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No, but it does to nonsensically apply the same rule in literally every context. People and programmers are not apples. The economy and society are not gravity.
by bedobi 5y ago
No, but it does to nonsensically apply the same rule in literally every context. People and programmers are not apples. The economy and society are not gravity. I don't know what else to tell you, and I guess it doesn't matter, since people with a zero sum world view can't be convinced otherwise.
- Apocryphon 5y agoThere's a difference between believing there is a zero sum world view, and observing that every economy that has ever existed has generally operated on boom and bust cycles.
- bedobi 5y agoI don't think anyone is disputing the economy has boom and bust cycles. But despite the great depression, two world wars, the cold war, the dot com bubble, the 08 crash, insane environmental destruction, climate change etc etc the economy is growing, the global population is growing, and rather than more and more people fighting over less and less resources, pretty much everyone everywhere is healthier and more prosperous than ever, and extreme poverty is on track to be completely eradicated in our lifetimes. (this doesn't mean there aren't exceptions, or that there isn't still lots to do to address climate change, global economic and health inequality etc etc, but it does prove the peak oil doomer zero sum world view people wrong)
- Apocryphon 5y agoWe have been living at the sufferance of zero interest rate policies for the last dozen years. It's hard to say what happens when the music starts slowing down. It just sounds like an extremely hubristic statement, mocking the very fates themselves, to claim that unlimited economic growth will continue indefinitely, that this era of cheap capital will continue indefinitely, and there wouldn't even be one economic downturn or hiccup to disrupt the gravy train. This is the stuff that "things that aged poorly" is made of. Optimism is one thing; irrational exuberance is another. I would rather not laugh in the face of whatever the Fed is planning to do about inflation. Hell, this was published just hours ago. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-20/federal-reserve-is-veering-toward-a-hard-economic-landing https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-20/federa...
- bedobi 5y agoLiterally no one is saying there can't or won't be downturns or hiccups - eg, two world wars definitely qualify as both. But even they couldn't stop the overwhelming, hundreds-year long global trend towards simultaneously increasing population AND prosperity. (which, btw, definitely did not have zero interest rates) But hey, don't take my word for it, see for yourself at eg https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty
- Apocryphon 5y agoThen I simply disagree with your framing of "everything that goes up must come down", which seems to ignore the existence of downturns and hiccups, and "tech workers will continue to be in increasingly high demand", which would be a much more questionable statement during such a downturn or hiccup. Such an economic slump would not be a pleasant time for anyone, even tech workers. It is good to be on guard against such an eventuality. It’s also quite the fallacy to compare overall economic growth with one sector, or even one region. Ask how the Rust Belt has been doing these days in comparison to when Detroit was at its acme.