At 11:48 PM 7/18/01 +1200 K.Feete wrote:
>>>Eh, yes, but when the solution is something like "stop using so much
>>>stuff" people actually *prefer* the problem. It's not that "we" greeners
>>>are short on solutions; it's that we're short on ways of getting people
>>>to *impliment* solutions. Not in all cases, but in at least a few.
>>
>>Of course, what point is there in preserving a static environment if it
>>impovershes us all?
>
>Hum. I'm trying to think of a nice way to say that you've just pointed up
>the major, irreconcilable difference between our viewpoints here, John.
>You seem to think there needs to be a reason *not* to ruin the Earth. I
>think there'd better be a damn good reason *to* ruin it.
All I'm saying is that it makes no sense to ruin us because we "might" ruin
the Earth. (Actually, it is highly unlikely that we would ruin the
Earth, short of nukeing the whole thing. Things like global warming,
while they might make life pretty miserable for us, might actually improve
biodiversity on Earth. Sort of like the greening of Antarctica.)
Look, the environment is going to be changed by human activity. There
isn't much that rational beings *can* do to avoid impacting the environment
in one way or the other. Now, we can either fear the change, or we can
understand the change, and work with the change. I'm just asking that we
do the latter. Each change to the environment will bring costs and
benefits. Avoiding some of those changes will simply be too costly.
Other changes would save us far more than the costs of avoiding them.
My point is simply that it is completely irrational to hold that any action
which might improve the environment *must* be undertaken, no matter what
the cost. When I see people write things like "but people won't do it,
simply because it might cost money" or other people reject the very
*principle* of "cost-benefit analysis", this is the kind of irrationality I
see behind those statements.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
We are products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and
Athens to Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance.
We share a civilization. - George W. Bush, Warsaw, 06/15/01
