orson2077

Oof, agree. But we're in a fascinating time in history. In order to align AI, we'll need to formalise some idea about human values.

You're absolutely right about value creation being a euphemism for profit. A gaping hole in economic theory is that we don't have a general theory of value. Our so-called theories of value are in fact theories of price, and we don't actually know how to properly value things.

If you had such a theory, you would have a much easier time using taxes to reward things that society benefits from, and dissuade things that society suffers from. It's a complicated subject.

Your concern is absolutely spot-on.

There'll definitely be people in that camp, with good reasons for holding on to land. Flipside, there are many other people that know the land value mechanic and take advantage.

A transfer tax is decent, but it can be sidestepped by just holding land and selling when the tax changes. Land holding is a long game.

The grandma collateral is real

I think your position is true - it does compel people to use their land for value creation (even if they don't want to). There is a positive trade-off though; a system that derives tax from rent-seeking activities can reduce the tax it levies on value-creating/facilitating activities.

Singapore has a pseudo LVT in the form of property taxes with land value capture.

Good lord, read Termination Shock by Neil Stephenson. Stratospheric aerosol injection is effective, but comes with severe risks, and can even be used as a strategic weapon (e.g. inject your sulphur over X and disrupt the monsoon in the Punjab, fucking their agriculture).

My impression was that stratospheric aerosol injection has been kept out of the public consciousness deliberately. If the public discussed it now, they’d learn quickly about things like termination shock, and the calculable consequences to weather systems depending on where the sulphur is injected (eg Inject over Norway and mess up el Nino), and come to the conclusion that it’s a pretty undesirable option. If, however, it’s left to the last minute, fossil fuels can continue, and then use this as a “last resort” card.

Hah! Sliding keyboard, that absolutely rocks!

iPhone 4 was the apex of phone design, I will die on this hill!

Amen. An updated 4" flagship would be incredible! They say that small phones are for people with small hands, but no-one can one-hand a 6" phone without holding it like an idiot. I want the claw grip back!

There's no physics basis for teleportation, whereas there is a clear physics basis for fusion. The way you assess things is terribly flawed.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I envy your naivete. You are extremely optimistic about people and politics.