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Comment Growth is necessary (Score 1) 331

It depends on whether you agree with Malthus that population growth is inevitable or with Condorcet, who believed that birth control could prevent the consequences of exponential population growth.

If the population continues to grow, so too must the economy, or the share of resources available to each person will shrink. There's really no room for argument on that point.

Comment Re:Maybe not extinction... (Score 1) 608

In what sense was the Roman empire not capitalistic?

The major source of labor in the Roman Empire was slave labor, not wage labor, and the major source of wealth was military conquest rather than commerce.

It's extremely difficult for modern people living in industrialized societies to even imagine an alternative to capitalism because it's so pervasive in our world, but it hasn't been around forever and even now capitalism exists only as an imperfectly realized ideal.

Transportation

If Ridesharing Is Banned, What About Ride-Trading? 353

Bennett Haselton writes "The city of Seattle just imposed new limits on commercial app-based ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, effectively protecting taxi companies from low-cost competition in the form of smartphone apps. If other cities follow suit, could a company help ridesharers circumvent the restrictions by creating a ride-trading app, allowing drivers to earn 'miles' by driving passengers, and redeem those miles later to get rides for themselves?" Continue reading below to see what Bennett has to say.
Media

Are DVDs Inconvenient On Purpose? 490

Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton writes: "Why do Netflix and a few other companies keep the DVD format alive, when streaming is more convenient for almost all users? The answer is not obvious, but my best theory is that it has to do with what economists call price discrimination. Netflix is still the cheapest legal way to watch a dozen recent releases every month — but only if you're willing to put up with those clunky DVDs." Read on for the rest of Bennett's thoughts.

Comment Re:Barbaric (Score 1) 914

That is justice, though. Both as conceptualized and as realized in modern and historical societies, justice has and does include punishment and even torture. Trying to get "justice" without vengeance or punishment is futile, because these are essential aspects of justice.

Let's just move past justice and ask ourselves what would best serve us in its place.

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