Energy and wealth are basically the same thing. The economy is a thermodynamic system. We not only need clean energy. We need 10X the amount of energy we have now. The far left focus on efficiency and energy austerity is literally insane.
Discussion
I also think the far right focus on going bonkers on things like coal and oil is also insane. Hate me from both sides!
Being a bitcoin maximalist and a moderate progressive is a great way to be disliked by everyone.
Really just a small-L liberal. I wouldn't call myself a progressive in the American political context, as there's a lot of political connotations there I don't subscribe to, or am outright hostile to. But when it comes to social and cultural matters, I'm anti-conservative. Which may confuse people into thinking I'm a left progressive.
I hate labels so much. I just want a world where bitcoin is the money and people can be whatever they choose to be and not have the state tell them what to do with their bodies.
Bitcoiners are asymptomatic!
Problem is we can't communicate ideas without labels. Every word I just typed in this note is a label, connoting some meaning. Hopefully meaning that is shared, and can be cogently received and interpreted.
Yes please, where do I sign up?
both sides are outdated & both sides’ ideas are definitely weird to hold on to. energy abundance is achievable, and it seems that we are on a path to get there.
Absolutely. Layered Malthusianism around a solid core of misanthropy. The primary benefit of efficiency (and I do support maximally efficient systems) is to liberate energy for new and more productive uses, not to use less of it. Kardashev scale or bust.
I don't think I'd call it misanthropy, even though I agree it has that effect. I think people are deeply confused. Morally and intellectually.
It strikes me that many ppl I know are doubling down on a simplified apocalyptic understanding of the near future. It turns out, the less you are invested in the future, the easier it is to convince yourself to invest less. Fewer children. Less nutrition. Less community support. Breaks my heart.
I think that might be true for some people. But I think the real paradox comes from the fact that with higher relative wealth, our time preference as a civilization shifts dramatically. This is why there is an inverse correlation between birth rate and relative purchasing power.
It's a real conundrum, I think.
What’s the connection between time preference and age-at-first-child?
The way I think about it, and this might be over-simplified, is that higher relative wealth tends to lower time preferences, and that crowds out high time preference things -- which having children is.
I know these correlations exist. But I don't have a deep understanding of the subject. I am interested in it, though.
I was once chided by a West African colleague for failing to recognize how much economic value 6 kids would bring me in 20 years.
Indeed. I’m much attracted to the up vs down outlook, which better describes many tensions today than does left vs right. Balaji dived into this a bit recently, but it goes back much further (this text from Fogbanking c. 2013).
Energy is life, and always at the root. I agree we need vastly more of it.
The Wizard and the Prophet (Charles Mann, 2018) explores this well too.
Fission fixes this
I am extremely pro-nuclear. Yes. ☢️!
I've been wondering what happens when market forces drive unregulated/unsafe nuclear (eventually cheapest most energy dense form of energy) to come online globally. Down the line isn't this dangerous ?
I'm usually pro nuclear. Just struggling with this one when thinking about BTC mining long term
Don’t we need both though?
Do we need energy austerity? Hell no.
Was referring to efficiency
There is a tendency for things to become more efficient over time through pure economic forces, though. Although, there has been evidence where regulation has certainly accelerated it. Examples I guess being fuel efficiency in cars, and bans on incandescent lighting.