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RE: Psychological Egoism: Selfishly Improving the World Around You
It could almost be categorized as common sense:) I'm all for it on that level.
But, and it's a fairly big butt: this model is thoroughly embedded within what's called the myth of progress; it also implies that there is no core metaphysical/spiritual pathology on this planet and that everything is hunky dory in a random chance materialist kind of way; rose-colored skeptics like Shermer would love this model!
I'm all for being open to some transcendent reality we haven't yet classically discovered and understood. That said, I'm still going to look for the evidence so as not to pretend to know things I don't know. Just read a summary of the book by that name, and I agree an ever-expanding economy is a silly dream, but I also think those who underestimated possibility such as Thomas Malthus fill our history as well.
Here are a few critiques of the presentation.
-it wrongly concludes,IMO, that hundreds and thousands of years of hunter-gatherer and agrarian societies were nothing much more than endless brutality. It omits the intelligence of the steady-state economics within these 'models'.
-it omits the brutality of the transition from premodernism to modernism as if all those exploited to death by the billionaire and monied classes since the industrial revolution were of no concern or significance.
-it omits the fact that the past 100 years have turned the earth into an economic casino with sociopaths in full control of economics and politics and that the only way to win is to break the only spiritual rule that matters: The Golden Rule which if understood correctly wouldn't allow for unnecessary coercion and exploitation of other humans and life forms (or resources).
-there are no criteria in this presentation which could magically transform the present system into a voluntary one where no one is unnecessarily coerced or exploited to do anything they didn't want to do. To me, it begs the question of why we should believe utopian promises about this present system changing for the better when most of those in power and position today are doing the exact opposite things which need to be done to bring about a better future.
The New Social Credit mark of the beast app in China is but one example of thousands I could give.
That they've ripped the moniker from mid-century western Canadian Christians who had the right idea but failed in implementation is appalling. So are the number of Asians in Vancouver wearing filter masks in public. Let me assure you the air was really good in '79 here for a city so this is nothing but factual de-evolution, IMO. Regardless of the denial by the evil that runs this town.
Rant over:D
Steven Pinker's work The Better Angels of Our Nature makes a very strong argument that things are better (infant mortality rate, life expectancy, propserity, etc) now then they ever have been. That said, there are definitely concerns with a broken economic model that has to continually expand in order to function.
I'm not sure it omits it, it just follows the larger story of how much things have improved. See posts like this for details.
I strongly dissagree that's the "only way to win." I live my life as a counter example to that. I do agree the earth is being destroyed and that is a problem we all should focus on as we live more sustainably.
The video wasn't about voluntaryism. It was stating facts. Things, for most every human on the planet, have gotten much better.
I used to believe in the religious dogma and mark of the beast stuff. I no longer pretend to know things I don't know. That said, the level of survillance and control the Chinese government has over its people with examples like that app is certainly sobering.
I'm not familiar with polution levels you're describing, but I know we have made improvements in a number of areas. People aren't freaking out about acid rain any more because we made changes. We're also no longer using lead gasoline, so that was a huge improvement also. Things are improving.
No worries about ranting. I like them when they are thought provoking.