3 ms·

From what I previously read on india: Farmers often waste water because water is "free", and the majority of the food often rot. This exacerbate the problem of

by kiba 14y ago

From what I previously read on india: Farmers often waste water because water is "free", and the majority of the food often rot. This exacerbate the problem of farming enough for everyone eat. We'll need technological solution, in addition to taking a variety of non-technological measures in order to protect our harvest and the local environment, such as encouraging farmers to use only as much water necessary to grow their crops.

tomjen3 14y ago
We already have that technology. It is called capitalism and it has worked wonders in the west (how many people are starving in the UK?). Start by charging whatever the water cost to produce and see the changes that makes. I keep being surprised by people who hate capitalism so much that they would rather see people starve.
- cincinnatus 14y ago
  You can't charge what the water 'cost', it was thousands of years of filtering into the underground aquifers. And it is too late, the water has been used. Same problem with any non- or slow replenishing natural resource that we've been boosting off of at accelerated rates. When they run out dependent systems have the potential for rapid failure, much more rapid than we are likely to come up with solutions for, and people will die. Supply and demand work, but people will die in the process.
- pm90 14y ago
  Who hates capitalism? India does not hate it, they've embraced it. Of course, not everywhere. Why? because the situation is not the same. Having > 500 million people subsisting on agriculture is not the same. Different situations warrant different solutions. Charge for water you say? Who will collect the charges? A bureaucrat. If the price is too steep, perhaps the farmers will bribe him. If it isn't, he'll probably keep x% of the collections anyway. The infrastructure to distribute all the food that will soon rot in warehouses....is present, or can be easily acquired. The corruption, inefficiency and laziness... not much can be done about that
- dsego 14y ago
  India's recent economic model is largely capitalist.[201] India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[203] source: wikipedia

by kiba 14y ago

tomjen3 14y ago

We already have that technology. It is called capitalism and it has worked wonders in the west (how many people are starving in the UK?). Start by charging whatever the water cost to produce and see the changes that makes. I keep being surprised by people who hate capitalism so much that they would rather see people starve.

cincinnatus 14y ago
You can't charge what the water 'cost', it was thousands of years of filtering into the underground aquifers. And it is too late, the water has been used. Same problem with any non- or slow replenishing natural resource that we've been boosting off of at accelerated rates. When they run out dependent systems have the potential for rapid failure, much more rapid than we are likely to come up with solutions for, and people will die. Supply and demand work, but people will die in the process.
pm90 14y ago
Who hates capitalism? India does not hate it, they've embraced it. Of course, not everywhere. Why? because the situation is not the same. Having > 500 million people subsisting on agriculture is not the same. Different situations warrant different solutions. Charge for water you say? Who will collect the charges? A bureaucrat. If the price is too steep, perhaps the farmers will bribe him. If it isn't, he'll probably keep x% of the collections anyway. The infrastructure to distribute all the food that will soon rot in warehouses....is present, or can be easily acquired. The corruption, inefficiency and laziness... not much can be done about that
dsego 14y ago
India's recent economic model is largely capitalist.[201] India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[203] source: wikipedia