Possibly the most obscure thing I've ever stumbled into. Likely an example of "big brain thinking/logic" where someone knows a few separate things and assumes some synthesis of them can save the...
Possibly the most obscure thing I've ever stumbled into. Likely an example of "big brain thinking/logic" where someone knows a few separate things and assumes some synthesis of them can save the world. See also the Wiki article.
Pierre Leroux liked society, but not authority. Born in the late 1700s, he somehow found a way to be both a utopian and an economist. Perhaps he managed it by being a philosophical economist, rather than a practical economist. Leroux looked for ways to let a country maintain its citizenry without exerting authority over them, and for people to retain their property without using it to deprive others.
One of the things that would drive the world to desperation and authoritarianism, Leroux believed, was scarcity. He was a Malthusian, who believed the rising population would inevitably lead to deprivation. Looking for ways to stave off the food crisis he saw coming, he hit on a novel theory. Though he wasn't a farmer, he knew that animal manure could improve the crops. Though he wasn't a public health expert, he knew that human feces had to be collected and disposed of. Currently, feces was piped as far away from population cities as possible and then let go indiscriminately.
What a great find! I had heard of Malthusianism and Circulus theory before but had never really understood them, which is interesting since they kind of explain how I see the world. Your article...
What a great find!
I had heard of Malthusianism and Circulus theory before but had never really understood them, which is interesting since they kind of explain how I see the world. Your article prompted me to rectify that. I think Pierre Leroux was ahead of his time, and unfortunately, is still ahead of this time. Poop and pee are amazing soil enrichment, and we spend a huge amount of energy disposing of them instead of using them, which wasn't always the case.
This kinda already occurs, just skips the whole "religiously gathering" one's own feces to give to the state (which sounds hilarious today as I'm sure many of us would like to dump the 300 or so...
This kinda already occurs, just skips the whole "religiously gathering" one's own feces to give to the state (which sounds hilarious today as I'm sure many of us would like to dump the 300 or so pounds of feces each adult produces per year on the steps of some government building, but if it was required it'd just be another thing that's done and seen as normal).
Many (most?) municipalities gather, via sewers, filter, treat, sterilize, digest, dry, and then distribute your movements as agricultural fertilizer while using the methane produced during the digestion phase to power the plant that's doing all the work.
I say this "kinda already occurs" because the costs of treating your waste for you is offset by the efficiency of the process and selling of the fertilizer.
Possibly the most obscure thing I've ever stumbled into. Likely an example of "big brain thinking/logic" where someone knows a few separate things and assumes some synthesis of them can save the world. See also the Wiki article.
You pretty much quoted the entire article.
I cut off a paragraph. Hard to not do that when the article is so brief.
I see. In cases like this I prefer not putting an excerpt at all.
I'm glad they did because it prompted me to look more into it!
What a great find!
I had heard of Malthusianism and Circulus theory before but had never really understood them, which is interesting since they kind of explain how I see the world. Your article prompted me to rectify that. I think Pierre Leroux was ahead of his time, and unfortunately, is still ahead of this time. Poop and pee are amazing soil enrichment, and we spend a huge amount of energy disposing of them instead of using them, which wasn't always the case.
This kinda already occurs, just skips the whole "religiously gathering" one's own feces to give to the state (which sounds hilarious today as I'm sure many of us would like to dump the 300 or so pounds of feces each adult produces per year on the steps of some government building, but if it was required it'd just be another thing that's done and seen as normal).
Many (most?) municipalities gather, via sewers, filter, treat, sterilize, digest, dry, and then distribute your movements as agricultural fertilizer while using the methane produced during the digestion phase to power the plant that's doing all the work.
I say this "kinda already occurs" because the costs of treating your waste for you is offset by the efficiency of the process and selling of the fertilizer.
I think in the US it's about 50%.
The Stink About Human Poop As Fertilizer
*its