inefficient growth

INEFFICIENT GROWTH


No matter how many books printed on 55% post-consumer recycled paper you read, it is almost as certain that the sun will rise tomorrow that one hundred percent of them will waste a minimum of one third their space blathering and yammering on about how our white knight ( or, in the case of our Muslim-in-Chief, half black knight ) in shining armor will need to ride in and magically chance things so we can all go about living in a tree hugging eco-village, the day saved, the future of mankind all friggin rosy and wonderful. Well, unless you read those same kind of books on man made global warming where they might sneak in a passing reference to the fact that we’ve already put too much crap into the atmosphere and even if we all laid down our SUV’s tomorrow and picked up a sickle to manually harvest our organically grown grains ( although certainly not something so simple and widespread as wheat because think of those poor unfortunate souls suffering gluten intolerance ), cavorting about a maypole for entertainment rather than watching television and burning sensitively butchered pasture raised animal fat ( because our farmer ancestors were so in tune with Gaia and so sensitive to Mother Nature, their method of tenderizing meat was to terrorize an animal by chasing it around a stall jabbing it with a spear to get the secreted chemicals to course through the muscles, then killing it ), even then we would all die from the irreversible process already started.

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Why these earth friendly freaks of nature, their armpit hair braided, their Birkenstock shod feet showing some evidence of dirt despite their valiant efforts at scrubbing with homemade soap during their once a week bath ( my, what a great choice in how to husband resources ), why they think it’s cool to waste trees to shout the message that a miracle must happen and human beings must change their very nature even if its hardwired into their brains and then we shall all be able to live in peace and harmony, this eludes my reasoning capabilities ( kindly refrain from noting that most problems elude my reasoning capabilities ). My short answer ( sweet merciful Jesus, thank you for having him give us the short version, chants his audience ) is that these frauds don’t care about the environment past the small percentage of recycled paper and soy ink they use ( and, need it be repeated, soy ink isn’t about saving the planet, it is about saving money and supporting a government bribed and granted monopoly to the big three who control most of the globes basic feed stocks [ not sure if rice is included, but OUR majors, corn and wheat and soy, probably are ] ). They might THINK they want to save the planet, but their actions speak louder than any mewing and weasel words. Do their soft urban asses bike to work in winter? Is their home passive solar, or are they “forced” to live in an inefficient dwelling to be close to work to try to save the planet? They are hooked on growth like the rest of us and I spit on their hypocrisy. Selling enough of their eco-message books to “keep the cause alive” is just as destructive to the planet as from a greedy capitalist pig mining coal.

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No one is going to change things except you. It might be nice to put your head in the sand and hope someone else will do the heavy lifting, sparing you the trouble. But ultimately only your own personal effort and treasure will change things. And, no, I don’t mean that if we all chip in individually we can save the planet. What manure. I mean, YOU have to save your own ass. You have to insulate and weather strip and put up a solar panel, because no source of energy will replace the dwindling petroleum or natural gas. Here are a few examples of built in inefficiencies that were influenced by either blind faith in money or the fact that the cheap oil would never run out. Or, sillier still, that growth is capable of lasting forever. Thick copper wire saves electricity by more efficiently conducting that electricity and not producing waste heat. But most low-bid contractors put in the thinnest wire possible. Despite the fact that the different wire pays for itself in less than a year. As fuel efficiencies in automobiles improve, rather than see less gasoline used, you see larger vehicles, longer commutes or more torque. If you rent, all your appliances are inefficient because the landlord doesn’t care about your utility bill but rather his upfront cost. And when was the last time you saw a white roof? A white roof heats up 15 degrees. A darker one to 90. Quite a difference. But a white roof shows dirt and by all that is good and holy we can’t miss a real estate sale even if the place is much more efficiently keep cool in summer.

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These are small examples but multiply it by thousands or millions and you have our current economy. So many aspects are tied up in the old paradigm that it is incapable of change. Don’t expect any. While you get busy building yourself unemployment and collapse insurance, you might as well start in on insuring against energy decline. It all falls on your shoulders. No one is going to help. Imagine a household full of lazy fat slothful family members. The wife works thirty hours a week sitting at a desk and the kids are at school 25 hours a week, also sitting down. This obviously tires them out to no end. It is your job to work sixty hours of construction a week to pay most of the bills ( yes, I know, construction jobs don’t really exist anymore. I’m just going with a high physical exertion example ). If you want to stop spending so much on pre-prepared foods ( as you have little free time after working ) you now have to start cooking from scratch. This is extra time on your part, because no one else will help you. You work twelve hours, then come home and start making home made biscuits for the stew in the crock pot. Granted, in time it becomes relaxing, it does save a lot of money, and you develop short cuts and skills that your prep time dwindles to almost nothing. That isn’t the point. What is, is that you were on your own changing things for the better.

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The entire system is designed against helping you to cope with energy decline. It is all on you. Work harder. Spend more. On the bright side, you will be paid back in spades and the work load will decrease.

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