[p2p-research] The meaning and purpose of Profit (was: Scientific American: Does Economics Violate the Laws of Physics?)

[Patrick Anderson]

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Tere Vadén <tere.vaden at uta.fi> wrote:
>
>
> Patrick Anderson wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 1:04 PM, Tere Vadén <tere.vaden at uta.fi> wrote:
>>>
>>> Here's a great table on EROEI:
>>
>> Hmm... "Estimated Return On Investment" is talking about Profit.
>>
>
> Ah, sorry, my mistake, I was unclear: in this context EROEI is "energy
> return on energy investment", i.e., EROEI equals the energy gained divided
> by the energy used.
>

Damn.  What an unfortunate time for me to complain.  Oh well, my
advice will be ignored either way.

I wonder what it will take for us to reconsider the meaning and
purpose of Profit.  The purposeful destruction of abundance in the
name of keep price above cost does not seem to be enough.

We've know about this conundrum for a long time now.

My favorite satirical work on this subject is "The Candlemaker's
Petition" [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlemakers%27_petition ]