🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <JMC.93Jan2145832@SAIL.Stanford.EDU> jmc@cs.Stanford.EDU writes:
>Mr. Berry is mistaken in his belief that the whole world cannot sustain
>itself at a U.S. living standard including personal transportation.
>
>He is also mistaken in his belief that the high U.S., European and
>Japanese living standards depend on exploiting the resources of
>the poor underdeveloped countries.

The result would be a closed economic system in which all
participants lived at a first world standard of living. Could the
U.S. cut off all trade without significantly impacting its living
standard? (Many economists claim we could not.) Would that roughly
simulate a global economy composed entirely of first world nations?

>As I have done in the past, I am willing to take any two resources
>Mr. Berry can mention and show how they are available or substitutable
>on a sufficient scale for the world to reach U.S. standards.

I don't dispute we have the technology to generate (harness) more
energy. But first world economic systems are "mining" the earth's
resources beyond replacement level. Consider the 30' elevation drop
in the California central valley due to excessive groundwater
pumping, permanently damaging the aquifers. Consider the saline
buildup due to irrigation; Consider the rate forests are
disappearing both in the U.S. and world, both due to cutting and
toxic poisoning; Consider the rate of species extinction ...

Can these damages realistically be repaired by applying energy? 

My challenge to you is to outline how the U.S. can solve its own
problems of world economic competition, unemployment, poverty, teen
pregnancies, housing costs, unskilled workers... In many respects
the U.S. no longer serves as an example of a first world nation.

Unless we can solve these problems internally, I do not see how we
can propose to be able to solve them for countries in Africa and
South America.

>The problem is that probably that Mr. Berry has been misinformed by
>his teachers and other environmentalist, anti-civilization
>propagandists.

I always wondered what the problem was!  :-)

>--
>John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305

-- 
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     (Mr.) Kim Berry              kberry@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US