How do you think economic growth happens ? Economic growth is always based on taking from the Earth, maybe 'improving' it, then selling it. The connections may be indirect, I agree, but they always come back to the ultimate reservoir of stuff, the Earth. From where else could it come (ignoring extra-planetary locations)? If you had said instead "Economic activity is always based on...." then I would have to agree with you. The question at issue is not whether there is some type of economic activity which uses no resources at all. There isn't. Conventional economics says that all economic ..read more

Okay, there's no philosophy to be found here. Just politicking. Thread locked - not to be re-opened. This is supposed to be a philosophy forum. Statistics: Posted by Sy Borg — Mon Jun 17, 2024 9:43 pm ..read more

Your forecast re the timing strikes me as is a hopeful one, LuckyR. I hope you are right. If population does not drop in step with further automation and AI, then we will need something like a UBI to take care of all the unemployed. Unless we choose to let them starve. That might be possible in authoritarian regimes. Hard to do in democracies. And if population does not drop and emissions of GHGs continues to rise, and if we cannot squeeze more production out of agricultural land, then we may be in for a rough ride. I believe my review of the relevant trends is quite accurate, though when vi ..read more

More bread means more land devoted to growing wheat, more milestones grinding it, etc. Greater use of material resources. But the economy also grows when there are more circuses... Too bad those circus performers and viewers also want to eat. A way needs to be found for humans to consume plastic! And all the other kinds of trash! Wouldn't your final sentiment drive us to cannibalism? Statistics: Posted by Pattern-chaser — Mon Jun 17, 2024 1:20 pm ..read more

How do you think economic growth happens ? Well, to start with, raw materials are taken from the (finite-sized) Earth. Then they are refined and manufactured, using equipment and other materials also taken from the Earth, and then they are sold to consumers, who spend money they earned from taking part in one of the sorts of processes I just described. Economic growth is always based on taking from the Earth, maybe 'improving' it, then selling it. The connections may be indirect, I agree, but they always come back to the ultimate reservoir of stuff, the Earth. From where else could it come ..read more

Again, you talk about Israel "shooting children" without acknowledging that Hamas deliberately put those children in harm's way so that westerners would say "Israel shoot children". Even if that was so, the IDF, a 'professional' army, should've been able to say to themselves, "Hey, that's a child", and *not pull the trigger*. But Hamas - who proclaim (lie) that they care about their people - deliberately place children in harm's way. You'd think someone might say, 'Maybe it's wrong to use children as human shields'. Why do you always answer any criticism of Israel with a counter-accusat ..read more

You have become an extremist and your views are now so extreme that you see a lack of support for Palestine as Zionism. [...] There is no philosophical issue in this topic. Morality? It's been seventy years of: We only did A because Jews did B We only did B because Arabs did C We only did C because Jews did D We only did D because Arabs did E .... Over and over, and endless cycle of recriminations and revenge for seventy years! The history of this conflict goes back nearly 3000 years, not 70. It began when a subset of the indigenous Semitic (i.e. Middle Eastern) peoples, those who ad ..read more

Your forecast re the timing strikes me as is a hopeful one, LuckyR. I hope you are right. If population does not drop in step with further automation and AI, then we will need something like a UBI to take care of all the unemployed. Unless we choose to let them starve. That might be possible in authoritarian regimes. Hard to do in democracies. And if population does not drop and emissions of GHGs continues to rise, and if we cannot squeeze more production out of agricultural land, then we may be in for a rough ride. Affluence correlates with fewer offspring. Statistics: Posted by Belinda — M ..read more

More bread means more land devoted to growing wheat, more milestones grinding it, etc. Greater use of material resources. But the economy also grows when there are more circuses... Too bad those circus performers and viewers also want to eat. A way needs to be found for humans to consume plastic! And all the other kinds of trash! Statistics: Posted by baker — Mon Jun 17, 2024 9:13 am ..read more

Your forecast re the timing strikes me as is a hopeful one, LuckyR. I hope you are right. If population does not drop in step with further automation and AI, then we will need something like a UBI to take care of all the unemployed. Unless we choose to let them starve. That might be possible in authoritarian regimes. Hard to do in democracies. And if population does not drop and emissions of GHGs continues to rise, and if we cannot squeeze more production out of agricultural land, then we may be in for a rough ride. Statistics: Posted by Lagayscienza — Mon Jun 17, 2024 6:47 am ..read more