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The tone of so many articles and comments online seems to be "Shrug, not much we can do about it". Or pedantically arguing about minutia. Between this and the pandemic response in so many places, I'm not so sure humanity is going to be around in a century or two. The rich will live in climate controlled domes on remote islands or ships, while billions of people starve, overheat, or fight over scraps. The global "elite" rich have a serious blind-spot though: They never seem to realize that they rely on a massive robust web of interconnected humanity to support their wealth and privilege. From billions of farmers, miners, craftspeople, teachers, to workers of all types, the global rich live at the top of a massive pyramid of humanity. Makes me wonder if the person who is desperately trying to bootstrap a society on Mars has the right idea... Sorry for a depressing comment. It's sobering to know that despite having another 50 years or so of life left to live, I will probably die in a food riot or from home invaders looking for water and food. |
I'm not particularly convinced of this line of argumentation. The amount of hubris and ignorance required would be truly astonishing. My take, based on misc readings from folks who have one foot in said world, is that the global elite rich are absolutely aware of this.
Furthermore, they're actively debating the problem for the simple reason of self-preservation. They want to keep their station in life: their in-groups, all their "toys", etc. They are viscerally aware of the growing disillusioned on all sides of the spectrum and an increasing willingness of the disenchanted to burn it down instead of playing what is perceived (rightly?) to be a rigged game.
Overall, it's hardly benevolent, and questionably competent. Some individuals most certainly are both; some far from either. Regardless, I do believe that sheer greed alone will mean they'll be throwing themselves as these problems if only to keep some semblance of the "good ol' days".