[silvinator]

This is a great topic Phil. It has been something I've been pondering over recently and has been bothering me. I voted for Mars as well, though, I doubt living there would be any better than Earth.
I saw a doco last week about people that live on 1 dollar a day and why they have been forced to live that way. The focus was on the textiles industry. Basically, people in countries like Mali, Cambodia and Peru (I believe, or it may it have been Chile) that grow cotton, make garments or grow alpacas etc, are forced into poverty because they cannot compete with the world markets in the textiles industry. The main argument for this was because the richer nations (i.e the US) subsidise their own farmers that grow the same materials, but these poorer nations do not have the money to do the same for their own farmers. They are also competing against cheap labour nations like China, as opposed to Cambodia, who advocate fairer workplace practices, which means their textiles cost a little more and are unable to compete fairly.
So yes, the world is stuffed. And I also believe that greed is definitely a driving force on this Earth of ours and that it will be to our demise. Not just in the textiles industry but in all aspects of human growth. Let's face it, our resources and commodities are being rapidly consumed, there is a grossly uneven distribution of wealth, and we have not even begun to tap into the realm of renewable energy sources.
Ken, you're right, this is a gloomy thread but it has to be discussed. Sadly, we cannot bury our heads in the sand forever.