Anyone who doesn't believe global warming isn't the biggest problem we face is simply uninformed or willfully ignorant. I'm guessing you probably don't have any kids or grandchildren where the thought of the state of the physical world they will be left to live in really matters to you.
Personally, I think that it is a luxury to think that global warming is the biggest problem we face.
I would say that what is happening in the here and now is the biggest problem we face. Those threatening civilization right now as we know it do not give a rat's ass about global warming in case you haven't noticed. If you don't mind living in their world on their terms, then go right ahead with your thinking as to what is the biggest problem we face. Then you will surely be doomed to the ravages of global warming sooner rather than later.
And you guess wrong about not having any descendants. I am more worried about who will be governing their world than anything else.
I am of the opinion and considered thought that :
A) The changing climate has more to do with natural cycles and events than man made ones.
B) That new technology is always on the horizon that will actually do something to really mitigate the affects of most man made contributions to the changing climate without harming or lowering our standard of living. But that will only happen in a free world in an open society.
Clearly my priorities are much different than yours.
So all you kids think inflation is not a real problem ? Climate change is the biggest problem we face ?
I was 20 or so when Nixon imposed wage and price freezes because inflation was getting so out of hand. Just so y'all know, it did not work. Just made things worse. How about those double digit mortgage rates ? It took until the late 80's to early 90's to get it under control. Here we are in February 2022 and the Fed is going to start raising interest rates. Too late as usual, but regardless, many apple carts are still going to be upset rather quickly.
A house of cards we are.
Anyone who doesn't believe global warming isn't the biggest problem we face is simply uninformed or willfully ignorant. Economic cycles come and go but unfortunately we only have one Earth and we (collectively) haven't been very good stewards of it.
This can has been kicked down the road many times but at what point is it supposed to be dealt with? 5 years from now, 10?... or better yet... let's keep our heads in the sand and continue ignoring it altogether.
The easy and lazy way out has been to defer action on because you and I and others of a certain age know we will be well into the ground before it would probably significantly impact us unless we happen to be living on the coast somewhere where glacial melt water level rise would displace us. It's the "not my problem let someone else deal with it" approach. Unfortunately the world can't wait until the situation becomes too dire because waiting that long means that we have long passed the point-of-no-return and there is no course-correction to be made then.
I'm guessing you probably don't have any kids or grandchildren where the thought of the state of the physical world they will be left to live in really matters to you.
Escobar: Follow The Money - How Russia Will Bypass Western Economic Warfare
So what does the âEmpire of Liesâ want? (Putin terminology, on Mondayâs meeting in Moscow to discuss the response to sanctions.)
In an essay published this morning, deliciously titled America Defeats Germany for the Third Time in a Century: the MIC, OGAM and FIRE conquer NATO, Michael Hudson makes a series of crucial points, starting with how âNATO has become Europeâs foreign policy-making body, even to the point of dominating domestic economic interests.â
He outlines the three oligarchies in control of US foreign policy:
First is the military-industrial complex, which Ray McGovern memorably coined as MICIMATT (military industrial Congressional intelligence media academia think tank). Hudson defines their economy base as âmonopoly rent, obtained above all from its arms sales to NATO, to West Asian oil exporters and to other countries with a balance-of-payments surplus.â
Second is the oil and gas sector, joined by mining (OGAM). Their aim is âto maximize the price of energy and raw materials so as to maximize natural resource rent. Monopolizing the Dollar Areaâs oil market and isolating it from Russian oil and gas has been a major US priority for over a year now, as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany threatened to link the western European and Russian economies together.â
Third is the âsymbioticâ Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector, which Hudson defines as âthe counterpart to Europeâs old post-feudal landed aristocracy living by land rents.â
As he describes these three rentier sectors that completely dominate post-industrial finance capitalism at the heart of the western system, Hudson notes how âWall Street always has been closely merged with the oil and gas industry (namely, the Citigroup and Chase Manhattan banking conglomerates).â
Hudson shows how âthe most pressing US strategic aim of NATO confrontation with Russia is soaring oil and gas prices. In addition to creating profits and stock market gains for US companies, higher energy prices will take much of the steam out of the German economy.â
He warns how food prices will rise âheaded by wheat.â (Russia and Ukraine account for 25 percent of world wheat exports.) From a Global South perspective, thatâs a disaster: âThis will squeeze many West Asian and Global South food-deficient countries, worsening their balance of payments and threatening foreign debt defaults.â
Escobar: Follow The Money - How Russia Will Bypass Western Economic Warfare
He warns how food prices will rise “headed by wheat.” (Russia and Ukraine account for 25 percent of world wheat exports.) From a Global South perspective, that’s a disaster: “This will squeeze many West Asian and Global South food-deficient countries,
worsening their balance of payments and threatening foreign debt defaults.”
aka, The International House of Cards ... IHOC ...
Escobar: Follow The Money - How Russia Will Bypass Western Economic Warfare
So what does the âEmpire of Liesâ want? (Putin terminology, on Mondayâs meeting in Moscow to discuss the response to sanctions.)
In an essay published this morning, deliciously titled America Defeats Germany for the Third Time in a Century: the MIC, OGAM and FIRE conquer NATO, Michael Hudson makes a series of crucial points, starting with how âNATO has become Europeâs foreign policy-making body, even to the point of dominating domestic economic interests.â
He outlines the three oligarchies in control of US foreign policy:
First is the military-industrial complex, which Ray McGovern memorably coined as MICIMATT (military industrial Congressional intelligence media academia think tank). Hudson defines their economy base as âmonopoly rent, obtained above all from its arms sales to NATO, to West Asian oil exporters and to other countries with a balance-of-payments surplus.â
Second is the oil and gas sector, joined by mining (OGAM). Their aim is âto maximize the price of energy and raw materials so as to maximize natural resource rent. Monopolizing the Dollar Areaâs oil market and isolating it from Russian oil and gas has been a major US priority for over a year now, as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany threatened to link the western European and Russian economies together.â
Third is the âsymbioticâ Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector, which Hudson defines as âthe counterpart to Europeâs old post-feudal landed aristocracy living by land rents.â
As he describes these three rentier sectors that completely dominate post-industrial finance capitalism at the heart of the western system, Hudson notes how âWall Street always has been closely merged with the oil and gas industry (namely, the Citigroup and Chase Manhattan banking conglomerates).â
Hudson shows how âthe most pressing US strategic aim of NATO confrontation with Russia is soaring oil and gas prices. In addition to creating profits and stock market gains for US companies, higher energy prices will take much of the steam out of the German economy.â
He warns how food prices will rise âheaded by wheat.â (Russia and Ukraine account for 25 percent of world wheat exports.) From a Global South perspective, thatâs a disaster: âThis will squeeze many West Asian and Global South food-deficient countries, worsening their balance of payments and threatening foreign debt defaults.â
China ended up buying none of that extra $200 billion of US exports it had promised to purchase. (In Davos, only a week after it was signed, Trump boasted that the deal "could be closer to $300 billion when it finishes.") In 2020â21, China fell $13.6 billion short of reaching even the baseline level of purchases.
So all you kids think inflation is not a real problem ? Climate change is the biggest problem we face ?
I was 20 or so when Nixon imposed wage and price freezes because inflation was getting so out of hand. Just so y'all know, it did not work. Just made things worse. How about those double digit mortgage rates ? It took until the late 80's to early 90's to get it under control. Here we are in February 2022 and the Fed is going to start raising interest rates. Too late as usual, but regardless, many apple carts are still going to be upset rather quickly.
The funny thing about restaurants is that the customers rarely acknowledge that they're really not just paying for the food, but everything good about dining out. This might be a good system for providing quick and easy food choices but it won't supplant the experience of a restaurant and âjust as with food trucksâ people will balk at paying sit-down restaurant prices for anything on a paper plate.
Not sure about a Michelin star joint, where you expect the human experience...but for chains, automation is only increasing.
The New York Times had a story the other day about how there is "a growing number of restaurant and hotel owners who are turning to robotics during this labor shortage. Robots donât call in sick, donât request raises and do jobs, like frying and cleaning, that workers donât like.
"Indeed, many robotics companies, like Miso Robotics, Bear Robotics, Peanut Robotics, Knightscope, SoftBank Robotics and Makr Shakr, say theyâve seen huge spikes in inquiries for their robots since the pandemic hit."
And the Boston Globe had a piece morning about Sweetgreen's $50 million acquisition of Spyce, the Boston restaurant startup that uses automation to prepare meals. Sweetgreen's goal is "to integrate the Spyceâs technology in its restaurants so that it can 'serve its food with even better quality, consistency and efficiency'."
Sounds like a lot of tech overhead to produce something that is inherently simple. The biggest stumbling block to getting a restaurant up and running is going through the regulatory hoops. In places where regulations are lax or non-existent kitchens can be extremely simple and efficient. My favourite was a guy near the yacht harbor in Hong Kong. Had 40 folding chairs and managed to serve the entire place from one wok. Absolutely delicious. But you can find the same principle (at least you could.. haven't been back in a long time) all over Asia.
Yes, and with a less burdensome regulatory environment you could find that here too.
These guys will need to sell a lot of food to cover the costs of one automated food factory. At a guess at least ten year's labor for a half-way competent chef.
So probably the biggest drawcard will not be their low cost, but the standardised quality which people seem to want to pay a bit extra for. Beats me why. Variety is half the attraction.
You need to sell a lot of food to recoup the cost of building a conventional restaurant too, but the operating costs for this approach are much lower.
Adventurous eaters (and I count myself among them) generally seek variety, but I confess there have been times when, pressed for time and low on funds, I opted for a sure-thing fast food. I may have had a transcendentally-fabulous grilled cheese sandwich at the mom&pop shop, but more likely it wouldn't have beaten the corporate formula.
This is basically a glorified vending machine. A less radical change with lower investment is automating existing kitchens. It's already happening at the point of sale, and the kitchen itself isn't far behind.
The funny thing about restaurants is that the customers rarely acknowledge that they're really not just paying for the food, but everything good about dining out. This might be a good system for providing quick and easy food choices but it won't supplant the experience of a restaurant and âjust as with food trucksâ people will balk at paying sit-down restaurant prices for anything on a paper plate.
High labor costs (whether from market conditions or mandates) are really good for people like me, who design automation. For people whose labor has very little value it means they don't get to work. At all.
Sounds like a lot of tech overhead to produce something that is inherently simple. The biggest stumbling block to getting a restaurant up and running is going through the regulatory hoops. In places where regulations are lax or non-existent kitchens can be extremely simple and efficient. My favourite was a guy near the yacht harbor in Hong Kong. Had 40 folding chairs and managed to serve the entire place from one wok. Absolutely delicious. But you can find the same principle (at least you could.. haven't been back in a long time) all over Asia.
These guys will need to sell a lot of food to cover the costs of one automated food factory. At a guess at least ten year's labor for a half-way competent chef. So probably the biggest drawcard will not be their low cost, but the standardised quality which people seem to want to pay a bit extra for. Beats me why. Variety is half the attraction.
