One thing I have to agree with Krugman, though, is his statement such as "people want better houses and furniture and plumbing..etc.." I am guessing that without material production, food, and shelter, and such; information will be farther up the steps of Maslow's heirarchy of needs, rather then the primary step. Also, why does G7 fear China as an "autononimous civilization"? Is this something to fear, or are they a new market? Is India, with its huge population also an autononimous civilization, or what the Arabs call themselves, "The Arab World" or are they part of the "G7" structure? I believe you are on to something, here, but I need some specifics.
In a message dated Mon, 17 Jul 2000 6:45:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "CYMM" <cymm@trinidad.net> writes:
<<
Forrest,
Of course he's right!
An economic civilization predicated on information rather than universally
accepted (i.e., intrinsic) value of money can fall horribly on its face.
Plunging the world into a Dark Age. It has happened many times before. But
"civilization", then, consisted of many autonomous units.
Today, it is fair to say that only China has an autonomous civilization.
Something the G7 understand and fear terribly.
The future may not be pretty.
I posit that the only way to stabilize an information-money based economy
(apart from intrinsic value) is ultra strong freeware encryption of
"information money" ... that means hemorrhagic loss of state perogatives...
and which power hungry zealot (modern statism) will entertain that idea?
cymm
-----Original Message-----
From: Forrest Bishop <forrestb@ix.netcom.com>
To: transhuman@logrus.org <transhuman@logrus.org>
Cc: Extropians Mailing List <extropians@extropy.com>
Date: Monday, July 17, 2000 6:19 AM
Subject: let them eat bits
>By Reginald H. Howe
>www.goldensextant.com
>July 17, 2000
>
> ... their views rest very much on studies in
>comparative history, particularly of monetary systems
>in different places at different times. Their struggle
>in its broadest sense is for freedom -- a worldwide
>economic freedom that is not possible without an
>international monetary system based on a permanent and
>shared standard of value.
>
>Gold bugs [sound money advocates] cannot be truly
>understood apart from the
>fundamental values to which they are committed:
>personal integrity and honest dealing. Today they are
>vastly outnumbered by public and private forces with
>far more resources and huge stakes in continuing the
>system of unlimited fiat money [printing-press currency]
>-- impermissible under
>the Constitution of the United States -- that they have
>erected largely for their own benefit.
>
> Tyranny spawns resistance, and the tyranny of the paper
>dollar
>
>[My term: "sustainable plunder"- the resultant of Bretton
>Woods masquerading as the "Keyensian Boom".]
>
>is no exception. Organizations favoring some
>sort of return to sound money based on gold or silver
>exist all over the globe.
>
>Working to restore gold to its rightful place both at
>the center of the international payments system and in
>the American constitutional order, gold bugs are
>soldiers for economic freedom, which in the end is an
>essential component of political freedom too. They keep
>alive concepts, ideas, and values that have fallen out
>of fashion, that are no longer taught in schools and
>colleges, but that nevertheless embody the wisdom of
>the ages.
>
>Without the gold bugs, the collapse of today's
>worldwide system of unlimited fiat money is likely to
>lead to dark times indeed. With them, if they do their
>job well now, the collapse can instead be turned into a
>springboard from which to restore principles of sound
>money and public integrity long absent from the world
>and national stages.
>==========
>
>"All paper will burn."
>--FOA
>http://www.usagold.com/goldtrail
>
>
>--
>Forrest Bishop
>Manager,
>Interworld Productions, LLC
>Chairman,
>Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering
>http://www.speakeasy.org/~forrestb
>>
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