The Laws of Nature and Carbon Footprints -- Grrrr !! Growl !! Hissssss !!

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"The Sovereign Individual" as Micro Profit Center

The Right of Eminent Domain versus the Right of Immanent Domain

Carbon Claim Jumpers & Micro Property Rights

The International Micro Social Security Payment

The Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem


"Property Rights are always and everywhere a genetic phenomenon."

Sound familiar? It's a parallel re-statement of Milton Friedman's well-known economic dictum: "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." For centuries natural philosophers and economists have debated the origin of property rights. What are they?

-- (1) a Divine Right from Heaven or God ?

-- (2) the Natural Order of Things = a Law of Nature ?

-- (3) a recent Human Artifact of modern society and law ?

-- (4) something else ?

#2 is most likely -- the natural human proclivity for property rights is genetic. In short, it is programmed by genes and is the human gene expression equivalent of territorial instinct in animals.

Ants, which evolved 120 million years ago, know instinctively to kill other species of ants that invade their territory. Male hummingbirds zealously defend their most fragrant flower patch to the far asymptote of neutral net energy gain. Even dogs, domesticated for thousands of years, like land surveyors, still know instinctively to pee in the corners of their yards. The Spartans knew naturally to resist the incursion of the Persians. And a San Diego man this week instinctively fought off two barbarians who tried to pillage his beer at gunpoint, even taking a bullet in the buttocks to preserve his territorial right to get buzzed.

Another way of defining territorial instincts or property rights in animals? -- it is the physical space containing the minimum caloric or minimum energy content needed to support the animal and its mate (or mates) and offspring. Without this minimum caloric content under its control, the animal will starve to death or undergo gene expression changes unfavorable to its reproductive success (e.g., low sex-hormone levels). In sum, animals instinctively know how much property/space they need to successfully avoid genetic death.

In fact, I predict that scientists will soon identify a single human gene coding for territorial instinct. Counter-intuitively, complex behaviors in animals are often monogenic. Many scientists being male, they will christen the gene -- mi6PaK -- and the gene product or protein -- dysBdZ4u. Or, alternatively -- Hu8miKSO ?

A murine gene-deletion model will result in stoner love-prone mice that happily give away all their pot with no expectation of reward. Thus proving that communal "ownership" of property and communes are unnatural territorial constructs of crackpots and potheads. Parenthetically, this gene, or a splice variant of it and its protein product, may already be known to us as a stress-induced hormone or metabolic (hunger-related) hormone.

Regardless, modern economists and rational thinkers agree that private Property Rights are the fundamental basis of all economic activity and wealth creation. But what do we see happening in the Developing World today? -- corporate carbon carpetbaggers & claim-jumpers and well-meaning but over-weaning NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and charities are exercising de facto eminent domain and unjustly taking the carbon footprints of Poor Individuals for a spectrum of misplaced reasons ranging from the "positive" extreme -- for the communal good -- to the very negative extreme -- for corporate profits.

Yet if the Poor slaving at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" knew the true economic value of their abstract and now-offset footprints, their natural instinct to protect their territory or property rights (let us call it "the Right of Immanent Domain") would certainly be aroused -- Grrrr !! -- it's in their genes! Hence, if the Poor knew, they would autonomously say: "Pharaoh! -- Let my carbon offsets go!"

Our Mission at Carbon Manna Unlimited is to reawaken the Poor worldwide, make them aware that their property rights are being violated, and establish each of them as a Micro Profit Center and "Sovereign Individual" free to monetize the value of their own carbon offsets. The cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) described at length in this blog empowers any Poor Individual in Africa or Asia to benefit directly and solely by selling his or her own carbon offsets to the highest bidder in Europe or America.

Are you skeptical? How nice! -- skepticism is the unnatural luxury of a full stomach and a partially empty mind. Rather than be skeptical, be a Renaissance Man and wholistic problem-solver, which is much harder.

As a natural corollary of the discussion above, what is another way to define the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) described in earlier posts here ? -- it is the CO2 released per human-being per day by cooking with biomass the daily caloric content Homo sapiens can gather from their genetically-determined range or territory. Or, from the territory they would normally dominate, ceteris paribus, if Planet Earth were not unnaturally over-crowded, as it is sadly today.

The SICMC in the Developing World is guesstimated in posts below as 2 kgs of CO2/person/day. Individuals who qualify under the means-testing formulas described below in this blog should be paid the full retail value of this daily offset if they cook with solar or a more efficient charcoal stove (instead of biomass) -- even if some days a Cruel Providence prevents them from gathering and cooking their minimum daily-required caloric content.

In short, on some days the SICMC instead becomes a form of International Micro Social Security (IMSS) -- a social micro-transfer payment or a social safety-net for the World's poorest Poor. This logical and daily monetary allowance in the range of only 5 - 10 cents/day/person should also be the Natural Order of Things in a now overcrowded and Unnatural World.

As well, whether the SICMC on any specific day is paid for a produced carbon offset or paid partially as a social welfare payment should not matter to carbon project managers and offset accreditation agencies. They should give the Poor the benefit of the doubt. And allow the Poor to receive a Living Wage as compensation for days they could not find or afford enough food to cook. The Poor can then use that Living Wage to go buy food and make up their caloric deficit. And make up their carbon-offset deficit at the same time.

Another way of describing the latter situation is to instead call the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) the Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem.

If you are an American, your state congressmen collect per diems while they are in your state capitol ranging from US$ 60 - 200/day -- whether they actually incur any expenses or not. Are they poor and living on only US$ 1 - 2/day ? No, but they still collect this daily free money from taxpayers. If your well-off congressman merits up to US$ 200/day for free, cannot the Poor merit 5 - 10 cents/day/person "for free" on days they are unable to cook adequate food?

Any rational human-being in America or Europe should instinctively realize the economic equity of the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) and the Carbon-Micro-Offset per diem, and likewise recognize the Sanctity of Property Rights in the Developing World, no matter how micro the Property, and no matter how poor the Individual.

Let's all honor micro-property rights worldwide. It's the Law of Nature.

And let's all allow the Poor to eat without being "skeptical". That's the Law of Grace. Can you feel it?

Very territorially yours,

David A. Palella
Chief Carbon Geneticist
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED

San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com

http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella

http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com

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