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
