Unfortunately Rod does not understand what Yoshie is saying. It is simply
wrong to say "the problem is with the social system not with the> technical
feasibility." The problem is precisely with technical feasibility and it is
mystification to argue anything else. If you think another social system
would miraculously find vast new undiscovered deposits of fossil fuels, or
work out how to make cold fusion work, or how to run bulldozers with
light-bulb power PV's, then you are simply and wholly wrong about the
elementary facts of the case.
Mark Jones
http://www.egroups.com/group/CrashList
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rod Hay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 2:01 AM
Subject: [PEN-L:20794] Re: Re: "We used 10 times as much energy in the
20thcentury as in the 1,000
> I agree Yoshie. But the problem is with the social system not with the
> technical feasibility.
>
> Rod
>
> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> > >There is no shortage of energy!!!!!
> > >
> > >Nor of any other resource.
> > >
> > >The environmental problem we have to solve is how to get rid of our
> > >garbage without fouling our environment to such an extent that it is
> > >inhospitable for human life.
> > >
> > >Rod
> >
> > I agree that waste management is an urgent problem, but the reason
> > why there is "no shortage of energy nor of any other resources" is
> > that the market rations their use. Econ 101 says that any shortage
> > can be cured by an appropriately higher price, so it seems there is
> > no point in celebrating an absence of shortage. The poor in poor
> > countries have no access to electricity, clean water, reliable
> > transportation, household appliances, and other goods that consume
> > oil and other resources in their production, because they can't
> > afford them. If everyone in the world were to live according to the
> > standards set by rich nations, wouldn't there be a problem (though
> > capitalism does prevent this particular problem from ever arising,
> > since the majority are doomed to poverty)?
> >
> > Yoshie
>
> --
> Rod Hay
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> The History of Economic Thought Archive
> http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/index.html
> Batoche Books
> http://Batoche.co-ltd.net/
> 52 Eby Street South
> Kitchener, Ontario
> N2G 3L1
> Canada
>
>
