Computer sim explains why hippies became extinct

Hmm

In times of scarcity, selfishness may actually be beneficial. One well-fed caveman and one caveman beaten around the head and his dinner stolen has a slightly better chance of survival than two half-starved cavemen.

In times of plenty, people are more likely to notice selfish behaviour for what it is.

What a surprise...

I mean; here I was thinking that Eric Cartman had finally succeeded by locking them all up in his basement...

The ascent of man

Given that most of us spend 8 hours a day working, or at least imprisoned and pretending to, have probably 2 hours commuting, and spend most of our free time knackered, watching TV, just sitting in the pub or shopping, and wasting half the weekend catching up on sleep; the research I'd like to see is - Why isn't there something better than what we have? How did we ever get into this state?

Whatever your beliefs are it's hard to think we were put on this earth to slog our balls off for 40-60 years and then die. For me it's not about the money it's wishing to have time, to be something other than a wage slave. Like most people I have neither money nor time, and it's usually a catch-22 that you will at best have one or the other, not both.

If this is the pinnacle of human society then something has gone badly wrong. I personally think the hippies have the right idea.

Civilization != society

Except ion post-modern, post-normal, p-c speech, "civilization" and "society" are not equivalent terms. While all civilizations are societies, not all societies are civilizations. Civilizations are inherently inegalitarian. Egalitarian societies tend to vanish as the necessity for food storage and long range planning increase. They succeed primarily where the ecology permits a foraging approach to survival. Since most of the planet is not this way, few such societies survive. Also, the lack of suitable environment means that societies that are lead tend to displace those that operate by consensus. It probably has more to do with time lags in decision making than anything else. It's why "decisive" leaders are commonly admired, and unless they are profoundly unsane, they don't tend to lead their societies into fatal situations. In the face of a serious stress that demands some solution - arguing about which is the best may be contra-survival, leading to Darwinian situations.

Greed as a virtue aside

Socialism in IT however is somewhat feasible as the free software movement has shown. Tragedy of the commons is not an issue so much in the digital world.

Do not mix up your concepts

Capitalism != democracy - look at the PRC - very capitalist and not very democratic

Stratified Society != undemocratic - the UK became much less stratified after WWII as it tried out the welfare state. Now it is following its US master down the tubes it is becoming similarly class ridden (just under a different set of names).

having a welfare state != marxist or even undemocratic - looking after the poor and needy is sometimes referred to as being civilised. See what Aneurin Bevan said about healthcare.

Calling your country a democracy != freedom. East Germany was a perfect example.

Get your concepts right and you are starting the long road to logical thinking, Mis-represent ideas and you are well on the way to becoming a rabble rouser - Marxist or Teabagger, there is little difference.

Population Growth

Might be a significant factor. When the natives here in coastal British Columbia dominated, they had one of the richest hunting and gathering societies in the world. Which meant they had lots of time to make war on the neighbours.

Now that the Europeans and Asians have taken over and overpopulated the place, we all have to work a lot harder.

And for Brasil guy, go for Italy. Our Canadian medical system, despite the strains, mostly works. And it covers everyone and only costs about 10% of GDP. The privatized mess down south that doesn't cover everyone costs them over 17% of GDP. You wouldn't like our "socialized system."

Next we will have research telling us some humans enjoy sex

DUH. When nothing CAN be changed, maybe 15,000 years ago everywhere, egalitarianism made sense. Not since Cro-Magnon technology, or agriculture, or civilization, or industry, or information technology. What works is what is right. Whether one blames evolution or God, it's still true.