Tresy Kilbourne wrote:
[...]
>If we are so debilitated, why are we living twice as long, on average, as
>our ancestors were barely a century ago?
Evidence please Tresy, I suspect you of exaggeration. Who is the "we" you
mention? Has the average human lifespan doubled? People have been living up
to "four score and ten" years of age for thousands of years.
[...]
>> Add the artificial squalor imposed on the great masses of the
>> impoverished throughout the world.
>
>I much prefer natural squalor myself.
Tony's point was poorly made Tresy, but there is an important distinction
between "natural" squalor, as you put it, and "artificial" squalor. Natural
squalor would be that imposed by necessity, that is by material limits in
the ability to provide for people's needs. Artificial squalor is an
appropriate term for modern day poverty, since human-kind has clearly
developed the material, technological capacity to provide for the needs of
all.
Unfortunately our economic system, capitalism, does not run very smoothly
when everyone's needs are being met. Capitalism is an economic system
developed to cope with scarcity and it simply seizes up when confronted
with abundance. Markets collapse. So "artificial" squalor, scarcity, must
be maintained by operating the means of production at a fraction of its
potential capacity, to protect the economic system from the dreaded results
of abundant supply of the essentials of life.
That's just the facts of life in a capitalist economy Tresy. You shouldn't
need it to be spelled out - just look around you. Do you not see squalor in
the midst of potential abundance? Can that be anything but artificial?
Has the Federal Reserve in the US decided to increase interest rates to
"cool" the US economy yet?
[...]
>So we would expect the "enlightened" practices you advise to be prevalent
>in socialist countries. And the answer is....
The answer is - there are no socialist countries.
>Next week's topic: If socialism is so sustainable, why is it, not
>capitalism, the one that is extinct?
And there never have been any socialist countries Tresy. The Dodo is
extinct, but the Unicorn cannot properly be said to be extinct, since it
never existed.
Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas
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