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It has been only 200 years since the industrial revolution and we have managed to completely waste the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene_extin

It has been only 200 years since the industrial revolution and we have managed to completely waste the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene_extinction We are running out of topsoil, fresh water, fish, pollinators, oil... the oceans are becoming an acid mess full of plastic, species are going extinct, forests and the ecosystems they contain are disappearing. And all of this has been done in the name of a dumb belief system we call modern economics. A better name for it is collective suicide, because that's what it is in the long term. The idea that you can have a bunch of banks making infinite money to fund an endless amount of economic activities for infinite people has nothing to do with reality: a finite planet with finite resources with finite species that can only go extinct once, and a fragile ecosystem that needs to be taken care of and is beyond our means to repair. Maybe we don't need central banks, but we need fucking reason governing our economy, not the greed of a few shortsighted apes.

a008t 8y ago
I think the question of what is the optimum human population of a country, continent, planet that maximizes prosperity and welfare is an interesting one. Yet, apart from the problem of humans still having to be in actual close physical proximity to each other for economic activity, which results in housing problems in major cities, I do not see the signs of overpopulation or too much economic activity in Western countries. If anything, the situation in terms of the ecology seems to be getting better, not worse.
- partycoder 8y ago
  No, ecology is not getting better. If you haven't noticed you are in the middle of an extinction event.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  In what way is ecology getting better, rather than rapidly worse?
  - a008t 8y ago
    Car emissions are getting cleaner, leading to cleaner air. That would be one example. Deindustrialization of the West led to improvements in ecology as well, I imagine.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      > Car emissions are getting cleaner, leading to cleaner air. That would be one example. Is it enough? Aren't these changes being more than offset by increased emissions elsewhere? > Deindustrialization of the West led to improvements in ecology as well, I imagine. It seems doubtful, since production didn't stop but simply moved to other places, often with much looser regulatory regimes.
    - partycoder 8y ago
      Car emissions are dwarfed by industrial and agricultural emissions. Plus, before an electric car is used for the first time, it already generated more carbon than the dirtiest of non-electric cars during its manufacturing. Then, if factories move from one country to another, with a higher carbon footprint, the global emissions don't go down. You are just moving [while increasing] emissions to somewhere else. So, the "cleaner environment" is just a local phenomenon and a global level it is not the case.
philipwhiuk 8y ago
None of this is affected, solved or improved by changing to Bitcoin. Your comment is complete off topic.
- brian_cloutier 8y ago
  The parent comment didn't mention Bitcoin. Please read the hacker news guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Everyone here is trying to take a short break and learn and talk about current events. It's a lot more fun when we're not all yelling at each other. There are a couple which apply here: > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. > Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

a008t 8y ago

I think the question of what is the optimum human population of a country, continent, planet that maximizes prosperity and welfare is an interesting one. Yet, apart from the problem of humans still having to be in actual close physical proximity to each other for economic activity, which results in housing problems in major cities, I do not see the signs of overpopulation or too much economic activity in Western countries. If anything, the situation in terms of the ecology seems to be getting better, not worse.

partycoder 8y ago
No, ecology is not getting better. If you haven't noticed you are in the middle of an extinction event.
emodendroket 8y ago
In what way is ecology getting better, rather than rapidly worse?
- a008t 8y ago
  Car emissions are getting cleaner, leading to cleaner air. That would be one example. Deindustrialization of the West led to improvements in ecology as well, I imagine.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    > Car emissions are getting cleaner, leading to cleaner air. That would be one example. Is it enough? Aren't these changes being more than offset by increased emissions elsewhere? > Deindustrialization of the West led to improvements in ecology as well, I imagine. It seems doubtful, since production didn't stop but simply moved to other places, often with much looser regulatory regimes.
  - partycoder 8y ago
    Car emissions are dwarfed by industrial and agricultural emissions. Plus, before an electric car is used for the first time, it already generated more carbon than the dirtiest of non-electric cars during its manufacturing. Then, if factories move from one country to another, with a higher carbon footprint, the global emissions don't go down. You are just moving [while increasing] emissions to somewhere else. So, the "cleaner environment" is just a local phenomenon and a global level it is not the case.

philipwhiuk 8y ago

None of this is affected, solved or improved by changing to Bitcoin. Your comment is complete off topic.

brian_cloutier 8y ago
The parent comment didn't mention Bitcoin. Please read the hacker news guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Everyone here is trying to take a short break and learn and talk about current events. It's a lot more fun when we're not all yelling at each other. There are a couple which apply here: > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. > Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.