Friends Reunited could have beaten Facebook to world domination, but it didn't capitalise on its early success. Why not?

Virgin Orbit had a failure due to a stuck fuel valve and it killed the company. Why no second go (cf SpaceX)?

We are world leaders in many areas, but there is something missing.

We are truly living in the best of times.

Lifespans are longer. Populations are healthier. Those in much of the world live with security and comfort beyond the imagining of previous generations.

We are on the verge of achieving sustainability.

But it is at risk - and we need to think coherently.

Our liveable planet doesn’t have to collapse. We are on the verge of achieving sustainability. We need to achieve net zero by standing up to Trump and stopping others Musk backs from taking power.

Let it collapse and we are all done.

Musk’s fantasy of colonising Mars is no solution.

Agreed. It strikes me as terribly unpatriotic to claim that a country that colonised a quarter of the world, imposing its language, laws and culture, is going to suffer cultural collapse when people from those countries come here.

But we do need to discuss optimum population size, etc.

Exactly.

Which is why we need to answer the questions about population, demographics and the role of technology.

The politicians that can develop a coherent plan and explain it to nation will deserve our support, but politics seems unable to do this at present.

“The government and the Environment Agency have already warned of an England-wide water deficit of 6bn litres a day by 2055.”

Presumably this calculation includes population growth figures. Whereas we could manage the low fertility rate and migration to achieve sustainability.

“We are truly living in the best of times. Lifespans are longer. Populations are healthier. Those in much of the world live with security and comfort beyond the imagining of previous generations. We are on the verge of achieving sustainability…”

We just need the vision to seize this moment.

2/2

While Musk, Thiel and the ultra-rich fantasise about taking over the world as a technocracy, the guy the PayPal mafia installed as Vice President is being lined up as America’s future king.

Not my theory, but that explained by @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and @rory-stewart.bsky.social below.

4/

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, claims he won the Presidency for Trump, who is now stealing the world’s carbon budget and actively trying to kill net zero around the world.

The other politicians Musk boosts on X similarly oppose net zero, while Musk fantasises about escaping to Mars.

3/

To save democracy, we need a serious debate about the future society we want to see, given the three great opportunities of our time:

1. Achieving net zero and our long-term survival

2. Stabilising population at sustainable levels

3. Technological breakthroughs in health and productivity

2/

?????

Another comment that has no connection to my post or article.

Bizarre.

While the right-wing media hides the fact immigration has fallen significantly to continue to stir public disquiet, the debate as a whole fails the public.

We need to decide individually and collectively our views on population, demographics and the impact of AI and robots.

While the right-wing media hides the fact immigration has fallen significantly to continue to stir public disquiet, the debate as a whole fails the public.

We need to decide individually and collectively our views on population, demographics and the impact of AI and robots.

????

Bizarre response with no connection at all to my post or article.

While that’s true in the short to medium term, the long-term effect is immigrant workers retire, creating demand on public services and need replacing by other immigrants as their family size is also restricted by living costs.

Under freedom of movement, EU citizens largely returned home to retire.

Too little attention is given to why the world’s richest man, Elon Musk - once lauded for accelerating the transition to electric vehicles - is using his wealth and power to boost and install climate change deniers who will kill net zero, starting with Trump.

3/