Isaac Asimov's predictions for what the world will be like in 2014

Re:Isaac Asimov's predictions for what the world will be lik... by zanny on Wednesday August 28, 2013 @04:14PM (#6292337)

That just requires a realization that few people can provide the necessary resources and goods to maintain the rest. We avoid that realization, hence elsewhere in this comment thread discussions of 50%+ office jobs and only working 10 hours of your 40 hour shift come into play. I guess it plays counter to the rugged individualism model of thinking (that, let us be honest, wealthy business owners love because it creates surplus labor supply on a cultural basis rather than a fiscal need) even though we have had 1% of the population working as farmers for 30 years providing all the crops we eat, even when our crops are grossly inefficient like beef.

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Re:Isaac Asimov's predictions for what the world will be lik... by contingencies on Wednesday August 28, 2013 @05:19PM (#6292752)

Well, I don't think anyone should choose for 'the rest'.

With regards to your comment on 1% of people being farmers and that being adequate, here's some fast facts about the US agricultural industry:

(1) 300 million people in the US, and the US can sustainably produce food for only 130 million of them. (recentish UN estimate I believe)

(2) Many US farms are net energy consumers, ie. they burn more energy in production than they give people in food.

Second, the earth will actually produce enough to support many humans using no humans (ie. "let the plants grow back, stop maintaining the concrete, stop unsustainably exploiting and poisoning the environment"). It just requires us to be a bit more in tune with the environment (eg. decentralize, consume in-season, eat less meat, start sharing a bit more).

Interesting times.

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