this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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If you look at overall worldwide poverty and starvation numbers, coupled with medical advancements and indoor plumbing, now is a pretty good time to be a human. Yes, there are lots of problems, but the standard of living (for the average person) has gotten so much better in the last 200 years
Absolutely agree!
I'm currently midway trough Peter Zeihans The End of the World Is Just the Beginning and just started Yuval Noah Hararis Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow, he even cites a statistics which is that more people die from obesity than starvation each year, so we have that going for us. So far these two books are a nice contrast. I'm painfully aware of our currently novel situation and hoping things are gonna keep heading in the right direction. Actually would really want them to, trying my best to make them: https://sturlabragason.github.io/blog/2023/07/04/Decentralized-Autonomous-Communities.html
Great links and recommendations.
I have not read Peter Zeihans’ book, but going only by the blurb, I do take issues with the notion that global supply chains are only working because of the US Navy. That seems a wholeheartedly American view - as if China, or India, or the EU wouldn’t be able to trade unless the US Navy existed. If the point is one about piracy, then I certainly believe the fight against it, where it occurs, is deeply multinational and not dominated by the US Navy. Will have to read the book to understand his point, I think.
We'll so far it's been quite US centric so far, but I feel he has some solid arguments for most of his points. What's been intriguing to me is his economic history. It's presented in an engaging way.
Definitely reading it and thanks for the recommendation.