Raise the Hammer

Undustrial, we're pretty much on the same wavelength, which might explain some of my frustration /discouragement re Kiely's techno-enthusiasm. In fact, i'm thinking you must have stole my unvention!! Having tried some of those ideas (and wanting to do more) I now see how difficult the 'easy' stuff can be, how little it does (even if it is satisfying, impressive even), and how unattractive to other people (besides you) it can be. Not to mention how the rest of the family reacts to it all!!! Alright for tinkerers and nerds but you'd better have a patient spouse when the sun/wind isn't co-operating.

My essential idea in thinking something should be done NOW is that there is a time element involved, beyond the theoretical benefits. The excess of our lifestyle makes such things possible but once oil goes to 200 and beyond, that surplus, which is garbage (negative value) now, will disappear. That means all your solar gadgets must be made NOW but since people are smug NOW, they are uninterested and snotty toward any such efforts. I've also discovered in my recycling career that once any big demand emerges for something, the price rises. All those old motors would acquire a value and the tinkerers wouldn't be so tempted to make something of it as opposed to buying new. But buying new for solar or wind is seldom worth it unless you are subsidizing me. This is a knotty problem that has puzzled me for years. Not that it can't be done though, just that its tricky. I can see that green jobs are good in theory but definitely not the way Spain became a PIIGS - their subsidies to green jobs caused a destruction of the regular economy and regular jobs for an overall net loss. Perhaps the time element is critical. If the jump in oil is sudden, there will be say a 1 or 2 yr window where folks will still be throwing out stuff but many many folks will see a value and we will see a vast increase of midnight pickers in our neighbourhoods. No such luck if prices rise gradually. In grade 11 physics, i think we called this effect hysteresis. The silver lining in the cloud of declining lifestyle (brought on by the east overtaking the west) is that wages will probably have to decrease which will bring back long forgotten sectors like repair services, architectural detailing, etc. So in conclusion, perhaps your prognosis will come into being of its own accord. Other than that, lets compare notes someday on how to build stuff. Maybe there's a project here somewhere, eh?