Cities That Pre-Date Religion: Real Estate and Human Civilization - Stewart Brand

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/02/01/Long-Term_Thinking_in_the_Next_10000_Years

Why are there so many histories of architecture, but none of real estate? Futurist Stewart Brand discusses the central role that land has played throughout human civilization.

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Long Finance is an initiative begun in 2007 to establish a World Centre Of Thinking On Long-Term Finance. The initiative began with a question - ­"When would we know our financial system is working?" - which challenges a system that can't provide today's 20-year-olds with a reliable financial retirement structure. The aim of the Long Finance Institute is "to improve society's understanding and use of finance over the long-term."

The research project proposals range from theory versus practice or fiscal versus monetary to sustainability versus robustness. The iconic project for Long Finance is the Eternal Coin, with the objective of starting a global debate about society's values over the long-term.

This is the second event that Gresham College has co-hosted, where learning from the sister Long Now organization and its 10,000 Year Clock Project. - Gresham College

Stewart Brand is a co-founder and managing director of Global Business Network, founded and runs the GBN Book Club, and is the president of The Long Now Foundation.

Brand is well known for founding, editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog (01968-85), which received a National Book Award for the 01972 issue. In 01984, he founded The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), a computer teleconference system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It now has 11,000 active users worldwide and is considered a bellwether of the genre.

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[newguy33X]

This doesn't stand alone as a useful or interesting snip-it. I find the idea of cities before ANY religion dubious, as well.

[fatraptor1]

Why doesn't he do the research himself if he wants these theories? Sounds lazy too me!

[annieleduc27]

I love coming across new ideas. Thanks for making me think.

[tantalus45]

@Efferts it will get there

[werdnativ]

If you have fertile land, you're not poor.

I think "complete poverty" just means not being able to sustain oneself or one's family. This could be anything like having access to a natural resource such as pasture or farmland, or owning some other productive capital (e.g. a mill). It can also be demand for your labour, but it doesn't always translate to arbitrary economic terms such as "a dollar a day". How about "3 meals a day" as a benchmark?

For an agrarian tribe, money is mostly artificial.

[Efferts]

"Complete poverty" doesn't exist in America.

3rd worlders make the homeless & impoverished folks in the US look like the Trumps.

[buckfushes]

Complete poverty probably wasn't the best choice of words to use, but I think he means something like living off of one dollar a day.

[hartmut1164]

@givebirthathome

Less or about $1 a day.

[Mastikator]

@givebirthathome complete poverty is an expression that refers to not having resources.

[givebirthathome]

1:17 "where people are getting out of complete poverty..toward participating in the global economy". What is complete poverty?