CONTENTS

Abstract
01
Acknowledgement
02
Contents
03

INTRODUCTION
1.1
Definition
04
1.2

Types of scarcity

07

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Omen
14
2.2
Superstition
14
2.3

Luck

15
2.4
16

CONCLUSION
20

REFERENCES
31

Supernatural

The condition that exists because human wants exceed the capacity of
available resources to satisfy those wants.

SCARCITY
What does scarcity mean?
What causes goods to become unavailable all of a sudden? Is that
considered scarcity or a shortage?
Definition of Shortage and Scarcity
A shortage occurs whenever quantity demanded is greater than quantity
supplied at the market price. More people are willing and able to buy the
good at the current market price than what is currently available. When a
shortage exists, the market is not in equilibrium. At equilibrium, the
quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied at the market price.
The term 'shortage' can be easily confused with scarcity, which is one of
the underlying basic problems of economics. The easiest way to
distinguish between the two is that scarcity is a naturally occurring
limitation on the resource that cannot be replenished. A shortage is a
market condition of a particular good at a particular price. Over time, the
good will be replenished and the shortage condition resolved.

ROBBINS DEFINITION SCIENCE OF SCARCITY OR SCIENCE OF CHOICE

Marshall seemed to have settled the matter of the definition of Economics
long

ago

and

large consensus

of

expert

opinion

had

been

mobilized behind him. But the publication of Robbins book...

Nature and SiJ!lIificancc of Economic Science set the ball of controversy
rolling once again. Lionel Robbins challenged the traditional view of the
nature of economic science. We have noticed some of his objections in the

above

section.

He

calls the

known definitions of Economics

hitherto

classificatory

accepted
and

and

well

unscientific.

The

word material imposed unnecessary limitation. The welfare conception of

Economics

lacked

universality Economics

is

the

science

which

studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means

which have alternative uses.
Robbins claimed that his definition did not suffer from any of these
defects. His definition was analytical rather than classificatory. Instead
of discussing a certain type of human behaviour, it focussed its attention
on a particular aspect of human behaviours; i.e., behaviour concerned
with the utilisation of scarce resources to achieve unlimited ends.
Scarcity is not to be taken in an absolute sense. A commodity may exist in
a small quantity but if nobody has any use for it, we shall not call it scarce
in the economic sense. Thus, rotten eggs, though much fewer than good
ones, are not scarce in the economic sense. On the other hand, there may
be huge stocks of a commodity like wheat or coal, yet it is called scarce
because the demand is even larger than the supply. It is the demand, in
relation to supply, for a commodity, and not its quantity alone, which
determines whether a commodity is scarce or not. Scarcity is thus a
relative term.
The third proposition underlying Robbins definition is that the scarce
means are capable of alternative uses. If a commodity could be put only
to one use and to none else, few economic problems would arise in its
connection. After it has met that use, it will become a free good and will
have no further economic significance. Actually, however, the uses to
which a commodity can be put are numerous, almost unlimited. Hence,
the demand in the aggregate for that commodity is almost insatiable.
Further, these alternative uses are of varying importance; some are more
urgent and others less urgent. And we can select the use to which a
commodity may be put. Choice comes in again.

Thus, in the Robbinsian sense, economic activity lies in mans utilisation of

scarce

means having

alternative

uses,

for

the

satisfaction

of

multiple ends. Means refer to time, money or any other form of property.
They are all limited. But since the ends are unlimited, choice-making is
essential. That is why-Economics has been called a science of choice.
From the point of view of the State, Economics may be defined as the
study of those principles on which the resources of a community should be
so regulated and administered as to secure the communal ends without
waste. ( ic teed. In Stiglers words, Economics is the study of the iples
governing the allocation of scarce means arc g competing ends when the
objective of allocation i to maximise the attainment of the ends.
In other words, Economics i a study

the allocation of scarce means,

capable of alternative uses, among competing ends for the attainment

of a -maximum result in the achievement of these ends.

Examples of Scarcity
Scarcity is fewer resources than are needed to fill human wants and
needs. These resources can be resources that come from the land, labor
resources or capital resources. Scarcity is considered a basic economic
problem.
Understanding Scarcity
Scarcity dictates that economic decisions must be made regularly in order
to manage the availability of resources to meet human needs.
Some examples of scarcity include:

The gasoline shortage in the 1970's

After poor weather, corn crops did not grow resulting in a scarcity of
food for people and animals and ethanol for fuel.

Over-fishing can result in a scarcity of a type of fish.

Fewer farmers raising cattle can result in a scarcity of milk and

cheese.

An embargo on imports from a country can result in a scarcity of the

resources that country exports.

Due to politics regarding a dam in Gujarat, water has become

scarce.

Coal is used to create energy; the limited amount of this resource

that can be mined is an example of scarcity.

Those without access to clean water are experiencing a scarcity of

water.

In 2012, avian flu wiped out millions of chickens in Mexico creating a

scarcity of eggs, a stable of the Mexican diet.

Revealing that a population of cattle in a country has Mad Cow

disease, resulting in a need to slaughter the animals, could result in a
scarcity of beef in the country.

Over-hunting of an animal population could make it scarce.

Refusal of pharmaceutical companies to create drugs that do not

make large profits can cause medication of certain types to be scarce.

Each year a limited amount of the flu vaccine is available to the

population, meaning there is not enough for each individual to be
vaccinated. This is scarcity.

When hurricanes have incapacitated refineries on the Gulf Coast, oil

prices increase because of the possibility of scarcity of gas for
vehicles.

Because of a conflict preventing individuals to visit their farms,

residents of Alavanyo in Ghana have a food scarcity.

Flooding in Nigeria washed farmlands away and has the potential to

create a scarcity of food for the residents of the nation.

An undereducated population in a country that needs high level

skilled workers can result in a scarcity of labor.

A disenfranchised population may not volunteer for military

services, resulting in the scarcity of individuals to protect the nation.

Recent proposed gun legislation in the United States has caused

individuals to hoard ammunition, leaving a scarcity of ammunition.

Those who live in harsh climates in which it can be hard for

transportation to reach them can experience food shortages if weather
prevents delivery.

The depletion of forests in Thailand has led to a scarcity of wood,

forcing individuals to take wood from demolished buildings in order to
build new ones.

Waste of water through long showers or allowing water to run while

brushing one's teeth can contribute to a scarcity of water.

All of these are examples of scarcity because there was not a sufficient
amount of the resource to go around.

2. How does scarcity relate to supply and demand?

3. How does scarcity force consumers and producers to make choices?
4. How does scarcity create problems for people?
5. How does scarcity relate to opportunity cost?
6. Create a list of items that are seasonal scarce, and items that have a
limited scarcity.

DEFINED Have you ever wondered why diamonds, luxury items, are so
expensive, while water, a necessity of life, is relatively cheap? The answer

is scarcity. There are not enough diamonds in the world to satisfy the
desire for them, yet there is an abundance of water. While it costs only a
couple of dollars to buy a 20 ounce bottle of water (and thats very
expensive water), a 20 ounce bottle of diamonds could run into millions of
dollars. Scarcity is the term economists use to describe the phenomenon
that people want more of a commodity than is freely available.
Commodities include the physical goods (automobiles, houses, and
handbags) and services (haircuts, airplane rides, and lawn mowing) that
households buy. Commodities also include resources such as peoples
work effort, raw materials, and the land that is used to produce the
household products. Some things are not scarce; there is as much of the
commodity as we would like freely available to us. Air and seawater are
two common examples. Think about sitting in the teachers lounge. You
can breathe as much air as you like and there is still more air for others to
use. In this context, air is not scarce and, from an economists
perspective, it is free (that is, its opportunity cost is zero). Competing uses
may change that situation. As you relax in the teachers lounge, imagine
another faculty member entering with a lit cigarette. Suddenly that clean
air you were breathing is not so clean anymore. While the air remains free,
clean air has become scarce. The air now has two uses; for breathing and
for waste disposal of tobacco smoke. Clean air in the teachers lounge has
become a scarce resource. There will always be scarcity. Scarcity cannot
be eliminated. Eliminating scarcity defies nature because there is a limit
to the natural resources available to us. If there were no limits and no
scarcity, we could all fully satisfy all of our desires for goods, services, and
resources. Think for a moment about the decision to produce goods and
services. Imagine you own ten acres of productive land. You can grow
vegetables on your land or you can raise cattle. In fact, you can do some
of both, but in order to grow more vegetables you must give up raising
some cattle. Lets assume you can grow 50 bushels of vegetables per acre
or one cow per acre. This means that on your ten acre plot you can grow
up to 500 bushels of vegetables or raise as many as ten Scarcity
constrains us from having all that we desire. We have to make choices

among available alternatives. At the very least, time is scarce for all of us.
Each of us must decide what we are going to do each day and night.
Should I go to the mall tonight, stay home and study, or meet with a youth
group? Income is limited. Should I spend my ten dollar allowance on a new
shirt or pizza and a movie? Resources are scarce. Should I use my last cup
of milk for my cereal or to bake a cake? Scarcity forces us to make a trade
off between alternatives. We must decide how to use our income, our
time, and our other resources. We must choose which desires to meet.
Scarcity makes decisions about the allocation of resources important. If
there are 40 students and 20 hamburgers, how do we decide who gets a
hamburger? The answer is that in a market economy, we tend to allocate
commodities through price. We use currency, or dollars, to determine who
gets things. In our choice to purchase one item we are also deciding how
many other goods and services we are willing to give up to obtain it. All
things are not rationed through the use of currency. Goods rationed on a
first-come basis will go to those that are first to get into line and are
willing to wait in line. University enrollment is often allocated to those with
the highest grades or best test scores. In command and control
economies, production decisions are made by the central governments
planning authority. Scarcity is the reason why economic decisions have to
be made. Economic decisions are those choices we must make between
alternatives. We make choices to determine how to use resources for
production and to decide which goods and services to consume. Without
scarcity there would be no choices, we could have it all.

Closure Lesson review:

1. LQuestion: What is scarcity?

Answer: The desire for things is greater than is freely available. 2.

Display NVisual-1: Scarcity defined. Review the definition. 3. LQuestion:
Why are things scarce? Answer: Nature does not provide enough of
everything to satisfy all human desires. 4. LQuestion: What is not scarce?
Answer: Air and seawater are not scarce. Dust (unless it has an

alternative use) is not scarce. Scarcity The desire for things is greater than
is freely available Module-1 Teacher 12 Copyright 2008 by MCEE
(www.econedmontana.org) Economics: The Study of Choices 5. LQuestion:
Why do we make a trade off? Answer: Scarcity forces us to make a trade
off. Because resources are scarce we cannot have as much of everything
as we would like. As a result, we must decide which desire we are going to
meet and which we are not. 6. LQuestion: Is it necessary to allocate
resources? Answer: Yes, if they are scarce. If there were no governed
allocation of resources it may come down to a physical battle. The
resources would be allocated to those with the greatest brut force. As long
as resources are limited and scarce, we cannot all freely have as much as
we would like. 7. LQuestion: When things become more scarce, do they
become more or less valuable? Answer: More valuable. As there is less of
something available (or the demand for it becomes greater with no
change in availability) those with the greatest desire for it will be willing to
give up more to obtain it.
http://economicskey.com/robbins-definition-science-scarcity-sciencechoice-7237
Lesson-IIIA: The gift of life individuals from receiving organ replacements
that could either save a life or substantially improve the recipients quality
of life. In the United States, all states have enacted a variation of the
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968. Under this law, individuals are able
to specify that some or all of their body may be donated after their death.
The original version of this Act neither allowed, nor prohibited, the sale of
human organs. The revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1987, however,
prohibited the sale of human organs. Restrictions on the sale of human
organs in the United States came about as a result of markets that
appeared in the early 1980s for kidneys that were harvested from living
donors in return for a fee. Kidneys were sold primarily by the very poorest
members of society. The The gift of Life A medically invented, artificial
scarcity in human organs for transplantation has generated a kind of panic
and a desperate international search for them and for new surgical

possibilities. Bearing many similarities to the international market in

adoption, those looking for transplant organs are so single minded in their
quest that they are sometimes willing to put aside questions about how
the organ [or the baby in the case of adoption] was obtained. In both
instances the language of gifts, donations, heroic rescues and
saving lives masks the extent to which ethically dubious and even illegal
practices are used to obtain the desired scarce commodity, infant or
kidney, for which foreigners (or better off nationals) are willing to pay
what to ordinary people seems a kings ransom. With desperation built in
on both sides of the equationdeathly ill buyers and desperately needy
sellers once seemingly timeless religious beliefs in the sanctity of
the body and proscriptions against body mutilation have collapsed over
night in some parts of the third world under the weight of these new
markets

demands.

Nancy

Scheper-Hughes

Advances

in

medical

treatments have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of organ

transplants performed each year. A limited supply of organs, however,
prevents many Scarcity The desire for things is greater than is freely
available

Module-1

Lesson

Copyright

2008

by

MCEE

(www.econedmontana.org) Economics: The Study of Choices 227 LessonIIIA: The gift of life National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prohibited
payments to those who provided organs for transplantation. While this Act
was primarily designed to prevent the sale of organs from living donors, it
also prevented the possibility of individuals selling the right to harvest
their organs after their death. (The sale of replenishable tissue, such as
blood, hair, and sperm, however, is allowed.) While donors cannot legally
be paid for providing organs, there is a very active market for human
organs. Organ procurement organizations, operating as local monopolies,
collect organs from voluntary donors and then provide them to hospitals
that provide transplants. While the National Organ Transplant Act prohibits
payments to patients, it allows organ procurement agencies to receive a
fee for the removal and transportation of organs. Opponents of marketbased allocation systems argue that individual income and wealth would
determine who receives and who supplies organs. They argue that

decisions concerning who should receive a transplant should be based

upon medical criteria rather than on income and wealth. Supporters of a
market for human organs argue that the chronic shortage of organs for
transplant could be reduced or eliminated if donors (or their survivors)
were paid for the use of their organs. One popular suggestion is the use of
a futures contract in which an individual sells the right to harvest his or
her organs if they are suitable for transplant at the time of the individuals
death. One concern that is often raised is the growth of an international
black market for organs. Those countries that have a surplus of organs are
generally those in which there are the least restrictions on trade in organs.
Allegations of human rights violations associated with the acquisition of
transplant organs in these countries are not uncommon. Numerous (often
well-supported) allegations have been made suggesting that China has
executed prisoners to satisfy the demand for organs. Economics Resource
Center Policy Debate; Should there be a market for human organs?
www.swlearning.com/economics/

policy-debates/human_organs.html

(cited January 26, 2006).

CONTEMPLATIONS
THE MYTH OF LOVE SCARCITY: We do not lack
love; we lack the knowledge of how to harness its
enormous supply

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without
love. Max Muller
People all around you are dying. Perhaps you are too. Fortunately, dying
isnt something we are all doing, nor is it something that we must

necessarily do. We must all perish eventually, but we dont need to spend
our lives perishing.
People, like all other living things, spend their time on Earth either dying
or growing. We cannot do both and we cannot do neither. We can make
the choice to grow or die consciously or we can allow it to be made for us.
Most people, however, do not only pass up this choice, they neglect to
think of themselves as growing or dying. They believe themselves to be
simply living, as if living is a state that is fixed, static and
unquestionable.
In this world, nothing can be static. Stability of any sort is simply an
illusion, a mirage that arises from a trick of the eye that looks at a
glimmer in time apart from its relationship to other glimmers.
In the larger picture, everything from the most solid-looking rock to the
budding chrysanthemum is either growing or dying, building or degrading,
learning or regressing, getting bigger or smaller, stronger or weaker.
What it means to live
In the rules of life, no human being is an exception. We all tend to agree
that newborn babies are growing and that the sick are dying, while
everyone else is put on a sort of plateau, a state of having completed
growth and waiting to begin death. Such a state does not exist.
This state is an illusion that allows many people to slowly rob themselves
of life without anyconscious awareness. In this state, people dont believe
that they can grow. They think growing is for children.
If they do think they can grow, they leave growth in the hands of money,
success, education and knowledge. They hear rumours that growth is a
matter of mystery or luck. If youre dealt bad cards, you wither; great
cards, then you prosper. These views not only distort the truth, they also

do us great harm by obscuring from us the simplicity of lifelong growth

and fulfillment.
If I were to ask you what it means for a plant to live, you would tell me
that to live is to grow. This is no different for a human being. Living is not
a static state. The continuation of ones livelihood immediately and
automatically implies growth.
If I were to then ask you what you needed to make the plant grow, you
would tell me sunlight and water. This is no different for a human being. A
person, like a plant, depends on his consumption of certain things to
subsist.
Whether were talking about a plant or a middle-aged housewife, growth
depends on the organisms intake of nourishment. To sustain life means to
obtain the necessary sustenance. When we intake what we need to live,
we grow. When we do not, we die. These are the rules of life. That which is
impermanent must feed on its sustenance to survive.
We all know that a human being requires water, air, food, warmth and
sunlight. These are all life necessities. In order for us to grow, we must
intake these in optimal amounts. If we do not, it begins to show in our
outward appearance.
For some life necessities, such as food, it takes some time for signs of
insufficiency to become obvious to the onlooker. For others, such as air, it
takes no time at all. If you were to come across a suffocating person, you
would have no doubt about the cause of her crisis. However, if you were
to come across a person who had a vitamin deficiency from neglecting his
vegetables, you wouldnt be likely to deduce his plight from first glance.
By the same process, you can neglect your own intake of vital
nourishment and thus begin to die slowly, unhappy and unaware.
Love as a necessity of life

Perhaps you do not realize this yet, but love is also a life necessity. When
we talk about what we need to live, we list water, air, warmth and food,
but we forget about love. And who can blame us?
We forget about love like we forget about the sun. We often forget that the
sun is what allows all the other life necessities to exist. The sun is what
allows for the Earths air composition to contain the oxygen that we need
to survive. The sun is what fuels the rain cycle that provides water for all
the plants and, by extension, the animals that eat those plants. The sun is
at the top of the chain of life necessities. It is not only vital to our survival;
it is the origin of life.
Similarly, people focus on their need for approval, sex and success. They
often forget that, without love, they would not have any of those. Love is
what bonds us to one another. Love is the essential ingredient. Without it,
sex is meaningless, approval is bribery and success is short-lived.
It is only when we unite with one another that we can accomplish
anything substantial and sustainable. Without love, we would be just like
animals that have not developed the ability to experience love or human
beings who are forced to live in animalistic survival mode. We would eat
our young and kill each other over territory.
Thus, love is not only a requirement for human relationships, it defines our
livelihood. Love is not only a necessity of life; it is the origin of life.
Love deprivation
When any living organism is deprived of something that it needs to live, it
responds in one of two ways: passive submission or violent resistance.
Passive submission is how trees respond to incoming death. With each
second that a tree is deprived of sunlight or water, the brilliant gloss of its
leaves fades to make way for a flat matte. With each moment, the vibrant
greens shift imperceptibly along a gradient to brown. As the days go on,

the twigs become more brittle as the leaves start to curl and fall off. The
branches turn downward as the plant can no longer reach its feeble arms
up to receive the sun. They, too, change colour from a deep brown to a
cold ash grey. With each passing sunrise, the tree slowly wilts without
resistance or protest. Eventually, the last leaf falls and the last branch
hardens. The plant dies, silently.
There are people all around you passively submitting to their love
deficiency. As a collective, we have developed clever nouns for these
death symptoms. We call them depression, low self-image, low motivation,
sexual dysfunction and laziness. Without the love that sustains us, the
passive submitters slowly wither away.
These people are often dismissed as inheritors of faulty genetics or
improper brain chemicals. With each coming moment that they spend
without the love that they so desperately need, they lose a glimmer of
hope. They may realize, at one point, that love is what they need, but by
that time they think its too late or too difficult to get what they need.
Their passion dies, along with their last shred of hope, meekly and silently.
The other response to incoming death is violent resistance. This is the
exact response that a fish produces when a fisherman grabs her out of the
water. At first, the fish feels the hook in her mouth and begins to protest.
As the line reels in, she panics. Her movements become more jerky and
volatile. She thrashes side to side, up and down. She struggles with all her
might, trying one strategy then the next, then the next. The less oxygen
she receives, the harder she pushes. Feeling her impending doom drawing
nearer by the millisecond, the fish fights without holding back or stopping,
until her little heart burns out from a lack of oxygen. She dies quickly and
suddenly, mid-battle.
All around you are people violently resisting their deprivation of love. We
have developed clever nouns for their symptoms as well. Violent resisters
display: anxiety, anger, aggression, drug and alcohol abuse, binge eating,

desperation, promiscuity and self-harm. This death response is often

glamorized. He who dies mid-battle is said to die an honourable death.
There are whole cults formed around belligerent rock stars and junkie
poets. Their self-destruction is romanticized as a logical partner of their
brilliance.
When someone dies from addiction weakly, passively submitting, people
shake their heads. When someone dies from addiction violently, struggling
hard every moment, people widen their eyes. Perhaps they detect a hint
of themselves in the self-terminating mechanism. They sense the same
deprivation that they themselves suffer from and they look at violent
resistance as a cure because it seems to exude control.
In truth, theres no control in either submitting or resisting. Both are
symptoms of the same disease. Violent resistance has simply learned to
disguise itself as a therapy.
As a collective, we have so deeply normalized these symptoms that our
line of defence against them is simply to remove them from sight. Day
after day, more and more medications are prescribed for depression and
addiction, assuming that these things run in our blood, when really they
run in our patterns of awareness.
Our bodies signal to us that were starving for love, but since we dont
speak the language of the body, we become frustrated with its
communication attempts. We silence it with medication and therapy while
grudges and resentment grow like malignant tumours, reported violence
spreads like a virus, and mood disorders continue to rise to their highest
levels in recorded history.
We continue to treat the symptoms, but we dont treat the problem, so the
problem grows. Its almost as if were collectively attempting to clean oil
out of the ocean, while the spill keeps flowing and no one bothers to find
its source. We just clean up the mess and accept it as a part of life.

Concealing with medication is so normalized that we hardly question it.

We have collectively accepted our love deprivation as a normal statejust
the way life is. From the time were very young, were taught to medicate
symptoms. Were taught that problems like addiction, unhappiness and
depression can happen to any unlucky person and that all we can do is
dose ourselves when they come.
This is no ones fault. Its simply how things have turned out. Its not the
fault of doctors, psychologists or parents. Theyre simply following in the
footsteps of everyone else. They study big books about how to treat
symptoms and hold meetings about the best ways to eliminate them. All
the while, the flow of problems continues.
Problems, like human beings, are always either growing or shrinking. Our
deprivation of love is a quickly growing epidemic, which we allow to seep
like a virus into our hearts and minds, blindly blaming the symptoms and
not the cause.
The myth of love scarcity
Theres a popular and dangerous myth out there that speaks of love
scarcity. This myth tells us that theres not enough love to go around for
everyone.
Its almost as if life is a giant buffet and love is the favourite dish of all the
people. Everyone lines up, but only the first in line gets her fair share.
Everyone else either gets scraps or gets turned away.
The doling out of love is said to be a matter of being lucky enough to get it
at the right moment with the right person. This is exactly why people
throw themselves at married, unavailable or violent people. They get a
glimpse of love and they fear that its the only scrap theyll ever get, so
they hold on with all their might.

This myth is also exactly why people use each other and throw one
another away. They see one another as a measly helping of love and they
want more. They line up once again, this time hoping for their one true
love, their soul mate.
The myth of love scarcity also pins people against one another as
competitors for the small game that is love. They drive themselves crazy,
pushing the boundaries of their values, fighting for their piece of the pie.
This myth threatens our survival. It turns us into illogical, starving animals
who believe that living in desperate, helpless need is our natural state.
Miles away from you and I live people who believe theres a scarcity of
food just as much as weve been made to believe that theres a scarcity of
love. They grasp for a few breadcrumbs with the same desperation that
we grasp for a few words of approval. They throw themselves at bread the
way we throw ourselves at each other, all of us desperate to satisfy our
hunger. Helpless, hungry, and blind, we die slowly while blaming it on a
scarcity of resources.
All those miles away, the scarcity of food, like our scarcity of love, is
simply an illusion. The nomad walks up and down the territory searching
for food. She lives in constant survival mode. After her first lesson in
agriculture, however, every nomad learns to plant and harvest her own
food.
Through the process of sowing and reaping, she settles and quickly learns
that there is no shortage of food after all. There is no problem with supply.
There is only a shortage of knowledge about how to harness that supply.
A lack of knowledge
To people without this vital knowledge about food, life is full of all sorts of
problems. Diseases of the mind and body infest the food-deprived beings.
They blame this deprivation on the land or the industrialized man or God.
They believe theyre lacking in resources, when really theyre lacking in

knowledge. They starve while the land remains an untapped resource of

infinite abundance.
And so we live in a culture deprived of love. It is not love itself that is
lacking. It is our knowledge of how to harness the enormous supply of it
that is lacking. As a result of our ignorance, our lives are full of all sorts of
problems. Diseases of the mind and body, passive submission and violent
resistance, spread like the plague.
For our deprivation, we blame our parents, our partners, our institutions
and our maker. Love continues to shine like the sun, available to anyone
who knows how to tap its vitality, while we stay blind and hungry.
Curiously, cultures deprived of food are rarely deprived of love. They
balance their lack of one life necessity with an abundance of another,
though theyre still not truly satisfied. The food-starved being loves with
such force that it seems super-human. The love-starved being consumes
with the same force.
Our culture has bred consumers and addicts. We eat too much, buy too
much, and want too much. We set ourselves on the fruitless mission of
filling the gaping hole within us with material things. Blindly, we consume
more and more, believing were hungry for more food, status, or money,
yet really were hungry for connection. The hole widens, bottomless to all
of our invented pleasures, and craving only the nourishment of love.
If only we all knew that love, like food, is simple if we only learn the rules
of how it works. If it was common knowledge that love is a basic
necessity, we would have the motivation we need to seek the truth about
it.
If only we perceived how much we struggle without love, we could
understand our suffering and the suffering of others with non-judgment
and compassion. We could all come together to learn about love and help
each other meet this vital need. If only we recognized the myth of love

scarcity as false and the symptoms of love deprivation as responsible for

most of our problems. If only we were all taught from childhood that love
is just like the sunit is all around us, keeping us alive, and we need only
to adjust ourselves to its nature to get the harvest we wish to reap.
Love is more abundant than we could possibly imagine. Just like there is
more air than we could possibly breathe in, there is more love than we
could possibly perceive. There is no risk of running out of love. There is no
limit on love. The only limits are of our perception, our awareness. The
only risk is of being closed off to love and living a life of failing to perceive
it.

Energy Scarcity
Petroleum has been the driver of human productive capacity for more
than 100 years, helping humankind achieve great productivity... but we
may now be reaching a point where world demand will soon be surpassing
world supply. This is energy scarcity, often referred to as Peak Oil.
Oil has the highest energy leverage of any resource; it now delivers about
75 times the energy needed to extract it. Most of the technology and
products developed and produced in the 20th century were either
powered or manufactured with oil.
However, many leading oil geologists now argue that the world is quickly
reaching the point where total world consumption of oil will soon outstrip
the production rate of oil world-wide.
Today, no one seriously disputes that the production of accessible
petroleum reserves will max out sometime between now and the year
2020. The world will then face energy descentan increasingly widening
gap between oil production and demand - and energy transition - the

emergence of potentially new forms of energy to replace or substitute for

oil, such as shale gas and synthetic oil.
The size and growth of the energy gap will be exaggerated by continuing
urban and industrial development in China and India. As low cost
manufacturers with a combined population of 2.5 billion including many
middle class aspirants China and India will compete fiercely with
traditional petroleum consumers in Europe and North America.
There is still significant debate as to the economic impacts of Energy
Scarcity. Critics of Peak Oil such as Vaclav Smil assert that even as oil
production capacity decreases, other types of fuel will be available take
oil's place. For example, even though oil is now the primary fuel for
transportation, as oil prices rise as international oil supplies peak,
transportation will simply begin to transition to electric power sources
supplied through the burning of coal or natural gas. However, irrespective
of the availability of substitute fuels, Peak Oil proponents such as Richard
Heinberg argue that the increasing cost of oil will necessarily induce price
pressures on both transportation and food production, which will in turn
produce economic and social stresses on cities. The question is therefore
not whether there will be future stress, but rather, at what level, and how
quickly will the price pressures occur.

Potential Energy Scarcity Impacts:

Much higher cost of oil and all fuels

Cars become a less affordable means of mass transportation

Much greater need for pubic mass transportation

Re-localization of agriculture / food production

Re-localization of manufacturing

Transformation and/or death of suburbs

Why is energy scarcity so central to the Resilient City idea?

Energy Scarcity is central to the discussion of resilience because oil and
other fossil fuels both power our cities, and also figure heavily in
producing

the

resources

that

build

and

run

them.

Construction,

manufacturing, food production, transportation and many other services

are all heavily oil-dependant.
So rising oil prices on the downward slope of the peak oil curve could
produce huge stresses on urban and national economies. Learning how to
live with less oil, while finding non-carbon replacements for the energy
that it provides, and the products derived from it, will be the key challenge
for cities worldwide in the 21st century, and is a central theme of creating
more resilient cities.
Architects, engineers and urban planners now have an opportunity to
begin to develop urban planning and building design strategies for
successfully transitioning from carbon to post-carbon cities. This is an
enormous challenge to our professions, but one that we must take up.

sustainability

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-scarcity.html

http://agr.mt.gov/agr/Programs/AgClassroom/LessonPlans/46/pdf/Economics_x_Ag/Scarcity.pdf

https://www.google.lk/webhp?sourceid=chromeinstant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=scarcity+definition+pdf

http://www.themindfulword.org/2014/myth-love-scarcity-knowledge/

http://www.resilientcity.org/index.cfm?id=11897

http://water.org/water-crisis/water-sanitation-facts/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/scarcity-in-economics-definition-causesexamples.html

The economic problem is a permanent problem for human societies. In the immediate future
there is neither a limitation of the needs nor a substantial increase in the resources to satisfy
needs. On the contrary, indeed, as the pessimistic scholars support the economic problem will
become more intense.
This forecast is based on three elements: 1) the continuous increase in world population, 2) the
depletion of energy sources and 3) the negative effects of the production of many products in the
natural environment e.g. contamination of rivers, etc.
But along with such bleak prospects there is the evolution of technology and the
possibility to find new energy sources that tend to dampen the intensity of the economic problem.

To people without this vital knowledge about food, life is full of all sorts of
problems. Diseases of the mind and body infest the food-deprived beings.

They blame this deprivation on the land or the industrialized man or God.
They believe theyre lacking in resources, when really theyre lacking in
knowledge. They starve while the land remains an untapped resource of
infinite abundance.
Energy Scarcity is central to the discussion of resilience because oil and
other fossil fuels both power our cities, and also figure heavily in
producing

the

resources

that

build

and

run

them.

Construction,

manufacturing, food production, transportation and many other services

are all heavily oil-dependant.
So rising oil prices on the downward slope of the peak oil curve could
produce huge stresses on urban and national economies. Learning how to
live with less oil, while finding non-carbon replacements for the energy
that it provides, and the products derived from it, will be the key challenge
for cities worldwide in the 21st century, and is a central theme of creating
more resilient cities.
Architects, engineers and urban planners now have an opportunity to
begin to develop urban planning and building design strategies for
successfully transitioning from carbon to post-carbon cities. This is an
enormous challenge to our professions, but one that we must take up.
However, to the degree that developments can be predicted, the basic economic problem seems
to be permanent. And so we live in a culture deprived of love. It is not love

itself that is lacking. It is our knowledge of how to harness the enormous

supply of it that is lacking. As a result of our ignorance, our lives are full of
all sorts of problems. Diseases of the mind and body, passive submission
and violent resistance, spread like the plague.
For our deprivation, we blame our parents, our partners, our institutions
and our maker. Love continues to shine like the sun, available to anyone
who knows how to tap its vitality, while we stay blind and hungry.
Curiously, cultures deprived of food are rarely deprived of love. They
balance their lack of one life necessity with an abundance of another,

though theyre still not truly satisfied. The food-starved being loves with
such force that it seems super-human. The love-starved being consumes
with the same force.
Our culture has bred consumers and addicts. We eat too much, buy too
much, and want too much. We set ourselves on the fruitless mission of
filling the gaping hole within us with material things. Blindly, we consume
more and more, believing were hungry for more food, status, or money,
yet really were hungry for connection. The hole widens, bottomless to all
of our invented pleasures, and craving only the nourishment of love.
We could all come together to learn about love and help each other meet
this vital need. If only we were all taught from childhood that love is just
like the sunit is all around us, keeping us alive, and we need only to
adjust ourselves to its nature to get the harvest we wish to reap. The only
limits are of our perception, our awareness. The only risk is of being
closed off to love and living a life of failing to perceive it.