Quote from: capn noe on December 02, 2012, 08:37:49 PM

FY,GM definitely implies a person wasting assets that others need because... well... FY,GM.

Anyone have a link for that study in which people would rather get less and others get nothing than get more and others get something?

I am fascinated by this thread because the central issue is something I have been meditating on for many years. I tend to agree with capn noe here but I'd like to step back and look at the big picture and the modern setting in which FYGM has gained traction.

For one, we're living in the age of peak everything. Whether we are at peak oil now, is not my point, only that we are at peak production. Meaning we are at the point (and have been for almost 20 years) where adding more population (i.e. human labor) does not increase world GDP in terms of purchasing power. Which means the average income per capita in terms of purchasing power has been falling steadily for quite some time. In addition to this backdrop we are witnessing in our lives a colossal shift in world wealth and power from the west to the east. I remember back in 2006 or 2007 I hypothesized China would get an aircraft carrier in 2012 and I was laughed off usenet. Lo and behold I was right -- I was right because I lived here (in Asia) and I knew what was going on. I could see it. These are big changes. In general in the 80s the picture was, 10% of the world's wealthy was in America and 10% was in Europe. In another 10 or 20 years it will be, 20% in China/Asia and 10% in Europe and America combined. This is a huge colossal shift. And what I am hypothesizing is that the population is going to go into drastic decline. Maybe through famine or poverty. War isn't working these days, it's not fast enough.

So back to FYGM. The negative connotation stems from a notion of fairness and equality among human beings. This is a very tempting viewpoint to have. But it is by nature unsustainable. It is a morality which served us well as a species in our formative history (the last 6,000 years). But it has now become our undoing. The issue is really what we can control and what we cannot control.

We can't control energy. Once it's gone it's gone. A massive shift to wind, solar and geothermal might be our last chance, but there are cost and sustainability issues with that too. We can't control food and (for the most part) we can't control weather. Maybe to a degree we can use fertilizers and modern farming methods but my point is that there are limits.

There is one thing we can control though -- population.

And this is where we are forced to realize that we must cut off our right hand so that the left does not know what it is doing.

Look at all of the things we think are helpful and good:
- Feeding the poor
- Disaster aid/disaster relief
- Volunteer work
- Housing the homeless
- Advanced medicine, elective surgery
- insurance of any kind

These things have become a serious problem because they are a threat to the human race as a whole. We are approaching a tipping point -- that is undeniable -- where the human race must stop growing in number. Think about it. Somehow, versus today, millions and millions of babies must stop being born. This is not a joke. Maybe not today but definitely within the next 10-30 years we will witness this live.

It will require a massive shift in perception, consciousness, morality, an across-the board change.

And what is even more likely is that it won't just be babies not getting born, it will be that people as a whole need to start dying.

This is shocking and against all known human morality. It is against our nature to think this. This is not what 6,000+ years of evolution of human history have taught us.

So I propose a simple test for those family lines who are to survive the coming crisis (or not). It's simple. If you understand that FYGM is pretty much the demarcation line between who is going to live and who is going to die, then you deserve to survive. It's not a happy thought but it's pretty much undeniable at this point. In the future, no matter what we feel is right or wrong, at least half the people on the earth -- right now -- need to die.

And there is nothing you or I or anyone can do about it.

I hope I'm wrong...