Quote Originally Posted by rpm View Post
human factors aside, where do you believe the "environment" ought to fit in to the unfettered capitalist system you advocate? some people argue that the environment is, and ought be, far less a priority than stimulating economic growth at any cost. and that's fine. but if you acknowledge that the longevity of our species depends upon certain environmental conditions (temperature range, adequate clean water, clean air, viable land etc) which are being degraded by our economic paradigm which requires exponential growth to sustain itself (which i assume unfettered capitalism would too?), and does not factor the environmental effects of business into its transactions (tragedy of the commons blah blah etc), then what do you propose ought be done? i mean, i assume governmental restrictions on environmentally-degrading business practices are out of the question because that's what you're seeking to do away with. so, put an economic price on any environmentally-harmful by-products of business? that's another barrier to business? how would these issues be dealt with in your perception of an optimal economic system?
Without discussing at great length this kind of goes back to wufwugy's point about the "physics" of economics. Climate change is a problem, but until enough people in the world attach value to this and are willing to spend resources to prevent it, nothing will happen. And there are not a lot governments can do about this, which is obvious from observation. You can't force people to use less energy at the barrel of a gun without creating dire economic consequences for all. This leads to more poverty and even worse damage to the environment would result from a crashed world economy.

Climate change is also a problem in that it's a first-world concern. Just think about how many billions of people could give less than a shit about climate change because their lives are so desperate and they just try to live day to day. Until we elevate the standard of living for those people so they'll no longer rut nonstop and have time to take a break to read a book about climate change, its going to be an uphill battle. And the best way to solve poverty is through capitalism, this is an indisputable fact. The other way in which capitalism will help us is by spurring technology and innovation faster than any government could.