> But do you get that mostly, "better" has just meant that someone else pays the cost? Well I don't really agree with that, what makes you think so? The econom

> But do you get that mostly, "better" has just meant that someone else pays the cost? Well I don't really agree with that, what makes you think so? The economy is not zero sum. Progress is not zero sum. When polio was eradicated, it didn't mean somebody else pays the cost of anything. When doctors learned to wash hands before surgeries so that mothers wouldn't get infected in childbirth, who did that hurt? When Bourlag invented strains of wheat that fed twice as many people for the same land input, ushering in the green revolution, it was all upside. Similarly, when Wikipedia came along to make a great database of most of the knowledge of the world, that was a great thing. When Apple created the iPhone and ushered in an age when almost everyone has access to all that info in their pockets, it was a great benefit. Who are these people who are paying the cost? Worldwide poverty and health has also improved tremendously over the last 20 years. > We are heating up the atmosphere and we don't have a solution Well yep that's a major problem. Can't say we disagree there, but I don't think the solution is to strive for minimalism (this seems to be neither practical nor desirable).