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Originally Posted by Andrewl
In the same amount time it has destroyed the lives of millions of indigenous and poor people around the world.
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If you're saying that development can be destructive to traditional social structures, then, sure, I think everyone agrees on that. Whatever pain it causes is massively outweighed by the good its accomplished.
It would be wonderful if extremely poor countries could simply reach fully developed status overnight, but that's not reality. Development causes social dislocations, and while governments can help blunt them, they can't fully curtail them. The only way to fully avoid them is to simply not develop and remain extremely poor in perpetuity. Personally, I don't really see that as a viable strategy.
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Besides, measuring the benefits is impossible to do since nobody agrees on a standard.
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Where on earth do you get that idea from?
Social and economic indicators are objectively observable, and rises or falls in them can be measured and noted. There's nothing to disagree on.
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Its not exactly clear that we are any more content as consumers as the plains indian were as a hunter/gatherers.
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Ah yes, it's our old friend the noble savage.
Look man, if you wish to leave modern society and go live in the middle of the woods, there's really nothing stopping you.
Either way, contentment is a subjective thing and my comments have nothing to do with it. I'm referring to objectively observable improvements in the living standards of the developing world in the past 3 decades or so. If you want to talk about gross national happiness, then go vacation in Bhutan.