[extropy-chat] Help! I'm not ready for reality! (was the 7 cents thread)

[BillK]

On 11/18/05, Jack Parkinson wrote:
>
> A mind that is resolutely closed to new ideas is already a good way along
> the road to fossilization.
> If you are not prepared to listen and consider, there's not much left for
> you to do except to hang onto that belief system and hope that it serves you
> well.
>

The factor(s) that they seem to be missing is called (by real
economists) Externalities. Look it up in economics texts.

Don't get me wrong, competition is good, it brings down prices. In
effect, one dollar, one vote. But this system has many weaknesses.

If you define success in strictly material terms (e.g. business
profit) and ask few questions about how it is achieved, you will find
it leads to many of the horrors of modern civilization.  Energy scams
(Enron), cooked books (WorldCom), tax fraud, tax havens, dirty
politics and the exploitation of child labor, slave labor and
'near-slave' labor.

Another glaring example is the tobacco industry, who addicted and
slowly killed many of their customers. (Still do, in third world
countries).

'Internalize the Externalities!' should be our slogan, but it is
hardly attention-grabbing. 'Make the Polluters Pay!' is much better.

But this line of economic theory is much more complicated than the
simple view of just looking at the net profit. It is more difficult to
defend, like many complex theories. The scientists have long complex
(and correct) arguments, the opponents have snappy one-liners and
obvious-looking statements, so the Intelligent Designers win the
popular support.

BillK