3 ms·

So I think we are this, even if we don't want to be. We just don't have the (whatever it is) to not do it. I think where we've made the mistake was deferring e

So I think we are this, even if we don't want to be. We just don't have the (whatever it is) to not do it. I think where we've made the mistake was deferring everything to technological solutions, which arguably created the problem in the first place. This is not to say technology won't help, or even eventually solve it, but we should work harder on the people and governmental problems.

deleted 3y ago
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noduerme 3y ago
But when you think of people and governments, the range of beliefs and behavioral choices is enormous. Certainly some people and some societies and governments have more of (whatever it is) than others, if it is the capacity to prioritize long-term, multigenerational self-preservation and quality of life over short-term gains. Money, in the purest sense as a means of exchange, isn't the culprit; the trouble is the culture that (a) generates wealth via extraction and (b) wastes it on immediate consumption, rather than investing in a sustainable future. I'd even argue that "money" is a red herring. What we're really paperclipping is mostly-disposable stuff. In the long term, we'll probably be remember for being really good at turning a deep geological layer of carbon into a shallower one of plastic. But it's worth saying that we are 7 billion or so individuals capable of making decisions, with vastly different aims and priorities, rather than one monolithic thing obsessed with a particular shiny object.