[net.politics] people organizing to pursue their beliefs

jad@harpo.UUCP (jad) (07/23/84)

   
  The following is a description  of one of the many groups cataloged in the
  ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASSOCIATIONS, 18th Edition - 1984. It may interest those
  who believe strongly enough in the group's aims to consider pursuing them. 


     CLUB OF ROME
     c/o Aurelio Peccei      
     23, Viale Civilta del Lavoro
     I-00144 Rome, Italy                              Aurelio Peccei, Pres.

     founded: 1968.  members: 100
     Non-political, multi-national group of scientists, humanists, economists,
     educators, national and international civil servants and industrialists
     concerned about the complex problems confronting all societies, both in-
     dustrialized and developing. Seeks to act as a catalyst in effecting            change. Believes that the time has come for a fundamental reassessment of
     science and technology, their place in society, and their implications for
     the future. Promotes "research and reflection" activities concerning global     problems and how to face them. Initiated Project On The Predicament Of 
     Mankind comprising many studies , including The Limits To Growth, Mankind
     At The Turning Point, Reshaping The International Order, Goals For Mankind,     The Human Quality, Beyond The Age Of Waste, Energy: The Countdown, No 
     Limits To Learning, Dialogue On Wealth And Welfare, Road Maps To The            Future, One Hundred Pages For The Future, and Microelectronics And Society      -- For Better Or For Worse. 
     
     

   

rmb@intelob.UUCP (07/24/84)

My recollection of the works of the Club of Rome, especially the
much-publicized "Limits to Growth", was that they were political
polemics masquerading as "scientific" studies. The Limits to Growth
purported to prove that by the mid-1980's the world would be
running out of all sorts of non-renewable resources, especially
oil; the "proof" was a computerized macroeconomic model whose
assumptions were somewhat simplistic (e.g. world energy consumption
would continue to increase at the rates that had prevailed in the
'60s, regardless of the order-of-magnitude increase in price
resulting from the '73 oil embargo!) and whose stability was
extremely suspect.  All in all, a classic case of GIGO on which
many column-inches of newsprint were wasted.

Bob Bentley                    "...for in spite of all temptations/
                                   to belong to other nations/
Intel Corp.                        he remains an Englishman"
Hillsboro, Oregon
...tektronix!ogcvax!inteloa!rmb