The Hall of Fire

As for overpopulation, I have high hopes that it will be balanced out in the long run by two factors. One is economic growth, which leads to high living standards, high levels of education, smaller families, and zero population growth eventually (see parts of Europe, for example). The other is tech...

Every time a subject like this comes up, I recommend this: Arithmetic, Population, and Energy It's a lecture by Dr. Albert Bartlett, who's been talking about population and resource issues for 30 years. You can download it, stream it, or just read the transcript. "What I hope to do is I hope to...

Ellienor wrote:DaveLF, what you are describing is known as the "tragedy of the commons"

That's right; I was thinking Jevons' paradox, but TOTC is more accurate. Jevons discovered that if resource usage is made more efficient, consumption rises instead of falling because more people hop on board.

Unfortunately, I don't think conservation is the answer, whether that means driving less, not watering the lawn, or having fewer children (I still think it's a good thing to do). Basically, if you make a moral decision to consume less, someone somewhere else will take advantage of the surplus you cr...

The bunny and eggs are remnants of the fertility rites to Ishtar that used to occur at the same time of year.

Jn: technicality is always appreciated. :) What is the mechanism that forces price X down when price Y goes up and the money supply is held constant? Is it just that if food got more expensive, people would have less money for CDs so the music industry would have to lower its prices to keep people b...

It seems to me that once "regular Americans" were doing these jobs but with increased immigration, many employers have taken advantage of this and hired illegal immigrants so they could pay them less which has driven down the pay of these jobs. You're right, and it's also driven down the ...

If immigration law were strictly enforced starting tomorrow, the economies in the border states would collapse. Yeah. And I don't think they could do it, even if they wanted to. They'd have armed riots on their hands. Edit: Please don't construe the above as a racist statement. But it is a fact tha...

It kind of confouds me that, given all the abuses Americans seem prepared to tolerate, this is the issue that's got them taking to the streets. I'm not confounded. People do tend to get more excited when their livelihood is threatened than when their liberties are. That explains why immigrants are ...

It kind of confouds me that, given all the abuses Americans seem prepared to tolerate, this is the issue that's got them taking to the streets.

I don't know... It's certainly true that fanatics get the most attention, but I don't think most Americans even know who O'Hare is. And in the fanaticism department, radical atheism can't hold a candle to radical Islam (for example). Nevertheless, atheists are disliked more the Muslims. I kind of fe...

A recent survey found that atheists are the most hated group in America. :( University Of MN From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing th...

Oh, wait. I think you mean that the 'target' of the Darwin fish are the 'heathen' who will chuckle at it, but that it's mocking Christianity? Right; I'm the sort of person the fish is marketed toward, but I dislike it because it's derisive and imitative (and for the other reasons I mentioned). Whil...

I am also a "heathen" (or whatever word you prefer); having been brought up a conservative Christian, but choosing another way in early adulthood. The whole thing used to be a real hot button issue for me but, happy to say, it's become less important and less a source of angst as time has ...

Thanks. I would have joined sooner, but sometimes I'm a bit slow about noticing these things...