> Also the funny thing: the very ethics of capitalism was always "if I mind my own business and/or maybe even benefit for myself at others' expense, things will turn out Good for everyone". Greedy optimization ("greedy" in the CS sense of the word). Now that it turned the world into such a mess, what's the answer? More individualism, more minding your own business, more greedy optimizing? Seriously, how do people arrive at this conclusion?
Why do you equate doing things on the local level with individualism? That's not even remotely the same.
> The idea that local optimization is better than global baffles me completely. Where do people get it from?
And why does it baffle you? Sure, mathematically, global optimization is usually better. And mathematically, producing something at the cheapest place is great for "us all" in the long run - but what about the short term consequences? People without jobs? People who cannot feed their families?
Reality is not one-dimensional, things can be bad on a local level and good at the global level at the same time. And if you tell someone "well, I know that you have nothing to eat right now, but that is okay, because you know globally we are still better off .." then you will probably not get "okay, that's fine." as response.
Why do you equate doing things on the local level with individualism? That's not even remotely the same.
> The idea that local optimization is better than global baffles me completely. Where do people get it from?
And why does it baffle you? Sure, mathematically, global optimization is usually better. And mathematically, producing something at the cheapest place is great for "us all" in the long run - but what about the short term consequences? People without jobs? People who cannot feed their families?
Reality is not one-dimensional, things can be bad on a local level and good at the global level at the same time. And if you tell someone "well, I know that you have nothing to eat right now, but that is okay, because you know globally we are still better off .." then you will probably not get "okay, that's fine." as response.