Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "The Illusions Of Green Capitalism | Adrienne Buller | TMR" video.

  1. As an engineer who works in industrial control systems I can say you are absolutely right on the first point except like every process its never quite that simple. There's well trodden proverb about engineering projects. "The last 10% is harder than the first 90% and the last 1% is harder than the first 99% and the last 0.1% is harder than the first 99.9%."
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  2. On your second point which you are also right about. I'm an engineer who's been informally studying economics for several years now. I got tired of clowns with economics degrees interfering in projects with their 2 favorite lines. "What's the business case for that?" and "Who's going to pay for that?" Sorry if this is long but here's a basic run down on what I found out. Even when I had those answers they still interfered because that's all they know what to do. Its doesn't take long listening to people like Mark Blyth, Stephanie Kelton, Marianna Mazucatto and others that there is a small but getting louder minority of economists who are calling for change. Mark Blyth for instance has his computer analogy and describes how capitalism has had 3 major versions so far, each that developed its bugs and needed to be replaced (or upgraded) and that we need a new system much like we do with computers. However the most startling thing I came across was only a few weeks ago when economist Steve Keen who (in an interview) said that economists DO NOT include energy in their models. AS AN ENGINEER I find that bizarrely ridiculous because EVERYTHING needs energy to work. This is where I think Marx, Smith and everyone since got it horribly wrong. Marx & Smith put everything in terms of labor, but then how do you value the work product of an ox that pulls a plow or the horse that pulls a cart or the cow that produces milk? Better still since Smith & Marx had seen the industrial revolution up close and then how did they value coal because that was the energy that drove economic growth? How did they value wind because that was the energy that drove the ships that moved the goods? As an engineer I can barely believe that the last 200 years of economics has been founded on a combination of stupidity and ignorance. 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂ Pardon me if I am an engineer but universally you can't have work without energy input, whether its by labor, animal, machine or by capturing natural forces. The efficiency of any economic system is therefore NOT profit margin but the efficiency of energy use to generate wealth and I say wealth rather than profit because profit is just a measure of capital return measured in monetary units and money is nothing but transferable debt where wealth is the accumulation of value which can also include things unaccountable for with money. If you are wondering on the money is transferable debt thing. Go and watch Gary Stevenson explain what money is here on YT.
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  3. ​ @caronadams4486  You forgot to add the 4th point or maybe add to the 3rd. Instead of "and that's the point" you could add: ... forget all of the economic indicators that prove neoliberalism is failing and just blame anyone and everyone you can EXCEPT the billionaires who keep telling you how great the economy is as they wash down caviar and truffles with champagne while watching you and your family starve.
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  4.  @sail2byzantium  Great comment. I'm Australian but have been to Vancouver. Its a great city and easily one of the best in the world, BUT NO CITY IS PERFECT and they all have their issues.
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  5.  @sail2byzantium  No prob. I like Canada. Other than the trip to Vancouver I spent 4 months in Sask finishing off a water treatment plant in 2017/18. Other than the clown who broke that plant by letting it freeze (duh) I loved the place and the people, but then Canada and Oz aren't perfect. Our bears are cute, cuddly and sit in trees getting high on eucalyptus leaves while yours hunt humans for snacks. Our 4 legged animals are also cute and cuddly while moose are angry, bad tempered and like stomping on things. Go Riders. But the we got most of the worlds most lethal snakes, spiders, jelly fish, sharks, crocodiles and a giant ant that can jump a meter and bite so hard it can kill a child but at least we don't have polar bears. 🤷‍♂🤷‍♂🤷‍♂🤷‍♂
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