• lemming007@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    The matter and energy on Earth never disappears, it’s just converted from one type to another. So yes, if you look at it from a cosmic perspective, we do have unlimited resources.

    At least, until the Sun dies, which gives us a few billion years.

    • Trudge [Comrade]@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      1 year ago

      You are stunningly correct. The matter and energy on Earth never disappears, and we’re converting them into greenhouse gases as fast as we can. I am quite enjoying an abundance of heat. Who said that capitalists don’t share?

      • lemming007@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Our ability to utilize the available matter and energy is a different issue. It’s just a matter of technological advancement to utilize the extra heat to convert it to something useful to us and capitalism is very good at technological advancement.

    • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      Hey, I’ll sell you a pile of dirt for 100 grand, you must want it right? Because cosmically, there isn’t any real difference between the carbon in the dirt and carbon in a huge pile of diamonds.

      • lemming007@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Our ability to utilize the available matter and energy is a different issue. It’s just a matter of technological advancement to convert the pile of dirt into something useful to us and capitalism is very good at technological advancement.

    • QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      That point does not take away from the metaphor. The fact that matter is not created or destroyed, only transformed means there is always an exact amount of finite matter and energy in the universe. Just as that matter can be in unlimited formations the legos can also be arranged in limitless different ways. Capitalism is doomed because it needs to keep deriving increased profits from the exploitation of earth and people while the profit margin has the tendancy to fall and there are very limited new markets with a world nearly all capitalist. The last resort in bringing back up profit margins to to destroy things in war so that they can start from the beginning with high rates of profit. This could be analogous to breaking apart legos and building something new.

      • cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I read that according to more recent estimates, the Sun’s expansion and growing luminosity could render Earth uninhabitable for humans and life in general in as “little” as 100 million years from now, though it depends on various factors.