Re: rehabilitation versus punishment in a future society....

From: Stirling Westrup (sti@cam.org)
Date: Mon Feb 28 2000 - 22:07:52 MST


EvMick@aol.com wrote:

> In a message sti@cam.org writes:
> > Statistics show that the average person produces more resources in a
> > lifetime than they consume. Those who have been educated tending to
> > produce far more than those who have not been.
>
> That's interesting....also very not green.
>
> Do you have a reference by chance?

Sort of. The fact that the average person produces more resources in a
lifetime than they consume is the main thesis of the book "The State of
Humanity" which is an 800-page tome of rather dry statistics. The editor's
name escapes me, and it appears that I have lent my copy out (although I
don't remember doing so :-( )

The fact that the educated produce more than the uneducated is not so
clear, but can also be derived from the book. Its just more of the
leverage of technology thing. Access to technology is greater for the
educated.

You can also look at it as being an obvious result of one of the main
features of capitalism: If your presense in a company doesn't make that
company more in profits than they pay you to be there, then they are
losing money on the proposition and will (if rational) fire you. Thus, the
vast majority of folks working for companies are there _precisely_because_
they produce more for the company than they consume in wages.

-- 
 Stirling Westrup  |  Use of the Internet by this poster
 sti@cam.org       |  is not to be construed as a tacit
                   |  endorsement of Western Technological
                   |  Civilization or its appurtenances.



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