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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] reasonable what ifs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>>…<span style='color:#222222'>What I am doing is envisioning a new normal where people generally don’t do the high-luxury stuff nearly as much</span>…<span style='color:#888888'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>…<span style='color:#888888'>Lotsa luck getting people to lower their standards of living voluntarily. What you describe would appear to most folks as what went on in the Depression (which was far worse, but they don't know that). If people can afford luxuries, they will buy them - ditto all the other things you mention.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888'>Most people out there are not minimalists like you , Spike.</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888'>bill w<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Of course. I am not suggesting any form of personal austerity would be voluntary. I am envisioning people who once worked in businesses much more in demand (higher end restaurants for instance) transitioning in to fill a much greater need that pays less (boxing groceries for delivery.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Perhaps one of the biggest transitions will be dependent on one’s debt load. I have always considered it a very bad idea to carry debt beyond what is necessary. Carrying debt bets on the future being like the past. That works, right up until it suddenly doesn’t. But the lender still wants and fully expects her regular payment in full on time even if your salary suddenly dropped to half what it was before.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>