Friday, October 13, 2023

Help me with my cognitive dissonance. How do we reconcile betting on the continued expansion of the economy, with the knowledge that a continually expanding economy will destroy the planet?

The title encapsulates my question.

Edit: I'm honestly amazed that so many who've commented think nothing is wrong and that I'm just a doomer out dooming. Many of you have asked for "sources" lol. The science on the greenhouse effect has been published since the 1960s and if you don't care now nothing I post will change your mind.

Our economy is fundamentally based on finite resources, if they weren't finite then it wouldn't work, it's literally that simple. From blueberries to Bitcoin, something from the ground has to be expended to create them and turn a profit. Even if you don't believe in climate change, there's only so much we can dig out of the ground and burn (decreasing), there's only so much soil to grow food in (decreasing rapidly), and there's only so much water we can drink (also decreasing).

Politics aside, just dealing with hurricane after hurricane or wildfire is incredibly expensive and damages our economy - if those events are more common, spoiler, they are, then it seems prudent to consider such things when financially planning for the long term.


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