[extropy-chat] gm biodiesel 'em

[Jack Parkinson]

> Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 10:41:19 -0400
> From: David Lubkin <extropy at unreasonable.com>
Jack Parkinson wrote:
> >To my mind, a successful extropian future is partly dependent on making a
> >transition from economics of scarcity to economics of plenty - just
having a
> >more radical juxtaposition of haves and have-nots is never going to do
this.
>
> I see those expressions -- "economics of scarcity" and "economics of
> plenty" -- occasionally. They seem like a hand-waving fancy.
>
> First, I don't see how there's more than one economics.
>
> Second, it seems to me that there will always be scarcity.
>
> You may mean a future where what we today consider the essentials of
> life are trivially available to all. That may happen. But the
> goalposts keep moving.
>
> Want will always exceed supply, since the former is effectively
> infinite and the latter is effectively finite.
>
> There also seems to be a socialist tinge in talking of haves and
> have-nots. One of the consequences of technology has always been, and
> will continue to be, increasing the gap between the top and the
> bottom of the asset curve.
> > -- David Lubkin.

I read the info from spike and Alfio and Googled again on: "is world hunger
decreasing or increasing?" A quick glance at the results indicates a divided
opinion with some trends up and some down. Not much doubt about the size of
the problem - we have a lot of hungry people.

Regarding David's comments on not seeing how there can be more than one
economics. My gut reaction is 'No! nononono!' Economic systems are two a
penny...

A properly formulated reasoning on this will need to wait until the time is
available - but Marshall Sahlins wrote a famous essay back in the 70's in
which he made a good case for the existence of an 'economics of plenty' in
prehistoric times - "Stone Age Economics."

I am also thinking of the essay on Agalmics (which is easily found on the
net) and the characterization of Manfred (agalmic entrepreneur) in Charlie
Stross's 'Accelerando.'

Finally: we already have an interesting 'economics of plenty' subculture
already in operation - namely the bit torrent/P2P networks. And very
successful they are too...

Jack Parkinson