Saturday 5 December 2015

The Wind


The weekend begins with storm number 4, and storm number 4 has to be male and begin with D, so it is called Desmond, I think. I am getting a bit fed up with all this wind. It's not as if we are short of fresh air out here in the provinces.

Rachel has a short post, asking us if we think things are better or worse. If the question is about the standard of living, then materially it has to be better I suppose, but this does not necessarily translate into any meaningful perception of well-being. The only thing that could do that would be a return to the power-cuts of the 60s and 70s, when we sat around in our kitchens with candles, shivering but basking in the sudden cessation of the electrical fields surrounding us produced by ordinary household wiring. I remember that glorious feeling of peace, and that was long before we were all bombarded with microwaves from boosted super-transmitters.

The downside of the universal lifestyle-upgrade of the Western world is incurring the resentment of the so-called developing world, who all want the white goods and computers which we now take for granted, and who all want to burn the vast tonnage of coal they are sitting on in order to power them. We're alright. We had our industrial revolution 200 years ago.

David Attenborough encapsulated the dilemma quite simply: there are too many people in the world now, but it is not morally acceptable to kill off half of them, let alone make the choice as to which half. There are also unpleasant and unexpected side-effects when adopting a one-child policy, as China did many years ago to try and cut down on their ever-increasing population. They recently reversed this policy, having become sickened by the amount of dead female babies turning up on rubbish dumps, and - quite often - in street gutters.

Economic expansion equates to territorial expansion, and as China sets its eyes on Europe, we begin to plan the colonisation of Mars, using the mining of minerals as an economic excuse. I know which is the most realistic.

Years ago, someone came up with a brilliant analogy to do with organic life running out of space.

There is a pebble lying on a forest floor which becomes inhabited with a patch of algae. The algae grows and begins to cover the surface of the pebble. Eventually, it meets itself on the other side of the stone, so it sends its spoors off to another pebble and starts the process all over again - unless there is a forest fire.

14 comments:

  1. I wish you could answer the comments on my blog for me. I am suffering over there. My memories of the three day week are pf a delightful change in working hours at Newcastle Civic Centre to fit in with daylight, we changed to starting work at 8 am and finishing at 4pm, hours like that were unheard of in those days, and it was lovely to get home early. I don't remember much else about it except it was a struggle on the farm with a milking parlour run on electricity. I think the cows had to change their milking routine to fit in with the power cuts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are sixty + years old. Just tell me what condition you have which demands more attention than anyone else's, and I'll either give it to you if I can, or point you toward a professional who may be able to.

      Delete
    2. Oh, maybe I misunderstood. I have re-read your comment and I think you may have been wishing I could answer your comments on your blog for you, like you said. Sorry, I've just got back from a stressful meeting and wasn't listening.

      Delete
    3. P.S. - I am sorry if I caused offence with my misunderstanding, and I am also sorry that you are suffering unduly. My condition is pretty similar to yours, I think, no matter what it is.

      I'll go back and try to answer your comments.

      Delete
    4. Don't worry, I've answered them all now,but you can add things if you want. I was mildly upset by your comment; I re-read my comment to see how I had upset you and concluded you must be drunk.

      Delete
  2. I didnt want to post but I have.........hey ho

    ReplyDelete
  3. There does seem to be subconscious angst afoot, that we are overpopulated, hence the rise in genocide. I can't see any other reason for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope it's not the brewing of a perfect storm.

      Delete
  4. Your last paragraph is a bit depressing Tom.

    As regards dead babies in the gutter - my first husband lived in China from 1938 until the outbreak of war and he told of lorries searching the streets each morning and collecting up dead girl babies - nothing's new.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it was a bit. I'm not feeling very positive at the moment.

      Delete