Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
All science disciplines are a reduction of reality into simpler models of the parts of reality that matter to us. A map wouldn't be useful if it were an exact recreation of the terrain it represents, but instead is useful because it simplifies the infinitely complex into something manageable and useful to our infinitely limited minds. Economics are as much a model of economic reality as climate science is a model of climate reality.
Indigenous tribal living is disappearing, not because colonialism is forcing it upon tribes, but because human nature is such that it's not content to have less when examples of others having more are available. I'm perfectly willing to accept that cavemen could have been happier than me, but given the opportunity they would have traded their caves for my standard of living and would no longer be content having had their eyes opened to this way of life.
Plenty of people lived in the 70's, so we don't need to check any fact to see if they are better off today or not. Just ask yourself if you'd rather be whisked away from the standard of living we enjoy today and trade it for that of the 70's. No more internet, no more fuel injection, no more Amazon... you name it, and basically everything we enjoy doesn't exist.
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It's the parts of reality incorporated into the models,while neglecting the parts that are exclusive to the model which threatens us.They may 'sometimes' reflect a vignette of the economy,however never reflect the entirety.A structural impossibility.
We can't do a caveman experiment.I know people who've left 'modern' America and went back to nature (if you will) with no regrets).The internet and a homogenized global Orange County California world wasn't enough to keep them in an urban environment.
I can only make subjective comments about the 70s.Illicit drinking was fun.The sex was great.Some motorcycle racing.Surfing.Built some cars,motorcycles.Went from high school to combat.Waited out the rest of my tour of duty.Worked concrete for a year,then onto a ranch/farm,and oil fields,then into college for four years on the G.I.Bill.A busy decade.
I'm not the same person I was in the 70s,so in a way,I'm not qualified to quantify the experience.
If there were any bankruptcies,I was unaware.For a dollar I could by two cheeseburgers,fries,and a milkshake.You could snag a running car for $80.Car loans were 18-months.Levi's were $5.00 at the surplus store.Track shoes were a dollar.Gas was $0.25/gallon.It never varied until 1973.I have many fond memories of those times.