tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post3572025864453152097..comments2023-09-28T08:13:11.489-07:00Comments on Only In It For The Gold: What I'm complaining aboutMichael Tobishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229460438349093944noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-15220427370399790012007-05-08T20:32:00.000-07:002007-05-08T20:32:00.000-07:00I agree Michael. But the fact that the model serve...I agree Michael. But the fact that the model serves the ideology and its narrow constructs quite well.<BR/> <BR/>You are trying to think of a way to widen the narrow construct and I'm saying the construct, in and of itself, is complete for its purposes. Your job (mine too, in a different way, on the ground) is to widen the scope and find new purposes - other-regarding purposes for a self-regarding philosophy.<BR/> <BR/>I struggle with it all the time too, which is why I enjoy your thinking it through.<BR/> <BR/>Best,<BR/> <BR/>DDanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03709762632849004871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-63728025646185846632007-05-07T12:18:00.000-07:002007-05-07T12:18:00.000-07:00Dano, maybe so, but that isn't exactly what I'm sa...Dano, maybe so, but that isn't exactly what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that this sort of thing <EM>doesn't even make sense in its own terms</EM>. <BR/><BR/>GDP is a valid short-term measure of the well-being of a specific society under non-volatile circumstances. On time scales of a century it tells us essentially nothing about how well-off we are. <BR/><BR/>This is because it measures marginal activity and doesn't measure informal capital. Things like, say, having a biosphere or an atmosphere. These may be neglected in short-term reasoning, but neglecting them in long-term reasoning is a very stupid, worse than useless, measure of utility.<BR/><BR/>There are no technical limitations preventing ourselves from having not just comparable utility but dramatically more utility in a sustainable world. <BR/><BR/>The fact that we seem to be rushing headlong for a totally avoidable disaster is bad enough. That we're doing it in service to what amounts to a poorly thought out model is just so sad and stupid.<BR/><BR/>That doesn't make it implausible. We have a precedent; the Easter Islanders show us such stupidity is well within the capacity of humans.Michael Tobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08229460438349093944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-32814689110230820242007-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:002007-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00Michael,The ideology that finds this Reason argume...Michael,<BR/><BR/>The ideology that finds this <I>Reason</I> argumentation compelling is more self-regarding than other-regarding. <BR/><BR/>Therefore, the 'beauty, culture, people' part of your post doesn't register. Rugged individualism as part of the American ethos is at work, and a fraction of our populace finds that and the possessive individualism part of the ideology compelling and galvanizing. <BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>DDanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03709762632849004871noreply@blogger.com