Sustainable Development!!

[Xenophon]

I just got back from a week's driving tour of Inner Mongolia. The last time I was there was 2002. Word over the mantra, "sustainable development" is like the answer to a maiden's prayer. Whatever projects get slapped into place, gets the label "sustainable development," just like the Curia used to stamp "nihil obstat" into approved books. It's a meme we can all agree on, from hickory hugging greens, to the ambitious geld-getters. Still...

Well, I am reminded of the old Chinese punishment, "ling chi," often translated as "death by a thousand cuts." A good executioner could make the condemned linger for nigh onto a week, all the while slicing off bits of flesh. That reminds me with a noumenal-clear exactitude of what "sustainable development" does to the planet. Whittle away at nature till the whittler can no longer sustain his wretched self.

 

[Jackson]

is that you ungern

 

[Xenophon]

is that you ungern

I am often "ungern" over this issue. Part of my periodical "Ungern Games," as it were.

 

[KjEno186]

I learned about "sustainable development" after exposure to the Peak Oil scene in the early 2000s. I downloaded a documentary called "The End of Suburbia" (2003) and bought The Long Emergency (2005) by James H. Kunstler. I was sure that the economy would collapse upon the peak and decline of conventional oil. Where am I at today?

I'm fond of the concepts I learned about, such as Permaculture and so-called New Urbanism. I agree with Mr Kunstler that Americans ruin their landscapes with strip malls, highways, and suburban sprawl. I think that ZIRP was a result of the decline of conventional oil, but it funded the fracking phase of discovery and reserve exploitation. I understood the concept that the "peak" didn't mean the world ran out of energy, just that what remains becomes more costly in terms of ERoEI to access. And there is a LOT of oil left.

The Progressives seem to forget (and don't appear to want to learn) just how much of their wealthy lifestyle is maintained by petroleum. And they always expect the other person to be the one who sacrifices for the greater good. So, we have people like Musk selling environmental 'train wrecks' known as electric cars, which are in no way environmentally friendly to build. Their materials, manufacture, and ultimate disposal have nothing 'sustainable' about them. But they provide good feels for the Progressive end consumer who only seems to be concerned about the lack of a visible tailpipe. These are the same people who eschew meat consumption because 'cow farts are bad' despite the fact that factory faux meat absolutely requires the industrial scale farming and energy-intensive infrastructure to work.

It's clear that governments and corporations don't really want local solutions, so any time that the corporate media mentions "sustainable development" I know it's a total crock.

 

[Xenophon]

I learned about "sustainable development" after exposure to the Peak Oil scene in the early 2000s. I downloaded a documentary called "The End of Suburbia" (2003) and bought The Long Emergency (2005) by James H. Kunstler. I was sure that the economy would collapse upon the peak and decline of conventional oil. Where am I at today?

I'm fond of the concepts I learned about, such as Permaculture and so-called New Urbanism. I agree with Mr Kunstler that Americans ruin their landscapes with strip malls, highways, and suburban sprawl. I think that ZIRP was a result of the decline of conventional oil, but it funded the fracking phase of discovery and reserve exploitation. I understood the concept that the "peak" didn't mean the world ran out of energy, just that what remains becomes more costly in terms of ERoEI to access. And there is a LOT of oil left.

The Progressives seem to forget (and don't appear to want to learn) just how much of their wealthy lifestyle is maintained by petroleum. And they always expect the other person to be the one who sacrifices for the greater good. So, we have people like Musk selling environmental 'train wrecks' known as electric cars, which are in no way environmentally friendly to build. Their materials, manufacture, and ultimate disposal have nothing 'sustainable' about them. But they provide good feels for the Progressive end consumer who only seems to be concerned about the lack of a visible tailpipe. These are the same people who eschew meat consumption because 'cow farts are bad' despite the fact that factory faux meat absolutely requires the industrial scale farming and energy-intensive infrastructure to work.

It's clear that governments and corporations don't really want local solutions, so any time that the corporate media mentions "sustainable development" I know it's a total crock.

Kudos!

 

[Robert Ramsay]

The Progressives seem to forget (and don't appear to want to learn) just how much of their wealthy lifestyle is maintained by petroleum. And they always expect the other person to be the one who sacrifices for the greater good. So, we have people like Musk selling environmental 'train wrecks' known as electric cars, which are in no way environmentally friendly to build. Their materials, manufacture, and ultimate disposal have nothing 'sustainable' about them. But they provide good feels for the Progressive end consumer who only seems to be concerned about the lack of a visible tailpipe. These are the same people who eschew meat consumption because 'cow farts are bad' despite the fact that factory faux meat absolutely requires the industrial scale farming and energy-intensive infrastructure to work.

This is true. If you transport biofuel more than a few miles from where it's produced, you've negated the benefits of making it, even if the transport runs on biofuel. And talking of electric cars, let's talk about the world's supply of lithium... aside from the fact that I wouldn't trust Musk with the remote control for the TV.

The only thing I would disagree with you about is that it's not just the progressives. Almost everyone has no real idea about how much we depend on oil.

Entropy must always increase to produce order, but let's not go mental about it, eh?

 

[Xenophon]

This is true. If you transport biofuel more than a few miles from where it's produced, you've negated the benefits of making it, even if the transport runs on biofuel. And talking of electric cars, let's talk about the world's supply of lithium... aside from the fact that I wouldn't trust Musk with the remote control for the TV.

The only thing I would disagree with you about is that it's not just the progressives. Almost everyone has no real idea about how much we depend on oil.

Entropy must always increase to produce order, but let's not go mental about it, eh?

You're right about the collective denial as to oil addiction and its extent. The people who give you a blank look and say, "But plastic isn't slippery!"

I had a conservative economist lecture me one about how proven reserves of oil had increased since he was in college, so peak oil was a non-problem. Which is like finding $100 bucks in an old suit and deciding to quit my job since, "I can always find more money."

Musk is proof that genius does not equate with "reliable." Something folks forget in their Einsteinolotry and Tesla-worship. Musk misses as often as he hits. Which is true of anyone who has ideas like a Paris hotel has bedbugs. But his public tends to overlook this.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Musk is proof that genius does not equate with "reliable." Something folks forget in their Einsteinolotry and Tesla-worship. Musk misses as often as he hits. Which is true of anyone who has ideas like a Paris hotel has bedbugs. But his public tends to overlook this.

It would help if he took criticism better, either from others or from himself.

 

[KjEno186]

@Robert Ramsay , you are correct that the ignorance isn't limited to Progressives. They are, however, the Utopians of this moment in time who think they have The Solutions. Any number of books have been written about the folly of hubris coupled with holding the levers of power. The irrational reactionary movements which spring up in response to power wielded in ignorance are more often themselves ignorant, contrarian, and offering no practical solutions of their own. I don't see myself as Progressive, Liberal, or Conservative because they all seem to want to maximize their share of the existing pie. I think the pie itself is rotten.

 

[Xenophon]

@Robert Ramsay , you are correct that the ignorance isn't limited to Progressives. They are, however, the Utopians of this moment in time who think they have The Solutions. Any number of books have been written about the folly of hubris coupled with holding the levers of power. The irrational reactionary movements which spring up in response to power wielded in ignorance are more often themselves ignorant, contrarian, and offering no practical solutions of their own. I don't see myself as Progressive, Liberal, or Conservative because they all seem to want to maximize their share of the existing pie. I think the pie itself is rotten.

Two thumbs up!

I ran across an interesting suggestion the other day that the populace of many developed countries suffers from a variety of Munchausen Syndrome. Folks have been indoctrinated to think 1) they are flawed or victimised in a variety of obscure ways; 2) that those in authority hold the cure. Or at least can dispense the craved-for attention. Remember Piggy in Lord of the Flies, almost proud to be asthamatic? Make him healthier and multiply 350 million times and you get the present U.S.