Posts by BenWilson
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
My mainly Irish and Scottish background was poor, until my grandfather, who made it in property development. But his real escalation out of the working classes came from WW2, where his obvious brains shot him straight into the air force ahead of many others of much higher privilege. It gave him post-war opportunities that he capitalized on. He always believed in an egalitarian welfare state, despite becoming very wealthy. I've always found that inspiring - that in becoming rich you don't have to turn into a selfish bastard.
-
I wonder if many of our decision-makers/politicians have either never been poor or chosen to forget it.
Not our PM though, so he tells it.
I'm not convinced that the 'former poor' are more likely to show empathy to the 'currently poor', though. Particularly not the 'formerly poor, now fantastically wealthy'. Their own rise from poverty is likely to have given them the impression that everyone could do the same, if they just followed the same philosophy. Often, they despise people who failed to rise all the more because they don't feel as inclined to patronize them as the 'never was poor' sect.
Their fallacy is usually in failing to account for the luck factor. Not just the luck of the breaks they had in making it big, but also the luck they had in being the kind of person who would capitalize on those breaks.
-
Sounds good to me.
-
It's not certain what the outcomes will be from the warming wrt to human losses. Crystal ball gazing there. But it seems pretty certain it's happening and it's a hell of a lot to risk.
But there are big losses from trying to reverse it, too. The entire world economy is made possible by fossil fuels usage. There is nothing like it as a replacement, yet, so we are talking enormous cuts in production. That could kill millions of people too. That is also a hell of a lot to risk.
Then there's 'opportunity cost'. Even just a slowdown in the world production capacity means the any number of things that can't happen that might have been able to. For instance, thousands of hospitals might never be built. That could kill millions of people.
I think humanity can possibly reorganize to cope with these difficulties, but we haven't reached a point just yet where it seems worth the risk to enough people. Please note I'm not one of those people. I think it's worth the effort to at least try to reduce greenhouse gas production. It's the only way we can really be sure whether we even could fix the problem.
-
My folks had no qualms letting us swim in a swampy estuary with the tide going out without any adult supervision at about the age of 8. They might have told us off for jumping off a bridge into the turgid and rapidly flowing stream racing between oyster covered pillars if they'd known, but the very fact they didn't know indicated how much trust they had that we were safe enough.
-
I think for a lot of people the question isn't about whether global warming is happening, but more about whether it matters. Especially whether it matters more than losses we would incur trying to stop it.
-
Except apparently 99% of scientists agreeing about global climate change and it's dangers. Still up for grabs that one.
I'm 99% sure humans will survive global warming. Other species...not so sure.
-
I got nostalgic anyway, I'm sorry.
Truly another world, it's not something we'd ever think of letting our children do. And that's a shame.
It is. My entire youth would be a tale of neglect nowadays.
-
I got all nostalgic this morning after reading Gio's answer to Remember the days of the old schoolyard? . Summers were all golden in the fading memory of my youth, but this year, it's felt like a revisit, because I'm doing it all with Marcus. Many a long year passed where I didn't once sit in the tide, digging for the sheer hell of it, feeling the warm breeze, not giving a damn about the future beyond how I was going to hold the tide back for one more minute. If it had been cold and wet, I don't think it would have been half as evocative. Even chores like mowing the lawn have been fun, with him trailing behind pushing his toy one, demanding to see and smell every catcher-full. The fascination with everything is infectious, usually I wouldn't pay attention anywhere near as much, but seeing it through the eyes of a child, everything about summer has been glorious, especially since sunburn is ancient history.
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs -
Some people have teenagers like that.
A stint as 'outdoor teenagers' might cure them. My deck, where the cat sleeps, can be hosed off easily enough, which might also be a good way of getting teenagers out of bed.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 783 784 785 786 787 … 1066 Older→ First