--- michael <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> At 7:42 AM 00.9.23 -0600, Steven Bissell wrote:
> (in part)
> 
> >Steve (imp of hell) wrote: What do you think happens when the U.S.
> economy
> >takes a nose dive?
> >The phrase "Wall Street sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold"
> >comes to mind.
> 
> I have never understood why so many people (not all of them Americans)
> assume the rest of the world can't get by without the USA.  IMHO if the
> Americn empire collapsed, the world will go on as usual, just as it did
> without the British, Dutch, French, Spanish, Egyptian, Hittite  etc.
> empires. 


I'm sorry but you missed the point.  The point wasn't that the rest of the
world would cease to exist, but that the U.S. has tremendous influence on
such things as international economics and finance.  Clearly a casual
perusal of history would indicate that many of the empires you listed had
similar effects.  You don't expect me to believe that nobody noticed the
fall of Rome.


 
> Using the proceeds from economic growth to stamp out environmental
> destruction is rather like using the proceeds from casinos to stamp out
> gambling.  This doesn't mean all growth is destructive, but the type of
> economy most Western countries have at present (high capital, low
skill)\

Oh yes, I see what you mean.  All those people employed by companies like
Intel, Microsoft, and Pfizer are low skilled.

And your analogy is also false in my opinion.  Concern for the environment
is in many ways like a luxury good.  You may not like it, but I think that
this is fairly accurate.  Most people in the world are not going to put
their own survival behind that of animals, plants and ecosystems.  Just
like all other animals the human is going to make sure it is going to have
a decent chance at survival first.  What makes us a step or two above the
rest of the animal kingdom is that after a certain point people tend to
realize that their future is linked to the environment and wont continue
to crap on it (hopefully).


> certainly is.  It should be possible not to trash the economy, but
> instead
> to replace it with a high skill, low capital alternative.  This was one

Highly skilled people tend to be capital intensive.  Things like
labrotories, computers, telephones, etc.  (Oh and don't forget that you
can't have just a society of highly skilled people, so you'd also need the
low skilled folks as well.)


Steve

=====
"In a nutshell, he [Steve] is 100% unadulterated evil. I do not believe in a 'Satan', but this man is as close to 'the real McCoy' as they come." 
--Jamey Lee West

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