me:
>> right. All else equal, it's a good thing if people believe we're running out 
>> of oil -- whether it's true or not -- since it pushes people to move over to 
>> energy sources that are not based on petrochemicals. I wish people thought 
>> we were running out of coal, too.<<

David B. Shemano wrote:
> Hmm.  Charles Brown has defended the Soviet Union, whatever its faults, in 
> that it replaced "superstition" with enlightenment, but you appear to be 
> advocating that it is good in certain cases for the masses to be misinformed. 
> > So Plato Devine, what other noble lies do you recommend that the masses 
> believe?<

I'd rather have people believe the truth (as I see it, natch). What
I'm saying is belief that oil is running out may be what we Econ-jocks
call "second best." If we can't get the truth out -- partly because a
bunch of leftists so strongly believe in "peak oil" -- at least we can
take some consolation in the kind of behavior that results from a very
specific kind of ignorance.

(Note that I used the phrase "all else equal" above. It's only "all
else equal" (when we can't end ignorance) that a specific kind of
ignorance is o.k.)

By the way, I prefer Aristotle to Plato (despite some of the very
obnoxious details of the former's philosophy).
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l

Reply via email to