As long as systems of power aren't the prevailing structure of society... Good luck buddy

Excellent points.

As far as making water and electricity cost moar, removing subsidies might go a long way.

I'm really hopeful we can produce more locally with 3d printing and solar panels and such. Re-use old panels and old EV batteries to drop off the grid as much as possible.

My orig point tho... we need more power. Power is light in the dark, heat in the winter, food, clean water, whatever people need.

But, you're absolutely right to be concerned with the distribution of that power... right now subsidies take from the average, while large corporations feast on that infrastructure

I agree. We are way too accustomed to convenience at huge energy expense. Do not see that changing tho lol

The problem is that when it comes down to it we are all guilty and none of us will stop. Just check the horrors in the Congo with Cobalt mining…none of us are going to stop using mobile phones or driving electric vehicles.

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Yeah I already think we're using too much power senselessly. I think power should be more expensive in a tiered fashion, and especially when it gets expensive in realtime. Wanna blast your AC in your entire 10,000sqft mansion in LA when it's 108F out and people are dying? The cost of that should accelerate, and go towards heat shelters, climate remediation, carbon taxes, projects to eliminate/ reduce effects of urban heat islands. That way maybe people will start to feel more of a hole in their wallet and only cool the 2-3 rooms they're using and shut off the rest of the house on days like those..

I think gas should cost more, the more of it you use. Wanna own a big truck you don't even need for actual work / hauling, a van, an ATV, etc? OK, gas costs more the more of it you use beyond what the typical person needs.

Wanna guzzle 80% of the limited supply of fresh water your community uses, so you can farm cash crops, then blame the public and tell them to let their lawns die / have to ask for water at a restaurant, which maybe contributes 2% at best? OK sure, just make sure that whatever you're doing is actually worth all the resources you're using, and give it back to the community.. wait, it's not worth it and the costs are untenable at competitive market rates for fresh water? Ok then, maybe stop growing so much alfalfa in a goddamn desert.

Wanna eat steak and beef burger for dinner every single night, even though that meat has drastic environmental impact in terms of water, land, and energy use? Sure thing, it will just cost you twice as much, compounding, per night of the week you eat it, and the tax money will go towards water remediation, carbon offsets, etc.

I think the expectation that everyone gets a single family home and yard etc within commuting distance to work, parking space etc is untenable. We need public housing that is affordable, yet efficient and comfortable (not much for low income folks), with mass transit nearby. We need to redline the NIMBY homeowners and pave the way for a future where more people can have a better life instead of a handful of elites who happened to get some nice hand-me-downs dating back to when FDR carved out SFH zoning across all of America's cities.

We vastly overconsume as it is. More power will just beget more consumption and more inequality + inefficiency in the allocation of that power.

Does all that sound socialist / utilitarian? If yes, then good, bc that aligns with my personal philosophies.

Definitely going to watch this but my thoughts on the title and first few minutes: It seems so idealistic. Unless we reach a point where AI rules our civilizations, tribalism is embedded into our very core. However, I do tend to take a more cynical approach to my views of human nature. Maybe I am wrong. Definitely giving this a watch. Thank you for sharing.

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Good luck with all that

Well that's easy, just ask reddit!

The same has been true throughout history.

They don't need to all be working together. To bring it down to reality a bit, companies in the US need to be solely dedicated to their shareholders. ->Lobbying is a thing and companies engage in it because it helps them make more money than it costs them. Ladida companies give the government a cut for permission to make more money off of the general population.

Then take this to every other industry. Some of the big ones being Food, Pharma, and Tech. 0 conspiracy theories in this

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Which means you lose. You will be outproduced by others, and will not have the resources to stop them from doing as they wish.

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My idea of pleasant is a world where everyone's needs are met as well as some of our wants. Production matters only insofar as it meets those needs and wants. Excess production, like we're seeing today, only destroys us and the planet.

My argument is that a world without productivity is less pleasant than one with it. Do you like air conditioning? Running water for nice hot showers even in midwinter? Fresh veggies in January?

Basically, what you think of as pleasant- apparently being time to lounge around with your friends- is not what I think of as pleasant.

So then is your argument that a productive world is better than one that is pleasant to live in?

Hunting buffalo. Hunter-gatherer levels of productivity are about what people would do if they can't accumulate capital for themselves or if they're not coerced by external threat.

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In the absence of greed or threat, we'd live in a nice world.

Yes, we would give up that comfortable lifestyle. In the absence of either greed or threat, why work? And without work, what drives productivity?

It sounds too much like the iconic men in a dark room smoking cigars planning the demise of anything that stands between them and global domination, I agree... That said, I think that iconic picture is a tool to distract from the fact that the power structures of human civilization have always been inherently conspiratorial... Obviously there's not some single monolithic group conspiring, there are many different people vying for power, and they either work against each other, or together, depending on how they believe it will serve their own agenda best... But "conspiracy theories" is a term that was demonstrably created as a strategy to diminish dissent.