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Darren Piggott

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Have capitalism, globalisation and greed stunted our technological growth?

I have often wondered if oil is the reason we are not driving around in hover cars or more cars running on alternative fuels, any car that could hover with precision, accuracy and long periods would probably not use a combustion engine, take also tires cars with the technology to hover would not require rubber tires.

I have no doubt we could have acheived these technologies years ago, but oil and rubber tires are extremely lucrative and make the few very rich, imagine a world of hover cars that are completely automated you wouldn't need to pay road tax they don' t need roads and car insurance would be drastically lower granted it may still be needed just incase!, but our whole society seems centred around a system of wealth and power to which only a few are privy, we seem to have spent the last sixty or so years continually reinventing the car, television and video in one form or another, because these few simple technologies keep us in a perpetual state of consumerism, not to mention our computing abilities which have managed to keep most of the western society in a state of wage slavery.

Our monetary system can only take the human race so far, but to get past our current statewe may need an overhaul of everything we know, not just our monetary system but our politics and our moral compass?

This is just a small example of how we could have expanded our technology over the last sixty years i'm sure there are many more.

Topics: Innovative technologies Science & Technology Technological progress moral technology
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    edward long 100+

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    Apr 10 2012: No. No, and No.

    • Darren Piggott

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      Apr 11 2012: Hi Edward, by your response you feel that i am either completely wrong or missing the point, i'm always happy to take on board the views of others and i would be grateful for your views.
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        edward long 100+

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        Apr 12 2012: Capitalism stimulates technology better than any other economic system. "Globalization" is enabled by technology. Greed is organic in all human social structures and cannot be blamed for stunting global technological growth, if, in fact, it is stunted. By the way Darren, just because my opinion differs from yours does not mean you are wrong, or that you are missing the point. Thanks for the conversation. Best wishes.

        • Dustin McKnight

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          Apr 16 2012: If this is true, then why is it, that the 'Socialist' European countries are trying to build a viable fusion reactor (with a $13 Billion price tag) while the "capitalist" American Sociopolitical economic system is still so tied to Hydro carbons, that you would be hard pressed to find a federal election candidate that hasn't received campaign contributions from an oil, coal or gas company? Why is it that the 'communist' Chinese with their tightly controlled economy & very stringent anti corruption laws, are moving forward with their manned space program, while we Americans are dismantling ours for at least the next ten to fifteen years? Capitalism at its finest drives innovation like nothing else ever could. But when all of that money & power becomes so entrenched within the system that it can effectively kill off entire competing industries through manipulation of tax incentives & permit fees, as well as the acquisition and leveraging of licensing rights and patents, before these enterprises ever have a chance to prove their potential usefulness, all in the name of profit, then capitalism is no longer an agent progress, but a dangerous obstruction threatening so much of what we might hope to achieve. There can be no true free market economy under such conditions, & a healthy capitalist system will in time, wither and die from stagnation, unless the situation is addressed. This isn't a hidden conspiracy, but an inevitable development of events, like the accumulation of dust of the blades of your ceiling fan. From time to time, one or more of our industries will get a little to big for it's britches, and will have to be put back in it's place (i.e. anti-trust regulations). I agree that greed is a constant, but one that must be countered when the good of the people is at stake (i.e. working conditions & environmental protection). One final thought; no capitalist system can exist without the consent of the people. There is no law of physics regarding property rights.
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          Krisztián Pintér 200+

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          TED Translator
          Apr 16 2012: dustin, you might heard about the national ignition facility. you might also aware of the fact that the european ITER project is partly funded by the US.

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