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What can I know (if trust in knowledge has been lost)? | 61 required? (We are talking here of resources which are, moreover, ever harder to obtain here on Earth. And the possibility of interstellar travel continues to exist only in the minds of the fans of fantasy films.) ‘There is of course the theoretical possibility of the more radical solution of depriving the 15% of the means of excessive wellbeing. However, some basic calculations reveal that this would not change much, either. Not to even speak of the little detail of who should decide for us what excessive wellbeing means and how we should take away what we think they do not deserve. ‘There is also a “silent” version of Plan B of this revolution — celebrated by the liberal left, encouraged by the multinational companies and conducted by the organised underworld — that several hundred million people leave their country of origin and migrate to the wealthy countries. This is a true egalitarian solution: the islands of wellbeing and culture will disappear in a couple of decades in the ocean of global poverty. The current system is at most capable of measures for alleviating destitution. Their effect is sadly doubly limited. On the one hand, the proportion of the poor in comparison to the rich is growing steadily, because most children are born in the lower classes and the poorest countries. Moreover, it is these poor countries that have to face the most serious direct effects of global climate change (desertification; lack of drinking water). Their main source of subsistence is the exploitation of their natural resources, i.e., the destruction of the environment, on which their future dependence will increase in direct correspondence with the increase of destitution. On the other hand, we must acknowledge that the unequal distribution of military, political and economic power is an integral part of the order of modern industrial society. This takes form in the extremely asymmetric division of possessed goods. Whether the competition is between states or individuals — in reality, the two spheres never fully separated — whether they happen to be engaged in trade or war, their efforts are directed towards the concentration of power and capital within the everdiminishing circle of winners. The latter are forced into ever greater expenditures in the interest of seizing or maintaining hegemony, above all in the arena of military — understood in the broadest sense — and logistic developments. ‘The conflicts induced by the global crisis and the sense of increased threat merely intensifies their competition and their interest in maintaining the inequalities. All this significantly limits the willingness of the rich and powerful to share. It is neither capitalism or socialism, but the logic of the operation of modern industrial society in
