How do we maintain democratic politics without a commitment to improving standards of living? I recommend Timothy Snyder’s Black Earth where he warns about narratives of the future that argue we’re destined to face decline. Klein’s liberalism might not hold the answers, but we need a positive vision
Now we need to read Thomas Piketty and think about the distribution of wealth. People want affordable homes, easy transportation, good jobs and recreation. Ecological limits means we need to do all this differently in the future. But we can’t win by promising sacrifices.
Distribution of wellbeing even more so than distribution of wealth.
In practice that of course means significant redistribution of wealth, but perhaps more from the private sphere to the public than between individuals.
Easier to do in countries that are already used to having strong public goods.
I watched a video recently of a massive combine rolling through a field of corn, turning corn on the stalk into corn kernels at the rate of six bushels a second. It's hard to duplicate that in a window box, even a super-sized forty-story window box.
Years ago, as China was near to joining the WTO, I worked for an inter-governmental organisation (not the WTO) that did a lot of research that included forecasting food production. One of my colleagues, a modeller, travelled to China and produced a glowing report on its agricultural potential. ...
No doubt there was room for improvement in China's output. But I asked, "Did you introduce any constraints related to water supply into your forecast?" The guy was originally from (very wet) western Germany, and said, "Huh? What do you mean?" The idea that water might be a constraint on farm ...
This aquifer issue... I'm not sure what these people expect. Do they think they'll be able to cash out before the water supply collapses, or does their brain just reject this reality...?
I think, in part, the decades-old dream of diverting Great Lakes water to the arid plains states remains alive. Much easier if pesky Canada isn’t around to object, eh? 🙄
Assumes that the planet is infinite so has infinite resources for us to plunder. False. Assumes the only species that matters is humans. false. We aren’t meeting the basic needs of most people alive today, any real analysis of how many people this planet could sustain ongoing? Dangerous optimism.
I should stress that I'm *not* arguing that we shouldn't build stuff. I am pointing out that any remotely feasible plan for the future must by definition take into account its impacts on humanity and the Earth.
Huh? If you listen to interviews with the authors, they literally say climate change in the issue of our time and that we must build more dense housing and transit and clean energy sources ASAP because of it. SELECTIVE abundance is what they're after, they're against abundant coal and gas.
My country ships them to Gabon. There, people set them on fire. The kids gather the metals from the wires once the insulation burns off, to sell to metal recyclers.
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Even conservatives know this to be true, even if it's taboo to say it out loud.
"Make America Great Like When Its GDP Was A Third Of Today's" is not the catchiest slogan. But the times they're nostalgic for weren't wealthy.
In practice that of course means significant redistribution of wealth, but perhaps more from the private sphere to the public than between individuals.
Easier to do in countries that are already used to having strong public goods.
I've been reminded of Sunak Cost Fallacy fluffing for Musk.
Same words wrapped up in slightly different packaging.
Unmoored from the, erm,actual world.
And, no, I don't think he re-ran his projections.
Meanwhile, over the the Ogallala fossil aquifer in the panhandle of Texas ...
Didn’t he go on that racist creep Hanania’s podcast or whatever? Now if there ever was a lizard in a human skin suit, it’s Hanania.
What we can't do is feed all off those people cheeseburgers.
The cheese slice might take longer - I'm not sure why vegan cheese is so hard to get right, but it's not essential anyhow.