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I am getting rid of my Yugo
JimH:
Income Distribution
1% of the world's population owns 50% of the wealth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth#:~:text=half%20of%20the%20world's%20net,97%25%20of%20the%20total%20wealth.
Take a look at a book called The Working Poor. This describes the lives of people who are not unemployed. They have jobs, but they are so close to poverty that small events like a car breaking down can put them over the edge. I've seen this first hand.
You can't use statistics to talk about quality of life.
zybex:
I, for one, welcome our imminent AI overlords. Maybe that will fix things.
Ref: Neal Asher's Polity.
Awesome Donkey:
--- Quote from: JimH on November 10, 2024, 04:32:21 pm ---Microplastics, anyone?
--- End quote ---
This. I've been reading about how the oceans are full of them and literal islands of pollution that exist just under the surface of the water. And about how oxygen levels are decreasing in places and fish literally can drown from it.
The decline of the oceans is probably the most immediate issue that if left unchecked (or ignored which is mostly happening) bad things can (and will) happen to the human race. It seems like it's largely being ignored by officials... I guess if they don't mention it it'll magically go away? Disclaimer: it won't.
Regarding the comment about living in any other time, personally if a time machine existed I would happily go back to a different time like the 1950s when there was a boom happening and the environment wasn't that bad yet. But alas, no such thing and here we are living on a spinning plate on a stick that's beginning to teeter.
Awesome Donkey:
--- Quote from: zybex on November 10, 2024, 04:51:00 pm ---I, for one, welcome our imminent AI overlords. Maybe that will fix things.
--- End quote ---
Yes, with the HKs and T-1000s. ;D
zybex:
On a more serious note, I kind of agree with Jmone - the world as a whole has never been better. It's just that this time around we have the capability of ending it all in a blink on an eye. Saying that 90% of the population lives better now than 500 years ago doesn't really change the fact that those 90% are getting a rotten deal compared to the other 10%, even if the inequality chart shows it's improving. In the past, when people were desperate they would lead a local revolution and cause some deaths; Nowadays, they can effectively cause a global war leading to global destruction. We are on the brink, in some ways.
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