Angry Young Man
25th February 2008, 19:16
I've been thinking recently that necessities are produced in massive excess, like food for example. I pin this as the cause of the obesity problem in the news. Also, nobody can deny that coal is damaging to the environment, but in the UK it's the chief source of electricity.
My point is this: if things such as food, electricity and gas are rationed to a necessary amount, would that limit problems at all. Say with all farms taken into state ownership, the supply can be controlled and therefore when distributed on a rationed basis, nobody will eat to the extent that is damaging to their health.
As for electricity etc, it is figured out how much is used by typical demographics (how many people live in one house and their ages) and are accordingly distributed in cards with their demographic's need in kw/h.
I know that this would be a bureaucratic nightmare, and it'd take time to organise surveys of people's diets (veggie, for example; and also who likes what). But it seems like at the moment, there's an over-production crisis. If the world has the natural infrastructure to feed the whole human race 12 times, why do we not just make it so that the whole human race is fed satisfactorily once?
My point is this: if things such as food, electricity and gas are rationed to a necessary amount, would that limit problems at all. Say with all farms taken into state ownership, the supply can be controlled and therefore when distributed on a rationed basis, nobody will eat to the extent that is damaging to their health.
As for electricity etc, it is figured out how much is used by typical demographics (how many people live in one house and their ages) and are accordingly distributed in cards with their demographic's need in kw/h.
I know that this would be a bureaucratic nightmare, and it'd take time to organise surveys of people's diets (veggie, for example; and also who likes what). But it seems like at the moment, there's an over-production crisis. If the world has the natural infrastructure to feed the whole human race 12 times, why do we not just make it so that the whole human race is fed satisfactorily once?