What is better than Capitalism?

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morfe lux M
morfe lux Sep 9, 2003 03:24:32
Replying to Dog 3000

You can't 'abrogate' finite resources, you can only adopt sustainability/renewabilty. I'm not so worried that we are going to suffer because of our voracity and dependence on oil, that's pretty much a foregone conclusion (where's Grufty Jim, anyone??), and I agree that the world population isn't something that capitalism is responsible for, but continuous growth and expansionist mentality IS likely to be a problem. What I am worried about is the race for consumerism (so far oil-fuelled for nearly a century) is a 'party' that has to stop. I believe that the inherent short-termism of market-led planning (which is a bit of an oxymoron I agree) is going to meet it's maker (oil) on the way out and have nowhere to go? Sustainable energy cannot meet our current demand, nor will it, if the figures are correct. War for oil is an ever present fact and future likelihood in an economy built top heavy on that product alone?

D Dog 3000
Dog 3000 Sep 9, 2003 04:03:28
Replying to morfe lux

I guess you don't understand what technology does . . . efficiency . . . productivity.

Can you imagine how many trees we'd have to kill to have this discussion via paper instead of on the internet?

As for oil, in 1975 the environmental movement insisted we'd run out before the year 2000 . . . yet magically here we are in 2003 with plenty of oil, in fact there are more known reserves today than there were in 1975!

And you may have noticed hybrid cars with twice the efficiency of old fashioned internal combustion engines are already on the road . . . just wait til fuel cell technology becomes economically feasible. The only waste product produced: water!

"Oil" is going to go the way of the horse and buggy. (And the effect will be devastating on countries where oil is the entire basis of the economy -- and you think the Mideast is a mess today!)

And by the way energy is not a finite resource -- the sun pumps jillions of killowatts down to earth every day. Solar power won't run out until the sun explodes a few million years from now.

You need electricity to produce the fuel to run fuel cells (hydrogen and oxygen) . . . that electrity can come from solar power . . . then why do you need oil? We'll stop needing the stuff for energy long before we run out.

C cancer boy
cancer boy Sep 9, 2003 16:36:10
Replying to morfe lux

>where's Grufty Jim, anyone??),

I was wondering the same thing, he hasn't posted since about June and this type of discussion's normally right up his alley!