Big Think

Judd Larson commented on If you had $100 billion to give away, how would you spend it? on September 6, 2008, 2:23 AM

I agree with Deepak's ideas however some of those problems are intertwined such as poverty and ecology. Undoing poverty in today's world typically creates more consumers, that hurt our ecology. Also damaged environments cause even more poverty when resources dwindle. I believe that the first step to solving the poverty problem is to solve our energy dilemma and to manage our wastes better, creating resources from them. If I had $100 billion dollars to spend, I would first tackle the environmental problems; first and foremost, the renewable energy dilemma. I would do this by amassing teams of experts and non-experts (for outside-the-box thinking) and pay them well to solve these problems. They would be responsible for more than just writing a report, they would actually be charged with making commercial solutions. They (the teams) would also have full ownership of their ideas. I would also include within these teams overlooked inventors that had great potential ideas but never found the means to bring their ideas to fruition because their ideas were seen as too economically risky. We need to partake in this type of risky business if we are going to solve these problems, before these problems become too large and pervasive.

Judd Larson commented on If you had $100 billion to give away, how would you spend it? on September 5, 2008, 10:23 PM

I agree with Deepak's ideas however some of those problems are intertwined such as poverty and ecology. Undoing poverty in today's world typically creates more consumers, that hurt our ecology. Also damaged environments cause even more poverty when resources dwindle. I believe that the first step to solving the poverty problem is to solve our energy dilemma and to manage our wastes better, creating resources from them. If I had $100 billion dollars to spend, I would first tackle the environmental problems; first and foremost, the renewable energy dilemma. I would do this by amassing teams of experts and non-experts (for outside-the-box thinking) and pay them well to solve these problems. They would be responsible for more than just writing a report, they would actually be charged with making commercial solutions. They (the teams) would also have full ownership of their ideas. I would also include within these teams overlooked inventors that had great potential ideas but never found the means to bring their ideas to fruition because their ideas were seen as too economically risky. We need to partake in this type of risky business if we are going to solve these problems, before these problems become too large and pervasive.

Judd Larson commented on Breakthrough Inventions But No One Cares to Listen? on January 27, 2008, 10:57 PM

Keep on coming up with those ideas. I get ideas every day, a few off-the-wall ones, but a few really good ones. The trick is bringing the good ones to fruition. Funding seems to be my largest problem.

Judd Larson commented on Re: Are development and environmentalism incomaptible? on January 23, 2008, 11:30 PM

I don't think they are totally incompatible. There are sustainable ways to develop. We could develop a disposal fee (kind of like the way some states operate their bottle recycling programs). That fee (that is added to the price of the product) could then go towards disposal programs (possibly run by the company that created the product) for that certain material or product to be recycled, reused, or reclaimed. I did my grad work at a landfill, it is amazing to see all of the things people throw away. Other development such as housing can be designed to be Low Impact. This is called Low Impact Development (LID). It allows for more open areas so that the ground is not over consolidated. That allows more rainwater to infiltrate into the aquifer and to be used by plants. It also uses more swales instead of concrete curbs to route storm water. These systems use nature to better the water quality by routing storm water (via swales) through littoral zones or wetlands (storm gardens) so that plants can filter a lot of the nutrients out of the water. High nutrients can create water quality issues (i.e., eutrophic lakes). This however does run contrary to stopping urban sprawl (build higher buildings within the cities-then you have traffic problems). The biggest problem however is creating green, sustainable energy. This, however, will not happen until this becomes more economic. Once people can start making real money, that rivals the amount earned by current unsustainable means, by creating green energy, then I fear things will not change. I think renewables are gaining ground since the price of oil has shot up. Sustainable means will not become prevalent until they become economically sustainable.

Judd Larson commented on What do you believe? on January 23, 2008, 10:49 PM

Wowzers!! I had no idea that Nelson Mandela was on his way to speak with Saddam Hussein. One has to wonder, if that meeting could have taken place earlier on, if things would have turned out the way they did. I tend to think, at least the way the American government was acting, that the war was inevitable. They seemed to have their minds set and they got the "answers" they were searching for to justify their war. And the American media really dropped the ball. They just seemed to directly report the White House press reports without any investigation. They didn't want to ruffle the White House's feathers because they didn't want to be shut out from future information. And ever since 9-11 the White House's approval ratings were high, so the media didn't want to look as though they were being contrary to the government and possibly lose ratings by offending the public.It was a very frustrating time to be an American that was against the war during that time....But now we are in the thick of it, and so many people, American and Iraqi, have died. It's crazy to think how much a difference the Leader of a government can shape things, even with checks and balances. My choice to take the reigns is out of the race. I really liked Joe Biden. He seemed the obvious choice to me. With his foreign policy experience and civil rights stance, he seemed to be the most qualified Democrat. And he didn't take special interest money (the most important for me). I'm now hoping for my next choice, Obama. He talks a good talk but I don't know how well he can walk it. We'll see. I just hope that Obama adopts Biden's Iraq policy.Lets just hope that we have all learned our lessons from all of this. The best way to overthrow a bad government, like Iraq was, is through democratic ideas. Viva Peace!!