Tanada wrote:dohboi wrote:Just don't assume that the Koch brother, Exxon and the other ultra-rich haters of the poor who are selling this kind of tripe that coal and other ffs are the only saviors for the poor...don't assume those @$$wipes have somehow more concern for the poor than environmentalists and other folks throwing their very bodies in front of the juggernaut to try to stop the omni-cidal fossil-death-fuel train that is going to (and is already) trample on and obliterate the poor--mostly children and women--first and most furiously.
Hold up there Pilgrim! The whole haters of the poor meme is ridiculous on the face of it, but for some reason certain ideological factions continue to spout it endlessly.
Not caring about the poor one way or another is a fairly accurate way of looking at the uber rich and the corporations in the same category. The poor do not have much influence in politics, and politicians are the main obstacle to the rich doing whatever the heck they want to do with their wealth.
In the USA the large majority of people, including the urban poor people, do not bother to organize politically, write their politicians, or even vote. That makes them eminently unimportant to the uber wealthy, not objects worthy of hate.
Other points to consider:
Years ago, most earned only around a dollar a day, but now they are earning around $2.50.
The gap between rich and poor grew considerably, with only a fraction of the world's population possessing more credit than the bottom third.
I believe that many live in urban areas, and most are moving to them to study, find better work, or train to work abroad and earn more.
The global middle class is growing, and given previous rates, may make up almost half of the world's population in a decade or so. That class, which has access not only to basic needs but also to wants (toilets, cell phones, etc.), generally consumes more resources per capita than the poor.
More wealth has been flowing from rich to poor countries for many years, leading to rapid economic development in developing economies and the rise of BRICS with forty emerging markets.
Thus, we have a rich who want to be richer, but do so ultimately through growing consumer markets.
We have a middle class that earns from the same growing markets.
We have a large number of poor who are becoming richer as they make those growing markets possible.
The catch is that such growth, leading to a large middle class enjoying the use of cell phones, toilets (composting or otherwise), and RE technofixes, will very likely require extensive use of FFs for mining, manufacturing, shipping, etc., of components for infrastructure, consumer goods, and services. With that, a total phase-out of FFs is unlikely.
If any, something like a phase-out will take place as that growth reaches physical limits of the biosphere:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... g-collapse