OK, just because ....

[unixronin]

This is a totally open question to anyone.  It serves no great purpose.  I'm just curious to see the answers, and may or may not comment in return.

What of consequence do you and I have in common?  What are our major differences?

Be honest, think hard, answer seriously, and never be afraid to say "I don't know."

Remember:  "He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a wise man.  He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool.  But he who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a scholar."  (Aristotle, if memory serves.  But at this time of night it probably doesn't.)

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I hold a very strong belief that our technological global group of civilizations (is the PC enough?) is capable of housing, feeding, protecting, and administering health care to the full population of the planet.

No argument. It's not a problem of resources, it's one of distribution, will, and - frankly - greed.

I don't think that there is much, if any, real scarcity (end note 3) left in the world in the realms of basic decent standard of living and security type stuff, right.

See previous observation. :)

Really, I'm not sure I see where you think we differ on this.

The big trouble is that we got into this rut of (a) believing, in many cases, that huge amounts of money -- more than one could ever possibly spend in a lifetime, or in a dozen lifetimes -- are inherently worth having for their own sake, whatever it takes to accumulate such hoards, and (b) that it's a good idea to let people who think that way govern your life and how you live it. Of course, once you get enough people into that trap, it's a difficult one to get back out of. The conspicuous-consumption economy has its own sort of economic gravity well.

We've had several tries at breaking away from the idea during recorded history. I don't know how many more tries we'll have to have before one succeeds. In the long run, it's to everyone's advantage to get everyone out of the starvation/poverty state, and ideally to enable everyone to be a net producer of resources. However, in such a world, it would probably be very difficult for individuals to become conspicuously filthy stinking rich relative to the vast majority, and so the individuals to whom that is important will probably do whatever they can to prevent it from coming to pass.

[koyote.livejournal.com]

well, then. i guess we don't disagree. :)

I sometimes get the impression we do, but that could be channel leaching from others, or maybe even something going back to the period prior to 2001. i think we have both had some worldview restructuring in that time. i know i have!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I have too. Worldview restructurings, realizations, ....