Stop being so useful

[John21]

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The premise that economics is the management of scarce resources has been proven false.

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Not by God I hope. Anyway, does this apply in any way to "Peak Oil"?

-Zeno, Idling at the light and spewing out noxious chemicals

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Somewhat. The advent of fuel injection doubled the mpg for most vehicles effectively doubling the 'scarce' supply of oil.

In the same way that utilizing petroleum exponentially increased the scarce resource of whale blubber that was the primary source for heating oil in the 1800's.

[Zeno]

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Why? There's no meaning to it [the Naples traveler story].


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You didn't even laugh?

In general, Russell oversimplifies and is lead astray in this essay and in other essays in this book also. His other points, less economic in nature, that an all too serious-mindedness becomes detrimental and that more time for leisure and contemplation and play is being lost, is a point worth thinking about.


Russell, I think, vacillated in his opinions about the best form(s) of government and economy. Whether he eventually thought some form of democracy coupled with a capitalistic economic system the best, I do not know. I have never read his autobiography.

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A blanket advocation of laziness and entitlement has and will continue to result in poverty and death. I wonder if he'd have said the same thing if he wrote this after he got to witness the failures of Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong.

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Mao was a monster no less than Stalin. I visited China (twice) and had my photo taken in front of the propaganda painting of Mao hung on the wall of the Forbidden City. It was all I could do to restrain myself from hurling a rock at that smug autocrat's face.

-Zeno