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the societal problems are solvable only through technology. At least that is the main premise of Das Kapital - the progress in the tools and means of production
by trhway 6y ago
the societal problems are solvable only through technology. At least that is the main premise of Das Kapital - the progress in the tools and means of production is what drives societal progress.
I dare you to name a societal problem which was solved independently of the technological advancement state of the time, i.e. a problem that could have been solved the same way with a significantly regressed state of technology when at the time of its actual solution.
- wayneftw 6y agoProhibition of alcohol
- trhway 6y agoi don't understand what societal problem you do you mean here - the prohibition or the alcohol. If you mean that the societal problem was the prohibition then we do know that it was solved by the bootlegging at a massive scale which relied on using cars and machine guns with modern communication of the time - telephone - playing a significant role too. If you mean that the problem was alcohol - i don't see where and when it was solved at all.
- wayneftw 6y agoBad laws were the problem, caused by societal pearl clutching. The prohibition of alcohol was solved by repealing it, not by cars and machine guns. If cars and machine guns solved prohibition, then no substance would have ever been prohibited after alcohol. Those were not solutions. Today we're still solving prohibition of substances, starting with marijuana, by simply repealing bad laws.
- trhway 6y agoBad laws become "bad" and get repealed when they become untenable to maintain. Cars, boats, planes, guns, drones, global financial system, crypto, social media, scientific development of our understanding of addiction - it all leads to the untenability of the current drug regime and the resulting progressive decriminalization we see.
- wayneftw 6y agoClearly that's incorrect though. We're only seeing legalization of socially acceptable drugs. Tech has nothing to do with it. Nobody is fighting for meth, cocaine and heroine to become legal in the US. We also have plenty of prostitution going on thanks to technology but that won't be legal anytime soon either. It will happen when people decide they're OK with it, not because technology makes it easy.