Why I know Copiosis Is Working

Copiosis is working. How do I know?

We are already moving in that direction.

For one, we have the needed technologies. Let’s keep in mind technologies we considered Science-Fiction – smartphones, tablet computers, Wireless Internet AND the Internet itself – have all become Science-Fact.

Second, people today act as though they want it. Regardless of how we’ve been “trained,” even the most cynical among us feels a twinge of satisfaction when we do good things for others. It may be a selfish reason that motivates us, but it works toward the common good. What’s more, is the social churn we’re seeing around the world – protests, violence, even governments pushing back – tells me people are ready.

People are asking for something other than what we have because they realize what we have no longer works. They may not know what alternatives exists, but that’s our job to tell them. Today more than ever, given huge changes we see happening all around us, I see society preparing itself for Copiosis.

When enough people want change, there is not a force powerful enough to stop that change.

Six years ago, Copiosis was just me and a crappy website. Today, thousands of people actively follow Copiosis, and far more know about us worldwide. A lot of people are volunteering their time while wanting the change that Copiosis offers. People are enthusiastic, excited and acting from there. I know Copiosis is working because it is working, evidenced by growth I’ve seen over the past six years.

How it all began

Since I was a kid, I wondered what space travel would be like. Visiting other planets, witnessing nebulae with my own eyes, and traveling in marvelous space ships has frequently been in my dreams.

Then came Star Trek. My dream became a reality, if only through the magic of television.

Gene Roddenberry’s TV show about a diverse group of space explorers immediately caught my fancy. Like so many others, every episode entranced and indulged me as I marveled at Captain Kirk and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise.

As I (and the crew) grew older, they moved from television to the Silver Screen. Then, as they moved on with Jean-Luc Picard and his Next Generation, I began wondering about the society that produced the USS Enterprise.

I wondered about the crew of the Enterprise; they all seemed so healthy. They never worried about where their clothing came from or whether they could afford to eat. They never paid for medical attention, fuel for the ship, (Dilithium Crystals don’t count!) or the other tools they used.

What kind of society could produce the USS Enterprise? How could they afford such things? Whenever Star Trek depicted life on Earth, it was always immaculately cared for, modernized and its inhabitants were always healthy, well-dressed and clearly happy to be doing what they were doing.

In the back of my mind, I wondered about a society where people on Earth got united and pursued together an exploratory space mission to “seek out new life and new civilizations.” Those questions intensified as technology, computers and science made real what was once science fiction.

With talking computers, extremely powerful hand-held computers that did everything from keeping schedules to monitoring health, I got more and more excited that, in my lifetime, I would see a transition. A transition where humanity would come together and begin a new civilization on Earth; one that mirrored what I saw on Star Trek.

Seeing Copiosis everywhere

In 2006, my questions were answered. I discovered, totally by accident, something that could create the kind of life on Earth that could feasibly enable humanity to do everything I saw, not only on Star Trek, but many other science fiction stories. I was skeptical at first, but over the next two years of studying what I call Copiosis, I became a believer that America and humanity could chart a new course to a way more prosperous future.

The more I thought about Copiosis, the more I saw how we are already moving towards a Copiosis future. I saw people willing to do things for others, with no expectation of compensation. Their work was not only high quality, but it replaced long-standing parts of America we thought would never change:

• Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia curated and edited by unpaid volunteers not only has become hugely popular as a resource for human history and events, it has put the encyclopedia industry largely out of business. Today it is one of the most cited resources across the world and exists in many languages.
• Craigslist, curated by volunteers with content generated by everyday people like you and me, single-handedly destroying print classified advertising. At this moment, it now facilitates the majority of private trade of goods and services between people in the United States.
• Bloggers, once unpaid, gradually are eating away at the print media via web journals. Today bloggers handle the majority of news reporting, aiding in revolutions where the only alternative would be armed conflict. Their willingness to provide content of all kinds fueled only by a desire to share their experiences and knowledge with others is outcompeting what was once the unquestioned domain of Big Print Media.

I witnessed Americans’ generosity towards their fellow human beings. They respond to natural disasters at home and abroad with millions of dollars in aid. In some cases, Americans fly to disaster areas, on their own dime, to lend a hand, help rebuild or provide medical care with no expectation of compensation. In others, they use advanced technologies – Twitter, Facebook and mobile devices to communicate updates, stay in touch with loved ones involved and, yes, even donate money to disaster relief.

I saw emerging innovations that have long-standing and profound impacts on human life:

• Crowds of people contributing to the success of strangers through the power of people united in organized (and disorganized) groups for a common cause, otherwise known as “crowd funding” or “crowdsourcing.” In these examples, large numbers of people come together, offering money, information and reviews to others in ways that made life easier for them: finding restaurants, vacation spots, providing all kinds of data about cities and states, and rating nearly every product or service through reviews on Amazon.com, Yelp, and others. All of this with no expected compensation for their effort (Yes, there are some campaigns that offer rewards in promotional goods, but they are reminded that funding an idea does not guarantee a return of any sort. It’s simply a “perk.”)
• In K. Eric Drexler’s book, Engines of Creation, I read about the rise of nanotechnology, an innovation which promised truly science fiction-like advances in everything from medicine and life extension to self-assembling factories that could build nearly anything with no human involvement. Nanotechnology, as a science, was once scoffed at; today it exists everywhere from popular culture, to clothing, to healthcare solutions.
• I saw the rise of smarter vehicles leading us to cars that drive themselves while containing human passengers, and electric human-driven vehicles, including high performance cars that outperform luxury cars from Europe. We now have technology once reserved for military fighter jets and spacecraft allowing drivers to navigate from place to place and even avoid traffic snarls more efficiently.
• I read about medical advances in robotics, bringing mechanical surgeons to the operating room where they  handled delicate procedures that once contained high risks of human error. We have technologies that have the ability to return even partial sight to the blind and bring partial sound to the deaf, and that technology is ever-improving.

I saw social experiments that sounded much like what people would naturally do in a Copiosis economy:

• Bike share programs, where bikes were simply made available in cities for people to use to get around.
• Tool libraries, where people could come borrow tools for gardening, construction, auto repair and more.
• I saw house swapping come of age, where families swapped their homes for short vacations and couch surfing where people opened their couches to strangers to stay on their travels for free. Speaking of housing, I saw individuals, couples and families coming together in Conscious Communities, co-housing arrangements where they share living spaces, meals, and hold events together as a community.
• In agriculture, I saw development of programs where people make their back yards available for gardens, their produce shared with other families.
• I saw on my own street corner people offering their second-hand goods for free, leaving them out on street corners or listed on websites such as Craigslist and Freecycle.
• In the United States and abroad, people are increasingly helping others in ways usually offered for pay: yoga teachers offering their services for whatever the client wants to pay; authors sharing their creativity for free; musicians, artists, photographers sharing their creative work royalty free on websites such as creative commons, so people can use their work with limited or no copyright restrictions.
• In business I saw the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility, where corporations began reshaping their operations so that their products and processes were more environmentally friendly. I saw whole companies founded on sustainable products that made products from garbage, and containers from discarded bottles and cans. I saw how these companies designed their products in ways that allowed them to be turned into another product after being used, and programs that took back their old products and refurbished them or recycled them. I saw government follow the company trend and create special sustainable certifications for business operations, processes, business structures and even buildings.

The more I looked into this the more I saw people already moving toward the ideals offered in my favorite science fiction television program.

• I saw videos go viral telling the story of a homeless man who turned in tens of thousands of dollars expecting nothing in return. But to his surprise people around the country rallied and donated thousands of dollars to reward him.
• I heard the story of a Dairy Queen manager who saw a blind man drop a $20 bill, then saw a woman bend down, pick up the money and put it in her pocket. The manager kicked the woman out of the Dairy Queen and gave the blind man $20 from his own pocket, then became a national hero.
• I read online about four college freshman football payers who walked into a store that looked open, but was actually closed. The lock had malfunctioned and didn’t lock. The lights were on, but no one was there. The kids took what they wanted from the racks, then went to the counter to pay. They waited a while for someone to come and when no one did, they left money on the counter for what they took. Surveillance tapes caught the whole thing.

Could the human character too be changing, becoming more like the characters I saw regularly on Star Trek: people with character, honesty, courage and integrity?

There are so many parts of our everyday lives around us today that look like what Copiosis will create. The more I learned about Copiosis, the more I saw how our way of life was already going in that direction; the more excited I became. That’s when I realized I wanted to accelerate these advancements by introducing Copiosis to America.

Imagine what life could be like if all of humanity were working together to get things done on Earth that made life better, with no expectation for compensation because everything  needed to survive – to thrive – was available without spending one dollar. What if we could just solve our problems without needing to pay anything? Imagine what it would be like to see starships, like those in Star Trek, actually being constructed in orbit in the night sky. Imagine what it would be like to live lives similar to Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest!

That’s what Copiosis offers.

It’s a done deal

I know Copiosis is working because that’s the direction society is moving. We have technologies we need. People’s actions increasingly lean toward Copiosis. Society is moving in that direction too and massive numbers protest today because they demand something better.

The huge changes we see happening all around us tell me Copiosis is working. When enough people ask for change, no force can stop them. Copiosis can work because in many ways it already is working.