Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jmyeet 1509 days ago
Another perspective: humanity's biggest problem is our inability to understand the exponential function [1].

As for climate change, the only way that ends is after massive death and destruction or due to economics (specifically: carbon emission sources get replaced because they're cheaper). It's too large, expensive and long-term for people to care otherwise. The pandemic should've dispelled any notions you may have had about humanity not being staggeringly selfish.

The social and political disasters are more solvable. The world powers (and the US in particular) need to stop screwing with the rest of the world purely for their material gain.

The US loves to sanction, incite a revolution or just outright invade any country that even talks about (let alone actually) nationalizes natural resources [2]. Cuba and Venezuela spring to mind. In Ecuador after Chevron caused massive environmental damage and the government secured a $9.5 billion judgement, the US reacted by empowering an oil law firm to criminally prosecute the US lawyer (Steven Donziger) for fraud in the US [3].

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6E156F1A50BB7B72

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_r...

[3]: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/04/science/mcgovern-call...

2 comments

Well, the US military might is reliant on a resource it does not actually produce locally (in sufficient quantities). If the govt. did not exert control over other sources, it would quickly lose access, rendering much of the heavy machinery useless. The Navy is the most vulnerable to an oil shortage.
The US is an energy exporter now.
All crude is not created equal. Jet fuel for instance is dominantly refined from light sweet crude, for which the Middle East is the best source. While one can refine shale oil into jet fuel, the process is more complicated and expensive. It is worth noting that US does refine most of its own jet fuel within the country, and it’s only raw crude that it needs to buy.
Are you suggesting that the only way to avoid anthropogenic climate change is a massive die off humans?
Isn't it obvious?

On 9/11 ~3500 people died. During the pandemic that many people were dying of Covid every day. In 2 years over 1 million Americans have died of Covid. 9/11 sparked 20 years of wars (that we lost) and trillions of dollars gone, not to mention the hundreds of thousands or millions we killed directly or indirectly in the process.

But the pandemic response? Slave muzzles [1] and an incredibly safe vaccine could've saved millions of people worldwide. Minor inconvenience, basically.

I mean look at how people are upset how gas is more expensive now. Do you really think people collectively will subject themselves to something similar long-term so decades from now the Earth might be slightly cooler than it's otherwise going to be? No shot.

[1]: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-qanon-rode-pandem...

This is the new HN shrug - just go about your business and maybe the oligarchs will genocide all the non-rationlists
at least we'll go to Mars!