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> the past 100 years included two world wars, and countless others - costing the lives of countless millions. If we continue the historical trend - this centur

> the past 100 years included two world wars, and countless others - costing the lives of countless millions. If we continue the historical trend - this century will see at least a billion killed in wars. You could just as easily say we had two world wars start within 30 years of each other in the early 1900's but it's been over 70 years since the last one started. If we continue the historical trend, this century will see no more than a few million killed in wars. You can always cherry-pick. Look up Steven Pinker, who is convinced that global violence is the lowest it's ever been... > not with our current capitalist system, which uses technology to transfer more wealth from the poor to the rich. There's an enormous growing middle class in Asia and Africa that begs to differ. Some think the rising global demand for oil will lead to collapse; I don't, but the main reason that demand is rising so much is because hundreds of millions around the world are now rich enough to own cars.

sparkie 14y ago
> You could just as easily say, 1900-1950 had two world wars and hundreds(?) of millions of death, 1950-2000 had zero world wars and many fewer deaths. If we continue the historical trend, this century will see no more than a few million killed in wars. You can always cherry-pick. Look up Steven Pinker, who is convinced that global violence is the lowest it's ever been... While deaths in wars post 1950 might be much smaller, it's still far from insignificant. Are we content that millions of lives are disposable? It's possibly worth pointing out that of the post 1950 wars, a significant portion of them have been perpetrated by the US and it's allies, who have not yet been held to account for their crimes. > There's an enormous growing middle class in Asia and Africa that begs to differ... Don't just look what's happening, but ask why. The growing middle class in Asia is due to the demand created by our outsourcing of manufacturing to there, along with the growing Asian based industries. They're given more opportunities to work. Not coincidentally, this coincides with the growing unemployment and poverty in the US and Europe. It's more economical to hire Asian labour than western labour. But with the improvements in the physical and cognitive capabilities of computers/robots, it won't be long before that huge demand that brought work to Asia is replaced by machines. Where then are those Asians going to find employment?
- joshuahedlund 14y ago
  > Are we content that millions of lives are disposable? Red herring. Can't we be discontented with imperfection while still rejoicing in the progress of hundreds of millions of fewer people being killed by war? > The growing middle class in Asia is due to the demand created by our outsourcing of manufacturing to there. There are definitely connections, but if it was a zero-sum game with US and Europe, I would expect global oil demand (for instance) to stay the same and just shift, not greatly increase as it has. This suggests a real increase in wealth; capitalism is not zero-sum. However, I don't know what the future of robots means for it all...

sparkie 14y ago

> You could just as easily say, 1900-1950 had two world wars and hundreds(?) of millions of death, 1950-2000 had zero world wars and many fewer deaths. If we continue the historical trend, this century will see no more than a few million killed in wars. You can always cherry-pick. Look up Steven Pinker, who is convinced that global violence is the lowest it's ever been... While deaths in wars post 1950 might be much smaller, it's still far from insignificant. Are we content that millions of lives are disposable? It's possibly worth pointing out that of the post 1950 wars, a significant portion of them have been perpetrated by the US and it's allies, who have not yet been held to account for their crimes. > There's an enormous growing middle class in Asia and Africa that begs to differ... Don't just look what's happening, but ask why. The growing middle class in Asia is due to the demand created by our outsourcing of manufacturing to there, along with the growing Asian based industries. They're given more opportunities to work. Not coincidentally, this coincides with the growing unemployment and poverty in the US and Europe. It's more economical to hire Asian labour than western labour. But with the improvements in the physical and cognitive capabilities of computers/robots, it won't be long before that huge demand that brought work to Asia is replaced by machines. Where then are those Asians going to find employment?

joshuahedlund 14y ago
> Are we content that millions of lives are disposable? Red herring. Can't we be discontented with imperfection while still rejoicing in the progress of hundreds of millions of fewer people being killed by war? > The growing middle class in Asia is due to the demand created by our outsourcing of manufacturing to there. There are definitely connections, but if it was a zero-sum game with US and Europe, I would expect global oil demand (for instance) to stay the same and just shift, not greatly increase as it has. This suggests a real increase in wealth; capitalism is not zero-sum. However, I don't know what the future of robots means for it all...