[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]Efficiency could also be maximized by making use of smaller tube systems for the delivery of
small goods, as well the removal of waste and recycling. Pneumatic tube systems are still used in many
hospitals to transport small items throughout the building (47). By scaling this system out, or by using
smaller versions of the vactrain technology, it would be possible to create a comprehensive
infrastructure that connects every building in the city. If you order a small item, such as a customized t-
shirt, it is automatically delivered to your home. Tubes for recycling could be used to send old
thermoplastics back to vertical farms to be broken down and recycled. Tubes for waste could ensure
that anything that does need to be thrown out would be moved to the safest possible location where the
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least amount of damage would occur (although there would be very few things that would actually be
thrown out). The water system would be constructed so that our waste water is recycled into a useable
form rather than simply dumped in a convenient location. This could be done by having human waste
filtered out, with the nutrients extracted and delivered to the vertical farms, reducing the need for
synthetic or animal fertilizers (I'm being serious here). Using current technology, it is possible to
recycle waste water and retain more than 90% of the water in useable form, thus allowing us to use
mostly the same water supply over and over (48). If you're disgusted by the idea of drinking water that
used to contain your waste, consider the fairly high probability that the water you're drinking right now
once contained fish, swimming around, and having generations worth of fish-sex. Their waste would
have been in it too. The point is, we have water treatment technology for a reason, and by recycling our
waste water we would make maximal use of our limited water supply, as well as reducing or even
eliminating the need for artificial fertilizers.
So, by combining automated bit cars, passive maglev pods and vactrains, we would be able to
create a comprehensive public transport system that is fast, convenient, incredibly efficient, non-
polluting, and leaves almost no room for human error. Likewise, an internal infrastructure consisting of
pneumatic and/or miniaturized evacuated tubes would allow us to have highly convenient and efficient
delivery, recycling, and waste management systems. Lastly, by using a wastewater recycling system,
we would also get the most out of our water usage.
Access vs. Property
As of today, we live in a property based system. This is because, in an environment of scarcity,
we must find ways to ensure that the goods we have fought for will remain in our possession. And so,
we must claim certain things as our 'property', so that they will be protected by the legal system. This
results in an incredibly inefficient and wasteful society, where every individual must have 'one of
everything', even if they do not have the capacity to make use of many of those things. For example, a
car spends the majority of its time being parked, doing nothing but taking up space. Someone who
plays hockey for fun might own a set of hockey equipment that will not be used by anyone for 300 days
out of the year. Not only is this system wasteful, but it also contributes to the relative scarcity that is
present in today's economy; since everyone 'needs' their own car, we must produce far more cars than
what is useful, resulting in the expenditure of resources which could have been used in a much more
productive way. In order to overcome this issue in an RBE, we would switch from a system of
'property' to a system of 'access'.
An access system simply means that the majority of goods would not be 'owned' by any one
person, but would instead be temporarily loaned out based on need. For example, a city near the ocean
would have an access center where personal watercraft (such as small boats), would be freely available
to anyone who wanted to use them. A person would simply take the boat, use it, and then return it when
they were done. This way, every boat would get the maximum amount of use possible, thereby
maximizing efficiency, and minimizing the need to create an excess supply of boats. This same system
would also apply to things like cars (which we've seen with the bit car), sports equipment (other than
jock straps and the like), specialized audio-visual equipment, and many other things. Just like the
libraries of today, every item would be tracked upon withdrawal and return so that an accurate
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