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The world still has a lot of wealth and is continually generating more wealth. The financial system is imaginary enough that our best macroeconomists can probab

by rms 17y ago

The world still has a lot of wealth and is continually generating more wealth. The financial system is imaginary enough that our best macroeconomists can probably sort out the collapse of US government debt. It won't be pretty, but it won't be the end of the world or even the end of the USA.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
yes, humans run a surplus. but what do they use that surplus for? I'm concerned about the underlying lack of critical thinking when it comes to basic economics. finance majors shouldn't be the only people to understand marginal utility, preference ranking etc. these things impact everyone every day of their lives. I used to rage at all the ignorance on display even among the more thoughtful/non-violent libertarian types. But I've lately become apathetic. The same arguments have been going around and around since the time of Cato the Younger. The more history I study the more I believe that humans are not going to save themselves by virtue of critical thinking about social engineering. It's basically technology or bust. And that is a dangerous game. Sorry for the melodrama. It's late.
- rms 17y ago
  I graduated from college 3 months ago and didn't get a real job and I haven't been looking for a real job. My Tim Ferris-like businesses pay the bills so I've had a lot of time to read on the internet. I also figured out how to keep up with the comments on Less Wrong, and it feels like being able to comment there without getting downmodded for being wrong has really changed my thought patterns. I'd really recommend trying to read the recent comments page and reply whenever you can say something that isn't wrong, even if you need to minimize yourself by adding lots of phrases like "I think." I've basically given up on politics. I self-identify as a left-libertarian, but I think most left-libertarians are deeply misguided, just like most right-libertarians. Most right-libertarians can't even see that they have a great deal of shared beliefs with left-libertarians. Anarchism is just my favorite political utopia; not a pragmatic ideology. Some hybrid of left and right libertarianism would be much better in practice than either extreme. Political discourse needs a healthy dose of meta-discussion. An example reason why I've given up on politics: We know exactly what is happening with global warming, the IPCC report from 2007 is basically correct. Global warming is happening, and thousands and thousands of animal species are going to go extinct, and hundreds of millions of people are going to have more trouble getting food and water. That's bad, and we should be doing a lot to stop it, but it's basically too late to stop. The current argument about global warming will just preserve the scenarios outlined by the IPCC in 2007. So the left misses that global warming has absolutely no chance of bringing the end of human civilization. And the right misses that global warming is certainly happening and is still really bad, even though it isn't going to bring about the downfall of human civilization. My private discussions since my Less Wrong post about the Craigslist Revolution have actually lead to some very interesting private discussions about saving humanity with social engineering, but you're right, it's basically technology or bust. I'm an optimist.

by rms 17y ago

nazgulnarsil 17y ago

yes, humans run a surplus. but what do they use that surplus for? I'm concerned about the underlying lack of critical thinking when it comes to basic economics. finance majors shouldn't be the only people to understand marginal utility, preference ranking etc. these things impact everyone every day of their lives. I used to rage at all the ignorance on display even among the more thoughtful/non-violent libertarian types. But I've lately become apathetic. The same arguments have been going around and around since the time of Cato the Younger. The more history I study the more I believe that humans are not going to save themselves by virtue of critical thinking about social engineering. It's basically technology or bust. And that is a dangerous game. Sorry for the melodrama. It's late.

rms 17y ago
I graduated from college 3 months ago and didn't get a real job and I haven't been looking for a real job. My Tim Ferris-like businesses pay the bills so I've had a lot of time to read on the internet. I also figured out how to keep up with the comments on Less Wrong, and it feels like being able to comment there without getting downmodded for being wrong has really changed my thought patterns. I'd really recommend trying to read the recent comments page and reply whenever you can say something that isn't wrong, even if you need to minimize yourself by adding lots of phrases like "I think." I've basically given up on politics. I self-identify as a left-libertarian, but I think most left-libertarians are deeply misguided, just like most right-libertarians. Most right-libertarians can't even see that they have a great deal of shared beliefs with left-libertarians. Anarchism is just my favorite political utopia; not a pragmatic ideology. Some hybrid of left and right libertarianism would be much better in practice than either extreme. Political discourse needs a healthy dose of meta-discussion. An example reason why I've given up on politics: We know exactly what is happening with global warming, the IPCC report from 2007 is basically correct. Global warming is happening, and thousands and thousands of animal species are going to go extinct, and hundreds of millions of people are going to have more trouble getting food and water. That's bad, and we should be doing a lot to stop it, but it's basically too late to stop. The current argument about global warming will just preserve the scenarios outlined by the IPCC in 2007. So the left misses that global warming has absolutely no chance of bringing the end of human civilization. And the right misses that global warming is certainly happening and is still really bad, even though it isn't going to bring about the downfall of human civilization. My private discussions since my Less Wrong post about the Craigslist Revolution have actually lead to some very interesting private discussions about saving humanity with social engineering, but you're right, it's basically technology or bust. I'm an optimist.