizer.

Recycling is building farm ponds at the basin of fields to store rain water and runoff water for summer use. It is also useful in duck raising and fish culture.

Recycling means maximized impounding of rain water and runoff water through efficient watershed management to insure all year round supply of clean water of lakes and ponds for domestic and farm use.

Recycling is building a multipurpose Small Water Impounding Project (SWIP) for recreation, irrigation, fishery, and power generation.

Don’t waste Nature’s Gifts - tap them instead. Examples: Lantana, natural pesticide; oregano, natural medicine; chichirica, cancer drug; pandan, spice-condiment; and eucalyptus, liniment and cold drops; bunga de China, toothpaste

The Principle of Recycling

Recycling in nature through the action of microorganisms: bacteria, algae, protists (amoeba, diatoms), blue green algae

Recycling of fibrous materials with fungi. Other than roughage and fuel, rice hay is used as substrate for mushroom growing. The spent materials decompose easily into organic fertilizer.

Nature’s nutrient converters are simple life forms such as lichens, algae, mosses and ferns silently working on inert materials, converting them into nutrients for higher organisms.

We put back to Nature what we do not use. So that it will be used in the second generation, in the next season, in another process, and by other users. Recycling is a continuing process; like a circle (continuum). Recycling helps homeostasis, increases production, enhances sustainable productivity.

Recycling is attained through different methods:

• Biological – Trichoderma, a fungus, in composting

• Enzymatic – Wild sunflower in compost, urea in hay

• Mechanical – Shedding, decortication

• Fermentation – Silage, retting, biogas digester

• Burning – Rice hull ash

• Any combination of two or more of these methods

So what are the elements that are recycled? Let’s take as example the naturally occurring elements in the human body, as a reference.

Farmers should recycle rice hay back to the soil, and must not burn it. This is the reason. These are major nutrients removed from soil by the rice crop. Here is a comparison between the amounts absorbed in the straw as compared to those present in the grain. (Grain versus straw, kg nutrient/MT)

• Nitrogen: 10.5 - 7.0

• Phosphorus: 4.6 – 2.3

• Potassium: 3.0 - 17.5

• Magnesium: 1.5 - 2.0

• Calcium: 0.5 - 3.5

Rice straw contains 85-90 percent of potassium (K) of the biomass. Thus much greater amounts of K must be applied to maintain soil supply where straw is removed.

By recycling rice straw after harvest we compensate for the poor efficiency of the crop to use soil nutrients. Generally we get little from the fertilizer we invested in our crop. Typical fertilizer efficiencies are as follows:

• 30 to 60 % for N,

• 10 to 35 % for P, and

• 15 to 30% for K.

Recycling of rice by-products mainly straw and hull increases yield and reduces cost of production . Before recycling anything, reduce potential waste through good quality control. Reduce post harvest loss in rice that runs to 40 % of the harvested palay.

The 7 Rs in Waste Management

Reduce - plan to limit potential waste
Replace with environment-friendly materials
Regulate depends on effective governance
Recycle - re-use in original or new form.
Replenish. “Pay back” what you get from nature.
Reserve for tomorrow, next generation, posterity.
Revere - reverence for life, respect creation.

The Limits and Drawback of Recycling

Phenomena vs Man-induced Disasters - Floods which are accompanied by erosion and siltation do occur, but become frequent and worst with the destruction of watershed.

Recycling on the farm should avoid non-biodegradable materials such as

• Plastics

• Oils

• Metals

• Shells, rocks, glass

Watch out for toxic materials

• Toxic metals: Cadmium, Mercury, Lead

• Hospital and medical wastes, including radioactive materials

• Pesticide residues, especially dioxin

• Industrial wastes, like acids, Freon, alkalis

Oil Spill Recycling – no way.

• Not with hydrocarbon compounds; not in the case of oil spill. The Petron oil spill in Guimaras in 2005 destroyed thousands of hectares of marine and terrestrial irreversibly upsetting ecosystems and depriving the residents of their livelihood.

Heavily polluted Pasig River

Recyling is not recommended where pollution is heavy and unabated such as this mudflat. Silt in clean environment is excellent garden soil.

Inefficient technology generates wastes.

• Such is the case in sugar milling as observed at CADP, Nasugbu, Batangas. Sugarcane bagasse continues to accumulate in spite of its many uses as fuel, glass making, manufacture of paper and cardboard.

• Many companies simply throw their waste into waterways. Example: Mine tailings are simply dumped into the river gorge of Benguet, flowing down the sea and polluting rice fields.

Nature Prayer

When my days are done,

let me lay down to sleep
on sweet breeze and earth
in the shade of trees
I planted in youth
and old;
and if this were my last,
make, make others live
that they carry on
the torch,
while my dust falls
to where new life begins –
even an atom
let me be with you
dear Mother Earth.
- avr

Part 5 - Twenty Ideas that are changing the way we live

New ideas continue to revolutionize the way we live - all of us young and old, rural and urban, all walks of life.

Lesson in Development Communication (UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, TATAKalikasan AdMU, Usapang Bayan audience): Explain what each of these ideas is all about - its relevance and application, impact and consequence - actual and projected; how one is affected according to his field and status. Cite actual cases, and relate the same to local conditions.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Re-education to cope up with the explosion of knowledge and postmodernism world.
Is it time to revolutionize the educational system? What social media and distance education contribute?

Widespread marginalization in the midst of economic progress with half of the world's population having too little while the other half having too much of the resources. Can globalization ease this inequity?

World's population is young in developing countries, and old in developed countries. What is the implication of this disparity?

The rise in the number of people moving away from organized

religion - where does this lead to?

Loss of natural environments - how can we arrest it?

Decrease in natural immunity to diseases, and increase in virulence of pathogens, emergence of new and potent diseases notwithstanding. Is is world facing an Armageddon of pandemics?

I am summarizing the top ideas that are currently changing our world, the impact of which we can only guess and project with anxiety and awe and fear. These are ideas forged by modern man, ideas born from a foundation of knowledge and wisdom, ideas spawned by serendipity and unexpected events - nonetheless all reflecting the richness of our cultures amalgamated globally by no less than our inventions that have shrunk the world into a village, a village whose scale keeps us closer and united which is the essence of humanity.

1. Common Wealth - National interests aren't what they used to be. Our survival requires global solutions. The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet.

2. The End of Customer Service - With self-service technology, you'll never have to see a clerk again.

3. The Post-Movie-Star Era. Get ready for more films in which the leading man is not "he" but "Who?"

4. Reverse Radicalism . Want to stop terrorism? Start talking to terrorists who stop themselves.

5. Kitchen Chemistry . Why the squishy art of cooking is giving way to cold, hard science.

6. Geoengineering . Messing with Nature caused global warming. Messing with it more might fix it.

7. Aging gracefully . Forget conventional wisdom; gravhaired societies aren't a problem.

8.Curing the "Dutch Disease." How resource-rich nations can unravel the paradox of plenty.

9. Women's Work. Tapping the female entrepreneurial; women now doing men's work.

10. Beyond the Olympics. Coming: Constant TV coverage of global sporting events.

11. Jobs Are the New Assets. A sampling of fast-growing occupations - Actuaries, financial analyst, computer programmer, fitness trainer, biophysicists, translators, manicurists, marriage counselors, radiologists.

12. Recycling the Suburbs. Environmentalists will celebrate the demise of sprawling suburbs, which left national addicted to cars. Infrastructures will be converted in favor of "green", town centers, public libraries, museums, sports centers, parks.

13. The New Calvinism. More moderate evangelicals are exploring cures for doctrinal drift, offering some assurance to " a lot of young people growing up in sub-cultures of brokenness, divorce, drugs, sexual temptations, etc."

14. Reinstating the Interstate, the Superhighways. These are becoming a new network of light rail and "smart power" electric grid. This is the alternative to car culture that thrives on fossil fuel and promotes suburban sprawl.

15. Amortality. Amortality - "non-moral sensitive" or "neutral morality' - whatever you may call it, this thinking has revolutionized our attitudes toward age. There are people who "refuse to grow old," people who wish to be resurrected from his cryonized corpse.

16. Africa , Business Destination. Next "economic miracle" is in the black continent. Actually it has began stirring the economic consciousness of investors and developers.

17. The Rent-a-Country. Corporate Farming, an approach pioneered by the Philippines in the 60's and 70s, is now adopted by giant companies to farm whole valleys, provinces, island, of countries other than their own. Call it neo-colonialism, - these are food contracts, the latest new green revolution, more reliable food security.

18. Biobanks. Safe deposits - freezers full of tissues for transplants, cryotude for blood samples, liquid nitrogen storage for sperms and eggs, test-tube baby laboratories and clinics. Welcome, surrogate motherhood, post-menopausal technology, in-situ cloning, multiple;e birth technology, and the like.

19. Survival Stores. Sensible shops selling solar panels, electric bicycles, power generators, energy food bars, portable windmill, etc. Attributes: living off the grid, smart recycling, sustainability, consume less, self-sufficiency, basic+ useful, durable lifetime guarantee, hip + cool community, independent, responsible, co-op, brand-free, out of the oven, goodness-driven, health fitness, meditation, bartering, sharing, socialistic capitalism.

20. Ecological Intelligence. There are guidelines now available to judge products on their social and environmental impact. This is new culture characterized by environment-consciousness, environment-friendliness. Here life-cycle assessment and clean-up corporate ecology become an obligation. We are going back - happily and beautifully to a simple and natural lifestyle.

Part 6 - "The Four Waves" that are Transforming Our Society

- Self-Administered Test (True or False - 25 Items)

Dr. Abe V. Rotor

avrotor.blogspot.com

"The illiterate of the 21th century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

1. Alvin Toffler is an American writer and futurist (Future Shock, Eco-Spasm), known for his works discussing digital revolution, communications revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity.

2. Actually Alvin Toffler’s work is a joint undertaking with his wife – Heidi Toffler – also a writer and a futurist.

3. If there are three most influential voices among business leader, they are Alvin Toffler - after Bill Gates and John Rockefeller.

4. “Society needs people who take care of the elderly and who know how to be compassionate and honest.” Says Bill Gates one of the richest man on earth. “Society needs all kinds of skill that are not just cognitive; they’re emotional, they’re affectional. You can’t run the society on data and computers alone.”

5. The first wave is the society characterized by hunting and gathering – a nomadic society transient and divided – which favored early humans to explore the world in their time. The Fertile Crescent which was later part of Babylon at the confluence of the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers was the first site ushering the beginning of the First Wave or the Agrarian Society.

6. The First Wave Society is characterized by the nuclear family, factory-type education system and the corporation.

7. The Second Wave Society is industrial and based on mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass transit, mass entertainment, weapon of mass destruction, mass religion.

8. The Third Wave Society is a combination of mass movement and bandwagon with standardization, centralization, and synchronization, often ending up with bureaucracy.

9. Two predictions of the Third Wave by its advocates led by Toffler are paperless office and human cloning. We have already realized this no doubt, in spite of technological barriers and politico-religious conditions have imposed regulations and generated varying opinions and controversies.

10. Third Wave means a post-industrial society. It has generated keywords to unwind the complexity that characterize our society today, some of these are Super-Industrial Society, Information Age, Space Age, Electronic Era, Global Village, Cyberspace, Technotronic Age. These include terms like e-Commerce, e-learning, e-mail, on-line teaching, global positioning, Google Earth, ATM, globalization, and the like.

11. The Third Wave Society is an aging society. It is found in highly industrialized countries where population is coming to a standstill, where longevity breeds octogenarians up to centenarians. There will be need of new medical technologies from self-diagnosis, self-administer therapies delivered by nanotechnology to do for themselves what doctors used to do. Robotics are no longer workers in industries; they are becoming domesticated.

12. “Prosumers” is a coined word – producer and consumer. It means we are eliminating much of the work of middlemen. We are linking production and consumption directly. Examples are freelance work, open source, assembly kit, instant house package, build your own car or plane. These belong to the second wave.

13. The Third Wave changes the concept of retirement (re-tire as good as new tire), child labor (kids are smarter, they can earn and make a living early), education (distance education, on-line, crash workshop), nationalism (citizen of the world, too); concepts of capitalism, socialism, nation-state, so with corporation, cooperatives, entrepreneurship, management, and the like.

14. The Third Wave Society is moving away from international organization to seek its own direction as intended by a particular society, thus undermining the UN and its organizations like FAO, WHO, WTO UNEP, WFO; APEC, EU, NATO, ASEAN, ANZUS, International Court of Justice, North American Union, and others.

15. The Fourth Wave Society is characterized by man's quest for expansion into outer space, possibly incorporating the rise of a second agricultural revolution in an off-world setting; it means reclamation of the desolate regions of the earth; it means creating a prototype superhuman through genetic engineering.

16. Jose Rizal in his essay, The Philippines a Century Hence, prophesied the Philippines as a progressive nation likened to the great nations of Europe.

17. Among the socialists that influenced China are Marx, Lenin, and Engels – who are all Germans.

18. Charles Darwin and Thomas Malthus – evolutionist and futuristic, respectively, changed the world’s thinking regarding demography.

19. Michel Jordan and Yao Ming are towering giants in the NBA, first in NBA’s history to have regular Chinese player.

20. These artists changed China – Picasso for abstract art, Marilyn Monroe for feminism, Mother Teresa for religiosity; Julius Caesar for autocracy.

21. There are great men who became famous for their prophesies - Nostradamus and Malthus. One saw tomorrow, the other saw the four horsemen of Apocalypse.

Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence, increases only in an arithmetical ratio (as shown in this graph) – Thomas Malthus

22. Philosophy – both ancient and modern – can be traced ultimately to Socrates, be it Platonian, or Aristotelian, and the philosophies of Emmanuel Kant, Marx, Thoreau, Sartre.

23. One man fought a nation, and save a nation, abhorring violence His only weapon: peaceful protest and civil disobedience in asceticism that swept the land, people revering him as father and almost god. His name is Gandhi.

24. It is no longer possible for us to return to the Second Wave, much less to the First Wave, and live a less stressful and more meaningful life, because time is irreversible, and epochs and eras have their own specific time - they are now part of history, and there is no turning back. Life is truly a one-way direction, reminiscent of the poem, "I pass this way but once."

25. Little do we know of the unknown great man, like the Unknown Soldier, yet he represents countless people whose deeds are also those of great men and women we revere today. They are us – each one of us.
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ANSWERS: 1T; 2T; 3F; Peter Drucker instead of John D Rockefeller, 4F; quotation from Alvin Toffler's; 5T; 6F; second wave or industrial society; 7T; 8F, still second wave; 9F have not been realized so far; 10T; 11T; 12T; 13T; 14F, the more international cooperation is needed; 15T; 16T; 17T; 18T; 19T; 20F, not among the 50 people listed by Time; 21T; 22T; 23T; 24F, we have the choice to live the kind of life we wish to follow - "I am the captain of my soul, I'm the master of my fate."(Invictus by William Ernest Henley); 25T.

RATING:
24-25 Outstanding
21-23 Very Good
18-20 Good
15-17 Fair
12-14 Passed
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A personal reflection in these critical times.
Dr Abe V Rotor

“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

the deep unfathomed caves the oceans bear;

full many a many flower is born to blush unseen,

and waste their sweetness in the desert air.”

- Thomas Gray’s Elegy on a Country Churchyard,

This unknown great man did not die in vain, in the same way we should regard ourselves because we – all of us has the capacity to be great. Bringing up our children to become good citizens, being a Samaritan on a lonely road, embracing a returning Prodigal Son, “plugging a hole in the dike like the boy who saved Holland from being engulfed by the sea,” or living life the best way we can that make others live the same – these and countless deeds make us great, and if in that little way we fall short of it, then each and everyone of us putting each small deeds together, make the greatest ever deed, for the greatest thing humans can do, especially in these critical times, is collective goodness – the key to true unity and harmony, and love and peace. - Dr. AV Rotor

References

1. Cabiokid (2008) PowerPoint presentation by Bert Peeters

2. Enger ED and Smith BF (2002) Environmental Science, A Study on Interrelationships 8th ed McGraw-Hill
3. IRRI (2002) Rice Production Special Supplement, Los Baños, Laguna
4. PCARRD (1999) Processing and Utilization of Crop Residues, fibrous
Agro-Industrial By-Products, and Food Waste Materials for Livestock & Poultry Feeding, DOST
5. Rotor AV (2004) The Living with Nature Handbook UST Publishing House
6. Rotor AV (2007) Living with Nature in Our Times, UST Publishing House
7. Rotor AV (2008) Living with Folk Wisdom, UST Publishing House
8. Rotor AV (2007) Learning Biology PowerPoint presentation

Acknowledgement with gratitude: Internet Photos, Time Magazine, Living with Nature Series by AV Rotor

Thursday, August 21, 2025

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