A story of the last 200 years

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magari
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A story of the last 200 years

Post by magari »

I posted this video on another thread, but I was curious what other people thought of this story specifically.

Its not even 5 minutes long.
My question... How did this happen?

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Shinichi
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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by Shinichi »

How did what happen, specifically? The inequalities? The general changes? The economics of it?



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magari
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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by magari »

Whats the first thing that comes to mind?

The presenter seemed to have no issue pointing out the effects of the industrial revolution and world wars.

Prior to 1800 we have the end of the middle ages and the beginning of colonialism (Eastern Trading Companies), which the netherlands and the british benefited from mostly, so I think that is a good representation of history.

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by Shinichi »

It's a good visual representation of what happened. As for why it happened, that's a whole lot of history. It would fill an entire book.

I think a more important question now is, how long will it last? The entire Industrial Age is a castle built on sand. Finite resources will run out eventually, and we're going to have to change our entire society to compensate for that. Maybe we'll solve major problems and go on to the next big thing, maybe it'll all collapse and we'll be living in a world like Greer portrays in his After Oil anthologies. And it's pretty much accepted fact now that most of the Western world is a bunch of economic bubbles. Debt bubbles, currency bubbles where the entire currency is inflated to look okay when it isn't. Historically speaking, bubbles always pop, eventually. What's going to happen when it does?

There are a lot of reasons for the data in that video, but most of them are short term. The current system isn't built to last, and there's plenty of proof for that. Germany in the 1920's. Zimbabwe. Rome.

I'm certainly not a doomsday advocate. Rome collapsed and humanity survived. But, a broken system can't last indefinitely, and the current system is broken. What will happen to all that health to wealth data when things do fall apart? That, I think, is something very important to consider.



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Re: A story of the last 200 years

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The leading guild acted smartly and they now have complete control over the entire game. Everything in the world is in their favour and there aren't any players with any viable strength to oppose it at all. The rebel mentality is there but it's hardly enough and there's far too many differences between smaller factions to agree upon even working together. Nothing's going to change for a long, long time.
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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by magari »

If I look at the history of the "system" I dont see one single guiding principal, theory, person, group, ideology, or mechanic that has lasted those 200 years.

Even money and economics isnt the same anymore.

First we had notes backed by the promise of shipments from far away lands, then there was gold, now its interest rates, and currently cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity in nations where the institutions are far more corrupt than what most people experience in the first world nations.

So while I agree with you that the current system cannot live forever, I will argue that there isnt a single one that has. Its simply been an evolution of sorts and while tragedies occur when humanity learns its lessons, I think its more important to look for opportunities than obstacles.

I would argue that the "system" is a representation of how humanity chooses to organize itself at any one point in time, but like everything in this universe, its constantly undergoing change and if we wind the clock back to the dawn of time and start that visualization over again, I think the trend will be the same.

There are more tragedies to be had in the future for sure, but overall it seems humanity is headed in the right direction, and has been since the dawn of time.

Im also learning that we actually live in a world of abundance and not finite resources. The 0-sum game idea is false. The solution is and always has been technology, which is ultimately a catalyst for greater efficiency.

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by magari »

cyberdemon wrote:The leading guild acted smartly and they now have complete control over the entire game. Everything in the world is in their favour and there aren't any players with any viable strength to oppose it at all. The rebel mentality is there but it's hardly enough and there's far too many differences between smaller factions to agree upon even working together. Nothing's going to change for a long, long time.
Actually its simply a matter of future generations picking up the bat and stepping up to the plate when older generations die.

In my opinion

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

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cyberdemon wrote:The leading guild acted smartly and they now have complete control over the entire game. Everything in the world is in their favour and there aren't any players with any viable strength to oppose it at all. The rebel mentality is there but it's hardly enough and there's far too many differences between smaller factions to agree upon even working together. Nothing's going to change for a long, long time.
What happens if they can't find any new markets in time one day and the debt comes crashing down on them?

Apparently our current material prosperity comes from cheap labour and resources allocation in poorer countries btw.

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

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magari wrote:If I look at the history of the "system" I dont see one single guiding principal, theory, person, group, ideology, or mechanic that has lasted those 200 years.

Even money and economics isnt the same anymore.

First we had notes backed by the promise of shipments from far away lands, then there was gold, now its interest rates, and currently cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity in nations where the institutions are far more corrupt than what most people experience in the first world nations.

So while I agree with you that the current system cannot live forever, I will argue that there isnt a single one that has. Its simply been an evolution of sorts and while tragedies occur when humanity learns its lessons, I think its more important to look for opportunities than obstacles.

I would argue that the "system" is a representation of how humanity chooses to organize itself at any one point in time, but like everything in this universe, its constantly undergoing change and if we wind the clock back to the dawn of time and start that visualization over again, I think the trend will be the same.

There are more tragedies to be had in the future for sure, but overall it seems humanity is headed in the right direction, and has been since the dawn of time.

Im also learning that we actually live in a world of abundance and not finite resources. The 0-sum game idea is false. The solution is and always has been technology, which is ultimately a catalyst for greater efficiency.
What about this?: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... scientists

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

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magari wrote:Im also learning that we actually live in a world of abundance and not finite resources.
I too would like to live in this fantastical world of neverending resources. It certainly doesnt sound like the one I live on: here that would violate simple, basic physical principles.
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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by Maya The Generator »

Maybe our current situation is better and better when compared to our ancestors but I think exactly the same could be said from 400yrs ago to 200yrs ago.

"Guys! Look how much it will improve our current lives! In next 100yrs we will be able to live like a gods!"

And then you see exactly that: We live like a Gods when we compare people from many hundreds years back. But do you feel like God? You can be destroyed so easly in our current time, you should know it coz you were in military. Nuke, atomic bomb, bad luck...

On the other hand I think we either are going to Era of Peace and Prosperity(which I hope will be) or... It will be the fastest and the most terryfing War world could encounter in this times.

We have really nice potential to be one of the species to colonize galaxies. Lot of things can go wrong... and surely will like always with human race.

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Re: A story of the last 200 years

Post by magari »

Sypheara wrote:
magari wrote:Im also learning that we actually live in a world of abundance and not finite resources.
I too would like to live in this fantastical world of neverending resources. It certainly doesnt sound like the one I live on: here that would violate simple, basic physical principles.
Define resource...

Consider energy. We acquire it through oil and coal mostly. There are debates over how much coal and oil exists on this earth, but "energy"; thats a resource that exists in infinite amounts.

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