[extropy-chat] Psychology of investments in infrastructure

[spike]

bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Russell Wallace
...

>A long time ago I read an account by a woman whose uncle molested her as a
child. It was when she reached puberty, and she recounts that the
explanation she ended up with at that time was: "It was my fault because if
I hadn't grown the breasts, then I wouldn't have tempted him."


If anything was her fault it was because she didn't swat him in the groin
with a baseball bat as he slept.  I do not advocate weakness, for that
strategy invites attack.


>What are you suggesting, doing away with everything above the level of a
mud hut will keep you safe? Ask the Khwarezmids or the Albigensians how well
that works. They didn't have subways, and their losses weren't in mere
handfuls of thousands.



I advocate we spread out more evenly, reducing overcrowding and improving
quality of life for everyone.  We no longer have the conditions that led to
enormous skyscrapers.  The skyscrapers create the need for subways, which
leads to a way of life that isn't particularly pleasant: getting on a train
every morning and evening.  We have advanced communications now, advanced
transportation, advanced manufacturing.  We are poised to make enormous
advances in quality of life for the proletariat if we choose to seize this
opportunity. 

spike