posted May 06, 2007 02:59 PM            

So you never red Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein.

I recommend it, as all of his other works.

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Rui Rodrigues

posted May 06, 2007 06:22 PM            

Well, you are right.

I didn't like I Will Fear No Evil

But if my memory serves me right, it's just about this one.

posted May 09, 2007 04:15 PM            

quote:

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In recent years, the public has solved some mammoth problems in a decentralized manner - for example, producing an on-line encyclopedia that is updated in real time, and an open-source and non-proprietary computer operating system that is now used worldwide. I am arguing for open-source global cooperation as well, meaning a system in which all sectors are invited to offer solutions, under the guidance of an agreed set of targets. Starting with shared goals, backed up by regular and rigorous feedback from expert reviews, we can engender a worldwide outpouring of ideas, actions, and commitments from all parts of society - business, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies. Governments can stand ready to bring solutions to scale, through public finance and other kinds of incentives.

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quote:

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SUE LAWLEY: How do you overcome self-interest, Jeffrey, in the interests of the common good?

JEFFREY SACHS: Interestingly, I come from a country where the business community is way ahead of the politicians, and the public also is now clamouring for action. Now in the case of India and China, they have every reason to take this issue seriously. I would argue that the environment is actually right in the front here, it is probably the most decisive issue that both of those mega-populations will face in the challenge of achieving the economic development that they seek. In India the absence of water has become a top issue, with the suicides of farmers in the drought-stricken areas, and this is as painful and dramatic and headline an issue as one has. So I believe that what has paralysed this process is not an intrinsic lack of interest or a sense that self-interest should keep one away, but if there is that sense of self-interest I'm arguing that it's basically because of ignorance of the underlying facts.

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from Jeffrey Sachs' final lecture:
Global Politics in a Complex Age

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2007/lecture5.shtml

posted May 09, 2007 06:48 PM            

I look forward to listening to the entire lecture series. Thanks for sharing, Charles.

-- Eric

P.S. Rui, I loved I Will Fear No Evil. Elderly billionaire gets his brain transplanted into his nubile secretary's body. What's not to like?

I didn't really care for Number of the Beast or The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.

posted May 09, 2007 08:43 PM            

quote:

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Instead, we refer to the latest strategy from that famous economist and other-people's-money philanthropist, Jeffrey Sachs, to pry more dollars out of U.S. taxpayers for corrupt African governments.... Recall that the G-7 leaders who gathered in Scotland last July spent most of their time on African poverty. They decided to forgive $50 billion in bad debts to poor nations and to double global aid to the poorest states -- mostly African -- by $50 billion a year by 2010 (and to $150 billion a year by 2015).

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What a criminal waste of human resources that we are allowing so many people in Africa to die of starvation.

The alternative and more cost effective solution to Jeffrey Sachs’ extravagant plan would be to cram them into ships and float them across to the US where we have a severe shortage of cheap labour. This would be a win-win situation for all concerned as we could supply them with survival rations in return for an honest day’s work.

Funny that nobody has thought of this as a solution before.

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Bern

http://www.insighttrader.com.au

posted May 09, 2007 10:18 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Bernard Chapman:
What a criminal waste of human resources that we are allowing so
many people in Africa to die of starvation.

The alternative and more cost effective solution to Jeffrey Sachs’
extravagant plan would be to cram them into ships and float them
across to the US where we have a severe shortage of
cheap labour.

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quote:

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Welcome to Insight Trading, developers of Insight Trader, the
premier Australian designed package for market analysis
and investment.

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Just curious.

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Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
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posted May 09, 2007 10:53 PM            

quote:

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The costs of addressing climate change, I have noted, will likely be less than 1 percent of our annual world income, and perhaps much below that. The costs of ending extreme poverty, too, are below one percent of rich world income. Biodiversity conservation, the studies have shown, is far below the first two costs, a slight fraction of a percent of income, if that. And disarmament, when based on global trust and treaties, will save money, lots of it, that is now directed to the useless and dangerous stockpiling of weapons, nuclear and other. We easily waste more in mistrust and military outlays than the costs of achieving our Millennium Promises.

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posted May 10, 2007 04:21 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Gosta

Just curious.

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Gosta,

You should keep up with modern American history. Have you not heard of the 51st state and Dubya's Deputy Sheriff in Asia?

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Bern

posted May 10, 2007 05:07 AM            

Number of the Beast or The Cat Who Walks Through Walls I remember the titles, but I can't recall the contents. I've red most of Heinlein's books 20-25 years ago when I was between 15 and 20 years old.

Since then, I must have red 150 other books. Perhaps it's time to revisit Heinlein.

Sorry for being off topic, guys!

posted May 10, 2007 07:48 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Gosta

(where you can only assume US employment situations)?

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I am not sure that one would describe the suggested arrangement as “employment” exactly.

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Bern

posted May 10, 2007 08:40 AM            

quote:

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Consider the case of public health. Countless advances in public health in recent years have combined global goals, social entrepreneurship, and public finance. The control of polio, down by a factor of more than 100 in the past 20 years, has been championed by Rotary International, in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The control of African River Blindness has been led by a partnership of Merck pharmaceutical company in conjunction with the World Health Organization and the World Bank. President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center have championed an alliance to eliminate Guinea Worm disease. And the list goes on.

Once a technology is proved - a new drug, an improved seed variety, a long-lasting bed net -- the challenge is scaling up. Markets will rarely suffice. In the case of extreme poverty and disease, the poor are too poor to pay for these solutions. In the case of the environment, green technologies often add to production costs, but in amounts much lower than the environmental benefits to society. Such costly technologies will be adopted on a large scale only if special public incentives are offered, such as a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, or a subsidy for clean energy, or a tradable permit to limit emissions.

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