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Comment by yakau | Hacker News Reader

Capitalism is inherently flawed as it relies on infinite growth in a finite world, to put it simply.

Innovation enables growth without raw natural resources. For example, the internet drastically improved productivity (GDP/time) by making communication faster. Also services are intangible, but provide economic value. If someone can now provide services to millions, that’s growth. We are nowhere near the terminal point of growth in my opinion.

That it does, but all sources of innovation are fueled by natural resources in some form further down the supply chain from thought to product.

I'm not so sure that the internet has improved productivity — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox

The material world is finite, yes, but capitalism doesn't rely on infinite material growth. Most growth of the economy in United States has been relatively dematerialized.

Services, software, entertainment, education, information... while these aren't 100% free from material constraints, it's not like the economy is growing primarily by digging ever more rocks out of the ground. The majority of the value comes from abstractions.

Ask yourself what will occur when natural resources are no longer feasible to supply at the rate they are now, such as Oil or vital resources to produce electrical components.

Oil gets less relevant with every decade. We're probably within 50 years now of fusion power. Electrical components can be recycled once the economics make it the best option. It's pretty reasonable to think today's limits aren't the limits forever.

To become sustainable the population will have to accept changes to lifestyle which they have not shown any sign of willingness to do so. Rates of e-waste increase faster than the rate of e-recycling. As long as capital and profit remains at the incentive it's at now, there likely will be little change.

Not really.

That isn't true in both ways. The "world" is effectively not finite (we keep learning new ways to more efficiently make use of stuff), and capitalism doesn't rely on infinite growth.

What it costs in resources to maintain the modern lifestyle and civilization, is quite finite. We learn new ways to spend and consume, and innovation in sustainability is not the priority in a Capitalist economy.

I think it is - look at the collapse of coal power in the West, the massive reforestation efforts going on, reintroduction of wildlife, all that stuff. Sure, we keep finding new ways to consume, but I don't wanna live in a stagnant society. I wanna live in a dynamic, changing, improving society.

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