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Personally, I'd settle for a rejection of the notion of "wealth" as the key indicator of success to something like, "long term sustained production capacity", w
by DannoHung 16y ago
Personally, I'd settle for a rejection of the notion of "wealth" as the key indicator of success to something like, "long term sustained production capacity", where production capacity includes knowledge production and long term is on the scale of multiple human lifetimes.
- xenophanes 16y agoLong term sustained production capacity and knowledge are types of wealth. How could they not be? They are valuable. In the long run, they are the most valuable types of wealth. If you think people are too short sighted, you may be right, but that isn't a fault of wealth itself. Actually, increased knowledge reduces shortsightedness. And BTW so does increased material wealth: people take a more long term view when they aren't starving.
- billswift 16y agoGeorge Gilder wrote some weird stuff later, but his "Wealth and Poverty" presented some really good ideas. One of the best was his distinction between "wealth" and "riches". "Riches" are resources used for pleasure and consumption; "wealth" is anything used to increase or improve future production. As he pointed out many things can be either depending on how it is used, but the distinction is very useful when thinking about the future and how to use your current resources.