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No. Because just scrapping the economy won't do. I know there are many people out there that firmly believe that "less is more" and "growth must be stopped". B
by choeger 7y ago
No. Because just scrapping the economy won't do.
I know there are many people out there that firmly believe that "less is more" and "growth must be stopped". But these people do almost definitely do not live in countries where children die because of poverty.
Our economics might be perverse in some regards, but they are the most efficient way to generate material wealth that we know of. And we need material wealth. As an example, just think of what is necessary to mass-produce a hypothetical Corona vaccine.
So what can we do? Swing away from CO2-emitting energy generation as quickly as possible, plant forests, prepare for inevitable climate changes (drought, storm, ocean rising), and plant even more forests.
- CuriousSkeptic 7y agoI think we now of better ways in theory. It’s a political issue not a lack of knowledge. A dividend from a global carbon tax could put a bit of money in the hands of those who live in poverty. And giving poor people money has been proven to be an efficient approach to increase wealth.
- choeger 7y agoOf course you can redistribute wealth in many meaningful ways. (just think of mandatory social insurance or minimum wages.) The problem is how to produce the wealth you want to distribute in the first place. There has been no system that comes even close in regards to innovation and efficiency when it comes to production.
- CuriousSkeptic 7y agoMy point was that the suggestion actually have been proven to “produce wealth” efficiently. And I’m pretty sure there at a lot of such knowledge in out there. So it’s not really a problem of finding ways to produce wealth. It’s a problem of how to inform policy based on existing knowledge.