Extract from the 2020 essay “Techno-optimisim: When, Where, and How” by Alex Hammer.
In certain circles it’s fashionable to look down on ideas like “techno-optimism”. In those same circles they will tell you that the fundamental structure of society is irrevocably broken, that nothing can be done without first fixing our broken mindset. And, while it is probably true that we won’t be able to program ourselves out of racism and deep-learn our way through adapting society to a deadly pandemic, we certainly can make the process a heck of a lot easier with modern technology.
We shouldn’t forget that, as much as people demean our present way of life and our capitalist system, we have the most advanced technology in terms of medicine, energy, food production, and manufacturing ever in human history. We can accomplish feats that to our grandfathers would have resembled magic at rates limited only by the speed of light. Entire cities can be conjured out of the desert, cars can (somewhat) drive themselves, information passes almost seamlessly from continent to continent, and we can pull power from the sun and from the air. To sacrifice all of this for a return to primitivism would not only be inefficient, it wouldn’t help us deal with the increasingly terrible conditions we have unleashed via runaway climate change any better. Just because our tools have the potential for harm doesn’t mean that we have to duct tape our hands behind our backs.
So what is to be done? First, we must let go of our irrational fear of technologies like nuclear power, alongside rapidly expanding wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable power infrastructure sources. There is more than enough power to go around for the next 1000 years that will pollute the planet much less than our current system, if we’re clever about where we get it from. Next, food must be addressed with hydroponics and advances in synthetic food manufacture, cutting down on the massive carbon expenses used to feed animals today and making our food chains vastly more efficient. Third, we must embrace a new form of green urbanism, using density to our advantage by feeding and housing more people more efficiently and sustainably. What follows will be several policy recommendations based on these guidelines, but the gist is as simple as it sounds. Done properly, saving the world need not be a brutal thing.