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> If the economic system breaks because of one pandemic that will last less than a year maybe that economic system needs to die and be replaced by something mor

> If the economic system breaks because of one pandemic that will last less than a year maybe that economic system needs to die and be replaced by something more solid and useful for most. Out of curiosity, why do you think it's likely that something more solid and useful to most is likely to come out of an economic collapse? Economic collapses have happened before - are there any instances of a solid and useful system coming out of them (maybe the new deal after the great depression? That one is arguable though).

ramblenode 7y ago
French Revolution? Arguably the Russian Revolution if you accept the USSR as a step up from feudalism.
- pdonis 7y ago
  > French Revolution? Didn't even last a decade until they got themselves an emperor. > Arguably the Russian Revolution if you accept the USSR as a step up from feudalism. Considering that the USSR killed orders of magnitude more of its own people than feudalism under the Czars ever did, I'm going to vote "no" on this one.
  - vkou 7y ago
    It also brought an unprecedented amount of economic development to what was an incredibly backwards country. Not that it's a model to imitate. Although some folks in this thread sound rather ready to sacrifice millions of people, for the sake of keeping the economy limping along...
    - PedroBatista 7y ago
      > Although some folks in this thread sound rather ready to sacrifice millions of people, for the sake of keeping the economy limping along... That’s because they believe they are young and would fight off the virus with no problem. Change one of those variables and they will change their tune.
      - cc81 7y ago
        I can understand that it is prudent to take a worst case scenario here but it depends on how widespread this thing already is without us knowing it. So Sweden has right now 1,639 confirmed cases with 16 deaths so far. There are some young people treated in critical care but so far it has been older people who has passed away, often with other diseases as well. Sweden currently only tests older people, people with severe symptoms, healthcare workers and similar personal and those who can work from home these days and travel is discouraged. One expert estimated that we have around 100k infected in total right now and discussed that some things like shutting down schools for younger kids will have a large effect on society but not do that much on the spread of the virus. Instead you should focus on protecting vulnerable groups, stay home if you feel any symptoms of cold etc. 100k out of 10 million population would fit roughly with Iceland who did random sampling and found 1% of their population affected. Of course he acknowledged that there is no way to know and taking extreme measures are better than taking too small but emotional/political reactions vs practical is really a discussion to be had.
    - xyzzyz 7y ago
      Immediate aftermath of October Revolution was widespread death and famine. It was so bad that the communists introduced market capitalism again, called New Economic Policy.
      - vkou 7y ago
        The immediate aftermath of the October Revolution was actually five years of a civil war that killed ten million people, which was then capped off by a severe drought.
mistermann 7y ago
Perhaps it's rare due to man's tendency toward corruption. Are there reasons you see why a more robust cannot be developed? I suspect HN could easily come up with a substantial list of improvements. Limiting stock buybacks seems like a good place to start.
zouhair 7y ago
Imagine if we had a system where you don't have to pay for any basic necessities, from shelter to food to healthcare to education. We all work in the system, some would make more than others but even those who work the least or not at all would not be left behind. So if you make more you can enjoy more "stuff" and gadgets and if you make less you are still stress free about life. Would we have $1000 phones or shopping shelves filled with hundred of fake choices? Most likely not but at least we won't have people rationing insulin or people living in the street of the richest city in the richest country. We live in a world with so much production and people spend their time worrying about surviving and getting ahead instead of relaxing and making the world a better place.

ramblenode 7y ago

French Revolution? Arguably the Russian Revolution if you accept the USSR as a step up from feudalism.

pdonis 7y ago
> French Revolution? Didn't even last a decade until they got themselves an emperor. > Arguably the Russian Revolution if you accept the USSR as a step up from feudalism. Considering that the USSR killed orders of magnitude more of its own people than feudalism under the Czars ever did, I'm going to vote "no" on this one.
- vkou 7y ago
  It also brought an unprecedented amount of economic development to what was an incredibly backwards country. Not that it's a model to imitate. Although some folks in this thread sound rather ready to sacrifice millions of people, for the sake of keeping the economy limping along...
  - PedroBatista 7y ago
    > Although some folks in this thread sound rather ready to sacrifice millions of people, for the sake of keeping the economy limping along... That’s because they believe they are young and would fight off the virus with no problem. Change one of those variables and they will change their tune.
    - cc81 7y ago
      I can understand that it is prudent to take a worst case scenario here but it depends on how widespread this thing already is without us knowing it. So Sweden has right now 1,639 confirmed cases with 16 deaths so far. There are some young people treated in critical care but so far it has been older people who has passed away, often with other diseases as well. Sweden currently only tests older people, people with severe symptoms, healthcare workers and similar personal and those who can work from home these days and travel is discouraged. One expert estimated that we have around 100k infected in total right now and discussed that some things like shutting down schools for younger kids will have a large effect on society but not do that much on the spread of the virus. Instead you should focus on protecting vulnerable groups, stay home if you feel any symptoms of cold etc. 100k out of 10 million population would fit roughly with Iceland who did random sampling and found 1% of their population affected. Of course he acknowledged that there is no way to know and taking extreme measures are better than taking too small but emotional/political reactions vs practical is really a discussion to be had.
  - xyzzyz 7y ago
    Immediate aftermath of October Revolution was widespread death and famine. It was so bad that the communists introduced market capitalism again, called New Economic Policy.
    - vkou 7y ago
      The immediate aftermath of the October Revolution was actually five years of a civil war that killed ten million people, which was then capped off by a severe drought.

mistermann 7y ago

Perhaps it's rare due to man's tendency toward corruption. Are there reasons you see why a more robust cannot be developed? I suspect HN could easily come up with a substantial list of improvements. Limiting stock buybacks seems like a good place to start.

zouhair 7y ago

Imagine if we had a system where you don't have to pay for any basic necessities, from shelter to food to healthcare to education. We all work in the system, some would make more than others but even those who work the least or not at all would not be left behind. So if you make more you can enjoy more "stuff" and gadgets and if you make less you are still stress free about life. Would we have $1000 phones or shopping shelves filled with hundred of fake choices? Most likely not but at least we won't have people rationing insulin or people living in the street of the richest city in the richest country. We live in a world with so much production and people spend their time worrying about surviving and getting ahead instead of relaxing and making the world a better place.