3 ms·

> In defense of the first claim, I would simply refer to the standard arguments made by libertarians, free market conservatives, and liberals like Steven Pinker

> In defense of the first claim, I would simply refer to the standard arguments made by libertarians, free market conservatives, and liberals like Steven Pinker, which I regard as unanswerable. Um, try https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2019/2/3/pinker-and-global-poverty https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2019/2/3/pinker-and-global-... ? I would like to think modernity is better globally in strict utilitarian sense, but Hickel raises some serious issues so I'd say it's unclear. This professor thinks he weighing in on culture war issues above the fray, but for this and many other reasons his analysis of worldly matters is quite pitifully weak. I'm in no position to critique his theology but I doubt it's much better.

pas 5y ago
Regarding Hickel's work: https://mobile.twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1378730932308471809 https://mobile.twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1378730932308471...
- Ericson2314 5y ago
  There is a lot of claims of Hickle's behavior that does sound quite shitty, but the two clearly despise each other and the claims of bad behavior go both ways. I cannot validate either's ad-homininunms; this sort of thing is why I don't have a twitter acount. On to the substantive claims, neither dispute that things have gotten a bit better in recent years. Reading the previous piece makes that clear. Hickle's main claim is a) the data for the old period up to 1981 is misleading, and 2) the recent progress isn't "worth" the bad stuff that came before / we're still net bad. In the latter part of the thread Roser claims the GDP-is-misleading claim is wrong, which would be quite interesting, but there isn't much detail there and then it's back to ad-hominums.
halsom 5y ago
Yeah, he would probably be shocked to learn what Karl Marx actually thought about capitalism and the human spirit, and how comparable their analyses are. See:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts...

pas 5y ago

Regarding Hickel's work: https://mobile.twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1378730932308471809 https://mobile.twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1378730932308471...

Ericson2314 5y ago
There is a lot of claims of Hickle's behavior that does sound quite shitty, but the two clearly despise each other and the claims of bad behavior go both ways. I cannot validate either's ad-homininunms; this sort of thing is why I don't have a twitter acount. On to the substantive claims, neither dispute that things have gotten a bit better in recent years. Reading the previous piece makes that clear. Hickle's main claim is a) the data for the old period up to 1981 is misleading, and 2) the recent progress isn't "worth" the bad stuff that came before / we're still net bad. In the latter part of the thread Roser claims the GDP-is-misleading claim is wrong, which would be quite interesting, but there isn't much detail there and then it's back to ad-hominums.

halsom 5y ago

Yeah, he would probably be shocked to learn what Karl Marx actually thought about capitalism and the human spirit, and how comparable their analyses are. See:https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts...