Civgene is the theory that human beings are genetically two separate behavioral sets, psychopaths and empaths (non psychopaths.) Empaths are far more populous and their behavior is largely (if not entirely) responsible for civilization as we think of it. Anyone can bear a child who is a genetic psychopath. Psychopaths breed more quickly than non psychopaths (ignoring moral consequences allow psychopaths to have more children) with a higher likelyhood of bearing a psychopath. Their proportions grow, and eventually they collapse their civilization by collapsing trust based mechanisms, through corruption and graft.
This presents a technological problem for the modern world. Economic collapse or rapid simplification was a simple enough solution in the past. Suddenly economies could no longer support the psychopaths, and they died off reducing their portion of the population, with collateral damage. Like a fever in your body fights a flu. Now there are 400+ nuclear power plants which as Fukushima demonstrated, could rapidly destroy the planet. A fever so severe it kills the host. The key is they need constant attendance by educated workers, which will be difficult to maintain when the basic supplies no longer flow.
There is new hope. There are quite a few generation III+ nuclear power plants going up next year in 2017. While these do not hit the ideal target of one month unmanned operation, they can remain unmanned without power or supplies for 72 hours, and a skeleton crew can keep them operating indefinitely. A defining feature is the plants finally use natural forces like gravity and condensation, to circulate cooling water making meltdown far less likely. This is great news.
Generation III+ may be the good enough to survive an economic collapse in conjunction with some onsite family relocation and stockpiling of basic supplies for that key skeleton crew of workers, but that work is just beginning. The hundreds of existing plants need to be shut down and replaced ASAP. We need the global economy to survive until that work is complete. Unfortunately the economy is already collapsing in uncontrolled localization and simplification. Collapse is already in progress.
I suggest citizens consider legal distribution as a solution to a limited and controlled check on destructive corruption. Both in perception and efficiency, legal distribution can provides a check valve, away from power centers, on the most flagrant and arm folding corruption. Corruption so severe it outweighs economy of scale at it’s current scope. Rather than destroy entire governments, citizens can set up a soft but functional landing for the components of government they trust the least. Creating a framework of negotiation to prevent critical economy of scale from shrinking smaller than it is while subject to the waste, while cutting the most egregious bower brokers off from frustrating and impoverishing the public. This will preserve trust and avoid another disaster caused by multiple supply lines cut to near zero by sudden credit seizure and poverty.
Today pervasive new technologies abound, and can solve real world problems like potential nuclear reactor cascade failure. Many of these technologies are slowed by those power brokers because of disruptive properties that benefit market participants, but not non-obvious taxing beneficiaries. If we get out of the way enough for the market to get a footing, it can keep local economies and their power plants in good health, long enough to upgrade them to a system that will not bring the earth to sudden radioactive ruin. The point of no return.
