Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mmm.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!mmm!mrgofor From: mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) Newsgroups: net.space Subject: Re: Population Message-ID: <645@mmm.UUCP> Date: Thu, 20-Mar-86 14:47:29 EST Article-I.D.: mmm.645 Posted: Thu Mar 20 14:47:29 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 21-Mar-86 07:09:44 EST References: <[MC.LCS.MIT.EDU].851959.860315.KFL> Reply-To: mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) Organization: none Lines: 37 In article <[MC.LCS.MIT.EDU].851959.860315.KFL> KFL@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU ("Keith F. Lynch") writes: > > From: Chuck Simmons > > If the population stays the same size, but each > person's disposable income increases by a factor of a million, they would > buy enough goods to justify all sorts of economies of scale. > > Not true. No matter how rich I was, I wouldn't buy two copies of >the same book. I wouldn't buy more food than I could eat. I wouldn't >buy more clothes than I could wear in a week. I wouldn't buy two >copies of the same CD. I wouldn't buy more computer power than I >could use. I wouldn't buy more than one calculator. I own two copies of several books, and because others have become damaged or lost, I have bought multiple copies of many books. I often throw away un-eaten food that has spoiled or is cluttering up the fridge ("who is going to eat this okra your mother brought over? :-)). I own a lot more clothes than I can wear in a week, and I'm not a clothes-hound by any means - I *hate* shopping and will only do it when my shirts start to disintegrate. Besides, how many thousands of pairs of shoes did Imelda Marcos have? If I could afford it, I would definitely buy multiple copies of CD's (one for the office on my D5 portable, one for the living room stereo, and one for the bedroom stereo - and maybe another for each car). I think the vast majority of computer owners have computer power that they don't use - if all they do is run Wordstar, there is a lot going to waste. I own quite a few calculators - as do a great many people. Maybe you could come up with some better examples? -- --MKR "The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency." - Albert Einstein