(July 17, 2014 at 7:33 am)whateverist Wrote: I suppose farmers are the most useful by your reckoning.Absolutely. It is the food surplus created by agriculture that allowed the beginnings of civilization. And to a point, the population surplus was a benefit, too, because it allowed specialization and improved efficiency.
Now, however, we are too efficient. We simply don't need 90% of the people who exist to fulfill any role that matters in society. Reducing the population would have no effect at all on our ability to carry on. Conversely, deliberately reducing efficiency (mandating farming with hand tools, etc.) would give more people something to do, and would allows us to have a more direct control over the effects of industry.
