Many people will blame man's way to be on the way things are in the world.
But it is simple to clear the haze that blinds peoples ideologies with a simple scenario.
Now keep in mind this scenario is a bit far fetched, as resources are ultimately finite, however with proper use
of land and technology, man can peacefully exist, and sustain itself for as long as the earths conditions remain viable.

Scenario:

We live on a massive island of sand. And this sand will never ever run out. It's useful in every single aspect in our lives.
So useful in fact that we eat it, we drink it, we sustain, we build, we wash, we do all the things that man needs to sustain itself,
with this never ending supply of sand....
One day, a greedy man came to me with force and said, "Hey you! That sand! It's mine!"
I looked at him perplexed and I said calmly, "Sure, take as much as you need"

(you can laugh now)

So the concept that there is enough, dictates if greed exists or not. Having enough, means you really don't care if people are stealing it, it never runs out. And why would people steal it anyway, if they had enough of their own in the first place? The people of the island would frown upon this behavior as non productive, and socially unacceptable.

But in walks man in the real world, who dominates and hoards land, stealing its water supplies and food supplies and resources, and criminally regulates them through labor (slavery) systems. And not all jobs are that great, in fact many jobs are not available to many people. And rather than use technology to abandon mundane labor forever, they opt not to, and keep a system going whereby there are a few winners and MANY MANY losers. All fighting each other, for their own little piece of life.

This is what creates greed. In fact, this is what creates most social issues, including and not limited to war, child trafficking, drug trades, criminally corrupted governments, medical industries, piss poor educational systems etc.

If man used technology properly, and educated it's people to sustain themselves, rather than leading a life of labor on the hamster wheel, to sustain institutions of corrupt power, man could work for an hour a day or less, and sustain his entire family with ease. Through automation, robotics, scientific advancements in energy and made to last and sustain products and automated services, man doesn't have to work very hard to enjoy a GREAT QUALITY OF LIFE.

But I digress. The military men will opt to defend their nations flags, under which tyranny is a part of the grand scheme, and the police will opt to protect and serve, but only themselves and their own institutions, the lawyers and judges will create lucrative lives out of sacrificial lambs, the governments and leadership will continue to be led by a monetary system, and endorse fully the "some have it some don't" game, because it keeps them in power over people, despite that most of us suffer from common things that are completely avoidable.

How did it get this way? Hmmm.. A better question is, why on earth is it STILL This way?

Sincerely,
-Z

You're just defining the value of anything by scarcity, which is not necessarily untrue but at least incomplete. The system that is currently in place is there because it works. A system where everyone would be equal in oppurtunity or wealth is not desirable or possible. We can aim to make the world a better place, but specializing our societies into multiple branches has made us come this far. Going back to the equalized societies of hunter-gatherers would only fuck things up.

Human's intrinsic psychological condition which we commonly refer as "greed" could maybe be more broadly defined as "the human response to scarcity" because it will exist only as a reaction to scarcity, when that scarcity is presented.

Ultimately, since the Earth has a finite number of atoms, the potential for that condition to express itself is always present (because the demand for anything could grow but the supply will always be limited).

I tend to agree with you both. I am defining man's reaction to scarcity.
But you both miss the point. The REASON why things are so called scarce, is not because they are scarce at all.
It is because we allow a man to own and hoard, more than he can ever use in a million life times.
This is unacceptable. The earth has its way to replenish its resources. But humanity will not allow this so long as he allows any man to own and hoard more than his share. So you will ask, who will define what is fair share? But let's first recognize the obvious. Man dominates land, thus criminally and negligibly regulates the food and water supply to create a hysteria of scarcity that simple is not true. The thing that separates mankind from hunters and gatherers mode as you so eloquently stated, is technology.

Man has skyrocketed into an automated age, that if used properly, would abolish mundane labor forever. But this system of "scarcity" requires non stop cyclical consumerism, and non stop cyclical labor, which produces non stop cyclical waste, and war, and tyranny and so many cruel, unethical traits in man, it makes me sick.

There is a better way, but FIRST! You yes YOU.. YOU must acknowledge that YOU allow a man to own so much of the earth and its resources that he is keeping the entire planet in chains. That is your first step in attempting to solve humanities issues with technology and the freedom to aspire to something man can't even fathom at this time. Because man has not collectively thought this way, because technology was never present enough.

It is now. So stop believing it can't happen. Or keeping believing it and keep suffering.
The choice, is yours.

A ) Human population has grown (alot)
B ) Earth has remained the same size (same # of atoms)

A+B=Scarcity has increased

It is unavoidable that humans will experience the natural human response to that scarcity (what we loosely call greed)

We could have starved to death long ago if we didn't have the uncontrollable, unavoidable urge to respond to scarcity

This post was edited by kayeto on Nov 23 2011 09:08am

This Marxism stuff belongs in PaRD. Scarcity exists, and will always exist. We livid in a "fluid" world, with unequal distribution of unequal resources. Some people use different resources, and use of said resources is by varying degrees of efficiency.

Funny how uneducated people will shoe horn what I am saying into a social system of the past.
Man will always fall back to what he knows. Such a pity.

What I am suggesting, has never been done. So it is impossible to classify, nor compare it to anything.
Scarcity exists, via an unintelligent design. The earth can and does replenish its resources.
But of course if you keep building houses out of wood, you will probably run out of trees.

But this is what you are suggesting. Not I.
What I am suggesting is to use resources intelligently, something man is in an epic FAILURE over.
But I digress, you keep falling back to what you know, make your snide remarks and holier than though attitude, and you will always get what you've always had.

Lastly, you would do well to stop waiving that flag around. It's killed more people in the last century than any other flag known to mankind.
And FLAGS = PATRIOTISM, PATRIOTISM = A DIVISION OF MAN VIA AN UNINTELLIGENT SEPARATION OF SPECIE VIA A PRE DETERMINED SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF UTTER TYRANY, OPPRESSION, MURDER, RAPE, AND THE CONTINUED USE OF LAND AS ITS SWAY OVER MANKIND, TO HOLD OVER THEM, THEIR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS TO FOOD AND WATER, AND MAKE THEM SLAVES UNTO THE THREADS OF THE CLOTH YOU SO GALLANTLY WISH TO WAIVE.

RACISM MAKES ME SICK. NATIONALISM MAKES ME SICKER. I AM A HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET EARTH, AND YOUR FLAG IS NO LONGER RECOGNIZED BY MY SPECIE AS ANYTHING BENEFICIAL TO HIM.

.. leave your comments at the door.

Oh, and by the way, before you open your big mouth, I served in the United States Navy for 10 years, in intelligence.
It is there I made my observations about how man manages man. It taught me well, having privy to information most human beings will never see surface.
What I know about the US military would make your head spin in circles for the rest of your life. So don't open that door with me son.

This post was edited by anonplanz on Nov 23 2011 09:22am

Marxism, pffft, communism, socialism its all based on trading systems. Someone handing out the resources the way they see fit.
What I am suggesting is to teach a man to sustain himself, through proper vetting and usage of resources that are so readily available that it can happen
TODAY. But there are those in the world, waiving flags, and preaching crushed ice out of the sides of their mouths, because it is all that they know.
All they understand and have been taught by the leaders, and their teachers, and NONE of them have taught you how to sustain your family for any length of time.

Energy? Completely self sustainable if given the proper tools, resources and education. And there is WAY more than enough for every house on this planet to create its own energy, in fact, so much that it can create energy for the people who cant create it for themselves. By intelligently designing infrastructures to pool an over abundance of energy, we don't need centralized conglomerates. But your answer. Pfft. Socialism. It makes me sick how STUPID people are.

People can create more good food in their basement in hydroponics than they can ever eat, and the surplus? Gee I wonder what to do with all this god damn food? Gee.. hmm. oh, forget it we cant do that, that's like, like, like um... socialism.

People can farm the 20.9 billion acres of unused hoarded, criminally regulated and neglected on purpose land to put man in a place he has can't even fathom
But don't listen to me, its too easy, its .... "socialism"

Its not. Wake up. Knock Knock, anyone home? The worlds resources are plundered squandered, wasted, destroyed with poisons and rendered unable , natural forests destroyed consistently to maintain this SICK CYCLICAL ENVIRONMENT OF NATIONS AND FLAGS AND TRADING (SLAVE) SYSTEMS.

But I digress... it's socialism, its scarcity. HOGWASH. IT"S AN OUTRIGHT LIE, AND IGNORANCE.

... 10/10?