tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post1233398908814436433..comments2024-03-28T17:08:15.784-07:00Comments on Social Democracy for the 21st Century: A Realist Alternative to the Modern Left: Automation and Robotics: The Future of Manufacturing?Lord Keyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-30161644799641160572016-06-20T20:45:41.494-07:002016-06-20T20:45:41.494-07:00Been seeing the so-called "Driverless Car&quo...Been seeing the so-called "Driverless Car" in a few videos, lately. There's even a somewhat diverless 18-wheeler!<br /><br />I think the Worker's Co-op movement as seen in Argentina may be the future for those not ready to sit in a rocking chair.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11890229869783893118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-61319899220661272592010-09-15T17:23:00.112-07:002010-09-15T17:23:00.112-07:00What we probably disagree on is how long can globa...What we probably disagree on is how long can global population and its subsets, energy use and resource depletion can continue before supplies get tight and things get ugly. Population growth is usually followed by [more resources or 'commodities, which allows population to keep growing ] or war, which cures the poplulation problem.[Resources and commodities aren't keeping up with economic growth, which is really a really intellectualized term for Human Growth. Corporations can't grow without humans]. The sharper the growth, the more severe and destructive the wars will be, if the 20th century's two World Wars are any indication. This is cyclic. Given the accelerating population growth towards the beginning of the 21st century, a serious conflict is overdue.<br /><br />Let me put it this way, there are not enough tangible and intangible resources to sustain the global economy and there are not enough tangible and intangible resources to get humans to colonize space. The current manned space flights are very expensive. Commercial space tourism (a private version of what astronauts do now) would cost a billion dollars a traveller or customer.Complicated life sustaining structures would run into the trillions of dollars, at least. There's not even enough money in existance to pay for it, even if there was political will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-38490999527678063012010-09-15T17:09:57.032-07:002010-09-15T17:09:57.032-07:00Energy demand is only a product of the problem. A ...Energy demand is only a product of the problem. A booming global population is the heart of the problem that no one'll talk about. Population control is seen as inhuman. From what I've observed, economies keep growing rapidly as long as the working age population continues to grow and that is what is happening in the developing and third world. If the working age population is unemployed, it can threaten systemic stability. This is possibly why authoritarianism crops up in poor croweded countries. The need to repress potential chaos can be mitigated by the market economy. Improving living standards in poor countries is leading, as it has historically, to a population boom. It happened in Europe in between the 17th and 19th century. Population growth was followed by food shortages and threats to politcally stability. Europe was able to export its restless and surplus population to the New World. Then, the Industrial Revolution temporarily improved things until the Great Depression. International competition among European industrial powers degenerated into war, which you should know, is a natural check on human population for reasons that are obvious. In the early 20th century, when the semi-global economy's empires couldn't keep growing, war served as a demand and supply destruction tool. World War II simply obliterated economies, consumers and infrastructure, and most importantly competition. Ever since outsourcing began in the 1970s, the world has been moving incrementally towards more competition--towards a geopolitical climate similar to Europe in the early twentieth century. Getting back to population, current policymakers believe that democratizing college will solve all economic and enviornmental problems created, in a way, by the existance of more people to begin with. The triumph of the free market since the fall of the Soviet Union assures many that the people of the world will peacefully compete for resources while prosperity continues to grow. So far, in Asia, and in many emerging countries, that's what's happening.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-22226548394162547022010-09-15T16:13:49.399-07:002010-09-15T16:13:49.399-07:00What I am doubtful is whether technology will actu...What I am doubtful is whether technology will actually solve more problems as it creates more of them . The current energy and enviornmental problems were created by the use of fossil fuels and there is severe mass denial of that--because admitting it would require people worldwide admitting that there's something wrong with improving their standard of living and that without oil, most of them will barely be able to survive. <br /><br />The political will that it'll take to transition to a non carbon based society, isn't significant enough. For example, China is still increasing its dependence on coal and oil while supposedly spending more on developing green technology than any other industrialized country. It's still following <br />the U.S.' path of development by building a highway system larger than the U.S. one. They are making more traditional cars, not less. It remains to be seen how they will deal with oil scarcity. It seems very conflicted to me about the situation. The rest of the world is even less prepared than China. Aside from a few countries , most of the world isn't planning or acknowledging that there is a problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-37651389133592372192010-09-13T15:41:54.116-07:002010-09-13T15:41:54.116-07:00Reply to Anonymous 1
Thanks for your comments.
O...<b>Reply to Anonymous 1</b> <br /><br />Thanks for your comments.<br />On the issue of resource depletion, the answer is fairly obvious: we need to start looking for more resources and extracting them in larger quantities.<br />And once again this comes back to issues of technology and science. <br />If you want energy sources that don't rely on finite resources like coal or natural gas, then governments need to pump money into R&D now to create new technology like hydrogen fuel cells, more efficient solar cells, nuclear fusion and so on.<br />And, on the issue of rare earth metals, the fact is that many rare earth metals actually aren't that "rare" at all, they are just difficult to extract:<br /><br />http://seekingalpha.com/article/103972-rare-earth-metals-not-so-rare-but-valuable<br /><br /> http://www.euroasiaindustry.com/page/508/China%E2%80%99s-Rare-Earth-Stranglehold<br /><br />The issue of extraction is a technological and engineering problem.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-23810140105859179182010-09-13T10:55:25.935-07:002010-09-13T10:55:25.935-07:00I'm shocked--shocked that you haven't ment...I'm shocked--shocked that you haven't mentioned anything about resource delpletion. It seems fairly obvious that emerging economies will outbid declining western economies for liquid fuel such petroleum. A reliance on coal or natural gas to meet the needs of liquid fuel will cause the cost of coal and natural gas to skyrocket. The quantity of existing reserves are estimates.<br />A transition to a low carbon economy will cost several dozen billions of dollars and once again, the emerging economies will outbid declining Western economies for rare earth metals used in the manufacturing of solar panels. China is hording its supply of rare earth metals. <br /><br />Th best thing the UK could do is move towards an agarian society with light industry and even that may not be sustainable in the end...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com