Quote:
Originally Posted by Seth81
If this world was populated by people who only ever bought what they needed the world economy and technological development would grind to a halt!
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You are absolutely right, and therein lies our great social irony/paradox of our civilization
You can easily see examples of this around the world. Third world countries vs First World, developed vs developing, Communist vs Capitalist vs Socialist, etc. The third world/developing countries are used to not having luxuries so there is little to no economic drive to develop. On the other end of the spectrum first world nations have everything and continue to strive for and want more thus fiercely driving further development. Depending on who you talk to, either scenario can be good or bad.
Unfortunately no one has the right answer. In fact, there probably isn't one. That is unless some miracle happens and we all wake up and collectively say, "
Hey, you know what, I don't really want anything but I'm prefectly happy to go to work and do something for the good of all mankind."
Star Trek anyone?