Five main dangers that threaten the future of our civilization

1. We can't wait for you to read: EuRICAA – The Road to a Peaceful Future: The First Global Infrastructure Project
2. We can't wait for you to read: EuRICAA – A Worldview Environmental Revolution: A Code of New Eco sapiens Civilizational Standards.

“He who does not feel at home with the divine
perceives the divine as something uncanny and unreal”
Friedrich Nietzsche

Five main dangers that threaten the future of our civilization

Dear Europeans,

In our current technological times, human life cannot be used as a testing site for politicians and businessmen, but should be organized according to a program drawn up by highly intelligent people.

However, at present, the civilizational and geoclimatic developments occurring on planet Earth are giving rise to dangers that are threatening humanity’s very existence. These dangers are so critical that they take even higher priority over the threat of a thermonuclear war. Although politicians have enough common sense to prevent a nuclear apocalypse, their seeming lack of understanding of the real danger of planetary risks will most surely lead to an irrevocable disaster.

In this light please allow me to set forth the main dangers threatening humanity that require urgent attention today.

1. The first planetary danger is the environmental threat. Between 21 August and 1 September, record high temperatures were registered at the North Pole, while on 27 August a historic record of + 35⁰C was noted. Four hundred and seventy million tonnes of ice have melted, and all of this water has been submerging Europe since October. A catastrophic situation is developing in the world’s mountain glaciers—in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Andes, the Himalayas, the Cordilleras, on Tian Shan, the Kunlun mountains, in the Caucasus, and so on. Over the past five years, they have lost 2.2 trillion tonnes of ice; the shrinking ice cover in the mountains will cause a decrease in fresh water, which will lead to the desiccation and degradation of the soil and the devastation of agriculture in the regions close by these mountainous areas. The melting glaciers will change the course of mountain rivers, destroy the flora and fauna of these regions, and increase the risk of severe rock falls and mountain floods.

The world’s ice supplies amount to 30 million cubic kilometers. If the global warming trends continue, 3% of this amount will melt in the next five years. The level of the World Ocean will rise by 80 cm, and in 12 years this rise will reach 1 m 60 cm. Do we need to say which cities will disappear from the map of Europe and the entire world and the extent to which dry land will decrease? And if all the ice melts, the water level of the World Ocean will rise by more than 70 meters.

Today the air is polluted with 3.3 trillion tonnes of CO₂. When this amount reaches 5 trillion tonnes, it will have a palpably detrimental effect on human health. Keeping in mind the all-out consumption occurring in the world today, this figure will be reached in 7-8 years. And the next dangerous level of CO₂ content in the air of 8 trillion tonnes will follow fast on its heels. Without an environmental revolution, this figure will be reached by 2040. By 2050, we will attain the third hazardous level of 15 trillion tonnes, whereby life on the planet will cease to exist.

We are approaching a thermal peak, which, as I and other environmentalists predict, will occur around 2055-60, when the temperature of the World Ocean reaches 21⁰C and that of the Arctic Ocean tops 9⁰C. Hundreds of billions of tonnes of methane will be discharged from the World Ocean and permafrost zones, which will result in a global thousand-year fire that will consume absolutely everything.

In order to overcome the environmental crisis, I have presented the global community with the EURICAA project. Its two volumes—EURICAA—The Road to a Peaceful Future: The First Global Infrastructure Project and EURICAA—A Worldview Environmental Revolution: A Code of New Eco Sapiens Civilizational Standards—have been published in 13 languages of the world at www.euricaa.org. The project primarily envisions a change in the mentality of today’s human beings—a transition from Homo consumers to Eco sapiens, environmentally rational man, aimed at halting the consequences of the anthropogenic impact on our planet.

In 7-10 years, we will wake up one morning in January and it will feel like July. While in July it will feel as cold as January. Our concept of the seasons will pass into oblivion. Only it will be too late to do anything about it. In such conditions, agriculture will perish. Will Homo consumers stoop so low as to turn crematoria and cemeteries into protein-producing enterprises to compensate for the shortage of food? And this will most likely happen if they do not change their mentality, do not adopt an Eco sapiens worldview.

If we do not invest enormous funds in the environment (including by cutting the colossal NATO budgets), the temperature on the planet will continue to steadily rise, the glaciers will melt at a faster rate, and the cities of Europe will be inundated with water. The level of the World Ocean will rise and Europe’s land mass will shrink. This will instigate a mass migration of people all over the world. Where will Europeans go? To Africa? But in the south of the African continent around 50 million people are already starving due to the high temperatures and drought. The flora and fauna is disappearing, rivers and lakes are drying out. An increasing number of Africans eat only once in two to three days.

There is only one place for all these migrants to go—the boundless expanses of Russia. Germany has a population density of 227 people per square kilometer, while in Russia there are only 7 people per square kilometer, which is one of the lowest indices in the world.

Think about the future; let us all work together to lower the emotional tone of the hawkish rhetoric.

Dear Europeans,

Do not allow Russia to make its final retreat into Asia and join forces with China, India, Vietnam, and other countries… The first consultations are already underway aimed at establishing an AEU—Asian Economic Union, which will unite more than three billion people. Who will remain with us, Germany and Europe? Estonia, Latvia and Montenegro? The population of these countries can easily be accommodated in one small district of the Chinese metropolitan of Guangzhou, or in a dozen buildings of Mumbai.

In 20-30 years, are we really going to have to change the name of Bismarck Strasse in Hamburg to Deng Xiaoping? Or the Champs-Élysées Boulevard in Paris to Indira Gandhi? While Genghis Khan Street will appear in London? No, no, not as the result of occupation, but by peaceful means caused by the economy, the buying up of real estate and other assets, and the demographic potential!

The politicians of Germany and the whole of Europe must think very seriously about this very possible prospect. We need to foresee the developments that will unfold in the near future and make preparations to prevent negative scenarios.

Serious thought must be given here to a step-by-step concept that will bring Europe closer to Russia. By the 2030s, it must become part of a united Europe. This rapprochement will be an expression of “pure common sense.”

I was astounded by what went on at the Madrid meeting of environmentalists in 2019, where people gathered who have been unable to fulfill themselves in politics, but who, apparently, want to fulfill themselves in the environmental field. Nothing will come of it! Environmental protection is a scientific, not a political endeavor. Environmental issues cannot be resolved in one country alone; this is a global worldwide problem that can only be resolved by uniting all the countries of the world for adopting essentiallynew environmental standards. Standards are specific things, and general political discussions will be of no help here.

2.The second planetary danger is the uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence. It will lead to people being ousted from the labor market. According to my forecast, by as early as 2030-35, more than one billion people will lose their jobs. What are the politicians going to do with this number of unemployed? Will they give them budget handouts? Or send them to live in caves?

The whole world knows about android Sophia, who received Saudi Arabian citizenship. Admirers from around the world have been offering her their hearts and dream of marrying her. The stronger sex is fascinated by her income. In addition to Sophia, several thousand humanoid robot-androids and tens, hundreds of thousands of artificial intelligence sites have been developed today that are now replacing architects, lawyers, bank employees, accountants, and so on. And what is more, they are becoming “members” of the family.

China has launched a girl robot that corresponds to the Chinese ideal of beauty, with exquisite facial features and soft skin. The developers have enhanced the android with high-quality characteristics, such as kindness, servility and obedience. To give her more authenticity, she is capable of making many facial expressions that superbly imitate those of humans. She enjoys great demand in the market.

Japan has also launched a new type of female android. This robot is not only very beautiful, she also has a great deal of sex appeal. The first batch, which reached four-digit figures, sold out immediately. Single Japanese men see her as a substitute for a wife—she talks to her spouse, listens to him, does all kinds of household chores, and even offers intimate services.

At the request of women, the manufacturers of androids are planning to put out men robots in 2020. This cyborg has also been given ideal characteristics. See photos of androids at www.euricaa.org.

In the next five to ten years, there will be hundreds of thousands of androids (both male and female). “Will they all demand their own citizenship?”

I, as I know you are, am dismayed by the well-known figures: in 2018, China allotted 5.4 billion dollars from its state budget to the development of artificial intelligence (and these figures are constantly growing). Furthermore, the same year China’s private investments in the neuron network amounted to 25 billion dollars.

A total of 4.9 billion dollars in grants are to be allotted in 2020 from the U.S. state budget to the developers of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, American private business invested more than 36 billion dollars in this sector in 2018, and these figures are also steadily rising.

In Japan, a total of 5 billion dollars in private investments have been made every year in the neuron network for the past 7 years.

In Israel, a small state of talented people, 2.3 billion dollars were invested in AI development in 2018, despite its military and political problems.

These countries are looking optimistically to their future.

Between 2018 and 2020, the EU budget allotted a total of 1.6 billion dollars, that is, less than 10% of the budgets of their main competitors, to the development of the neuron network. In 2018-2019, private companies in the EU invested 7 billion dollars in the development of artificial intelligence, that is, around 10% of the private investments made by China and the U.S., 60% of Japanese investments and only 70% more than Israel’s investments.

At the same time, German companies invested only 910 million dollars in the AI sector in 2018.

We Europeans are used to believing that our intelligence is responsible for the technological progress of contemporary civilization. Are we really going to have to part with this significant element of our history? The countries actively investing in the development of artificial intelligence, in particular the neuron network, will gain full control over the world, and this will happen in the next seven to ten years!

3. The third global planetary issue is the need for humankind’s biological enhancement. Creating a new civilizational Homo cosmicus implies that humanity must undergo fundamental preparation that will enable it to live in space. Humanity cannot wait for the results of evolution and blind mutations, but must independently begin changing its biological nature. The human body is made up of the same elemental particles as the rest of the Universe—planets, stars, comets, nebulosity, and other objects. But not one country is investing in humanity’s evolutionary biological process, because they do not see the commercial benefit in this. It is a humanitarian project called on to help humanity move into outer space, if necessary, in order to survive as a species. This is within the power of the present-day scientific world. However, the leading corporations are siphoning the largest investments—hundreds of billions of dollars—into the development of artificial intelligence. However, investments should be primarily being made in people and scientific development, thus enabling human civilization to rise to a new level.

There are no contradictions between public control over the development of artificial intelligence and investments in enhancing the biological status of human beings. These two processes should go hand-in-hand, with the priority, of course, going to Homo cosmicus.

I ask you to consider the following facts, which are frankly beyond my understanding. We are spending colossal amounts on military development without giving it a second thought. In 2019, NATO spent around one trillion dollars for this purpose. Do we really need such an unwieldy gigantic military bloc? Why are we Europeans taking active part in this mad hysteria? Is this crazy consumption not depriving us of our reason? The world is full of nuclear arms amounting to tens of thousands of bombs and missiles, as well as their carriers—every possible kind of land-based, underwater and airborne rockets, of which there are several thousand. Why does the world need such an inconceivable number of airplanes, tanks, cannons and armored vehicles—all of which are called conventional weapons? In order to bomb Libya, Serbia, and Syria? In order to fight Afghanistan? These are very dubious goals! There is some rationale behind having an army of around a hundred thousand soldiers and officers, but not with such a mind-blowing budget. Furthermore, NATO’s current material base is causing extreme detriment to the global environment—both due to the manufacture of weapons and during maneuvers and military exercises.

There can be no doubt that if the superpowers clash in a military conflict using conventional weapons, the underdog will make use of its nuclear potential and the world will perish. There can be no victors in such a war. Everyone will lose!

I would like to remind you that even one 10-megaton nuclear bomb has a destructive force capable of destroying the entire population and all the buildings within a range of 100 square kilometers. It is known that nine 10-megaton bombs will resolve any military conflict. Europe, from Gibraltar to the Urals, will be entirely devastated and all life destroyed. And there are thousands of such bombs. If launched, any large city, along with all of its residents, property and infrastructure, will be reduced to ashes. Is this the fate that awaits us?

Another extremely important component of the global and continental problem is that millions of Europeans serve in the NATO army. This powerful demographical resource has been removed from contemporary science, the economy, and culture. It is time, despite the military industry lobby, to begin international disarmament. There is no other future for Europe and the world.

I suggest that intellectuals, politicians, military experts and environmentalists of Europe gather as soon as possible in Hamburg to discuss the reformation of NATO and draw up a new conception of technological and political development for our continent. Without these programs, in ten years, the EU will become a union of third-world countries.

I suggest holding public discussions in Europe about the reformation of NATO. I propose reducing the current 28 members to the following nine: Germany, the U.S., Holland, France, Austria, Belgium, England, Spain, and Italy. The other European countries can enter a solidarity pact with these Nine, but cannot be its members, to prevent their anti-Russian hysteria from putting psychological pressure on us EU citizens, on you, on the NATO leaders, and on Europe’s entire political establishment, so that the European continent ceases to be the most conflict-prone region on the Planet. Beginning in 2020, efficient and consistent steps must be taken to reduce the military-political tension. Europe must strengthen itself as one of the most powerful, political-economic and technologically developed structures of the present-day world.

The Hamburg discussion should also include questions relating to language and culture. The number of languages must be reduced in order to activate European integration—this has been repeatedly observed in the history of civilization. In the past thousand years alone, more than 80 languages have disappeared: Anglo-Norman, Gallic, Gothic, and others.

I propose discussing linguistic reform. I suggest introducing English as the second state language in all the countries of the European Union and giving preference to its development throughout Europe. A magnificent example is the U.S., which, after long debate, chose English as the only state language.

We Europeans must become a unified nation. We have most likely already become a unified ethnicity. Take a look at my calculations regarding the formation of ethnicities. If a state consists of one to three million people, in 20 generations the entire population will essentially become one family consisting of cousins, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. If a population consists of 100 million people, they will become relatives in 26 generations, and if a population is one billion strong, they will all become related in 30 generations (see a version of my mathematical formula of kinship at www.euricaa.org).

Human development dictates creating a unified European nation, with one language, culture and civilization. Europe’s general ideology should be aimed at boosting the spiritual, technological and intellectual strength of the continent. Nations with a population of one, five, ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty million people will be unable to lead a full-fledged existence in the future. China, for example, has already declared that its demographic index will reach two billion by 2040 and 2.5 billion people by 2060.

China has recently unified seven major and more than 80 provincial languages (they have survived only as dialects) into one oral and written language—putunhua or mandarin. Admittedly, four written languages are still in use: Tibetan, Manchurian, Mongolian and Zhuang—although 56 relatively large ethnicities live in the country. India has decided to leave only two state languages—Hindi and English—of the thirty that existed until the second half of the 20th century (the most widespread of which were Tamil and Telugu). Russia has extended its language to thirty-seven non-Russian Eurasian ethnicities. Language is the most important constituent of culture, without which it is impossible to create a unified nation.

The second most important issue regarding the establishment of a European state is a Unified Law. It should cover all the regulations of public life—from constitutional rights and citizen freedoms to unified family, labor, criminal and procedural rights. There cannot and must not be any discrepancies in the laws in this Union of States. Only unified legislative acts, regardless of the historical specifics of the regions, are capable of consolidating different ethnicities into a unified state. There is an acute need to unify requirements, including with respect to local government bodies, in matters regarding the issuing of permits for construction, commerce, industry, agriculture, and the environment.

In the southern countries of the EU—Italy, Spain, France, Greece, and Bulgaria—businessmen wait for years for elementary permits to begin their activity. The legal system leaves much to be desired—the number of judges must be increased to speed up legal decision-making. Strict legal regulations must be developed regarding the activity of the EU’s bureaucracy. It often places itself above the law.

As a result, the economy in these countries is weak and shows no real growth.

If these vital issues, a Unified Language and Unified Law, are not resolved, the EU has no future prospects.

4. The fourth global danger is the asteroid threat, which the world is not making any real effort to intercept. The asteroid threat represents a planetary danger. At present, more than 90 percent of the parameters of asteroid movement have been studied and calculations carried out to assess the likelihood of them colliding with Earth. We know the orbits, speed, rotation and other parameters relating to certain celestial bodies and asteroids. However, their possible gravitational interaction with large planets and collision with others asteroids might lead to new celestial bodies unexpectedly appearing in space, the parameters of which are unknown.

In the first case, scientists will have all the information in advance about an asteroid’s movement toward the Earth, while in the second, an asteroid or celestial body might appear unexpectedly leaving very little time to prevent a collision. Two methods are known for preventing an asteroid from colliding with planet Earth. The first is to attack the asteroid and deflect it from its flight path. However, an asteroid travels at a speed of 25-30 km a second and modern technology does not have systems that operate at this speed (up to one km a second). The second alternative is to produce a thermal impact on an asteroid as it flies past. This will vaporize all line of sight exposed surface areas of the object, thus causing a change in its orbit. A preliminary analysis has shown that a nuclear explosive device could provide the necessary energy to carry out this process. But several international agreements are currently in effect that prohibit nuclear explosions and the launching of nuclear weapons into space, which makes it impossible to carry out tests. The only hope is if international organizations agree to remove this test ban regarding asteroid protection of the planet, which could save the Earth from destruction.

5. The fifth global problem is that the NATO leadership and other leading European politicians have recently been making frequent statements about Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO. In light of this, I and my friends are wondering if the people who work in NATO’s analytical structures are professionals? Do these people truly understand the reality of today’s world? Do they have any idea about the military potential of Russia and China? After hearing these irrational statements about Ukraine’s accession to NATO, I am convinced that this is not the case. The Alliance leadership is surrounded by non-professionals who present deliberately distorted and unreliable information. If Ukraine accedes to NATO a war in Europe will surely follow.

We need to understand what will happen if the North Atlantic Alliance decides to make Ukraine one of its members, since Russia’s military and political authorities cannot permit this. There is absolutely no doubt that such a decision will lead to war in the center of Europe with the possible use of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the day before Ukraine accedes to NATO, Russian troops will move into Ukrainian territory.

A global military conflict will develop, into which my family and my fellow German countrymen will be drawn—and there are more than 82 million of us, around 500 million if we count all Europeans. There will be millions of refugees and lethal doses of radiation… The question of Ukraine’s accession to NATO must be publically, unanimously, and forever removed from the agenda. My country, my family, and European nations have already lived through the First and Second World Wars during the 20th century. We still have a clear memory of the horrific scenes from these tragedies and the tens of millions of people who perished. We, Europeans, and citizens of the whole world do not need war. Please change your approach and pay less attention to the anti-Russian rhetoric of your East European colleagues.

In the 1970s-1980s, there was a powerful antiwar movement in Germany and other European countries, in which I frequently participated. Today, to my deepest regret, all of this has been forgotten. It is as though people are no longer concerned about the threat of another war.

I have named the five main dangers that threaten the future of our civilization:the deteriorating environmental situation, uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence, the need for enhancing humankind, the asteroid threat and the threat of war in Europe. They are serious enough to merit holding an intensive dialogue with Russia. The topics to be discussed should include the reduction of arms (the manufacture of which is having a pernicious effect on the already difficult environmental state of the planet), cutting back military budgets, and strengthening European peace cooperation.

Before flicking the switch to launch a nuclear attack, the person in charge understands the consequences of his action. When the matter concerns the environment, artificial intelligence and the asteroid threat, however, people have no real idea of the outcome.

We must understand that our Planet is on the brink of a global disaster. I am convinced that we Europeans are still at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the world in the following areas:

• environmental policy;
• the development of artificial intelligence, including the neuron network;
• enhancing human biology;
• protecting the planet from the asteroid threat;
• promoting anti-war activity—the current discussions between politicians and the military of the West and East are creating the impression that war is only a stone’s throw away.

Dear Europeans! The entire political elite of Europe and the world! Please take the time to revise your approach to ensuring peace, security and progress in Europe by devoting your attention to the following main priorities: drawing up a new environmental policy, engaging in the biological enhancement of humanity, taking active control over the development of artificial intelligence and cyber security, counteracting military threats, and preserving and strengthening peace.

All confrontational rhetoric should be removed from international relations.

Respectfully yours,
Dr. Alexander Potemkin,
Cofounder of the International Environmental Hamburg Club,
Member of the Union of journalists
Hamburg

P.S. Please check below the first two EuRICAA books: EuRICAA – The Road to a Peaceful Future: The First Global Infrastructure Project and EuRICAA – A Worldview Environmental Revolution: A Code of New Eco sapiens Civilizational Standards.

This letter and the EuRICAA project books will also be sent to the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, France, and Sweden, as well as to the leaders of the European Union and NATO.

Intellectuals, environmentalists, scientists, and all those who care about the fate of our planet! The time has come to create a Unified Europe party. Let us save the continent!

I have no ambition to head such a party or be one of its leaders. I am willing to be a rank-and-file member.

 I will end my letter with the words of great scientist Albert Einstein, who was born in our Ulm: “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”