[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I don't like to blame anyone for what they're doing, but rather discuss the rationality behind those actions, and consider them in context with everything else.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

For instance, the US gives 3x more away in percentage of income than the UK. When you don't have the mindset that the government needs to solve everyone's problems, you take the suffering of others as a personal responsibility.

There goes rationality. Give away what to whom? and why? Compensation for what the UK pays in social security?
There's a difference between what people want and what people can't do without.
If for whatever reason you cannot feed your family, if you cannot pay the rent, if you cannot afford to go to the doctor, if you have to beg to survive - that's devastating. Individuals helping out is nice - but it isn't security.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

As I've said before, the proper way to reduce CO2 emissions is to very slowly increase taxes on those activities which produce it. Before that though, problems have to be precisely defined, and actions to address those problems have to consider the cost to implement, the expected benefit, and the opportunity cost. This is entry level economics here; something which politicians have no interest or expertise in.

Or you look over the borders at what other countries are doing, and align with that. Doing more or less the same as everybody else makes a global approach easier to achieve.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Global warming doesn't even make the top 25 list of most pressing concerns for the wellbeing of humanity. In other words, money spent in this area is wasted when considering the greater good that could be done by doing things like improving access to contraceptives, or fighting diseases such as TB and malaria.

That is not MY list of most pressing concerns!
Global warming will disrupt economies and force mass migration, which will aggravate all other problems on that list.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

As I've said above, to which nobody has argued against, the 2 biggest contributors to CO2 is population and wealth. At least contraceptives addresses the population front. We might be on track to solve the wealth problem if communist ideas continue to gain popularity with people like Bernie gaining support.

Then you missed what I wrote before. Population increases due to poverty, not wealth. Pollution goes hand in hand with wealth, but only because of lack of guidance. The wealthy can afford to spend some on pollution reducing measures, and the government can greatly enhance that by well measured subsidies. Building dams, windmills and solar farms takes effort and money but will contribute to a cleaner environment. The economics may not work out in favor of green technology yet, but careful funding can tip the balance.