Down It Comes

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Down It Comes

by SeasideMan ^Pro @ 09/01/09 – 09:22:59

The UK seems to be headed for dark times. Businesses closing, redundancies, repossessions, savings income slashed, and so on. Then there is the international situation: gas supplies from the former USSR threatened, potential WW3 in the Middle East, global recession. Add to this environmental issues and the outlook is particularly bleak. So where’s it all going to end? I think it was Trotsky who said:

"Any society is only three square meals away from a revolution."

With all due respect to Leon the result would likely be chaos and anarchy rather than revolution, but I don’t honestly think that’s likely. We’d have to completely run out of fuel for food distribution to break down and even then I’m sure something could be devised. I think the outcome is likely to be a few more companies going under and a few more repossessions and redundancies.

I hopefully predict that by this time next year, things will be looking brighter and we’ll be well on the way to a booming economy and everything looking rosy again. It’s good to be hopeful!

As for the situation in the Middle East: no comment.

Cheers, Tom.
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- middle
- révolution
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10 Comments to Down It Comes

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- rubychoo
- 09/01/09 @ 09:30:58
But we are scarily reliant on our food producers...

Many of them will fail before the fuel runs out...

(I agree we probably won't run into such dire problems, but it makes for an interesting scenario)...
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 09/01/09 @ 09:44:07
  Indeed, our society is so closely-knit that a relatively small disaster could trigger widespread major problems. Loss of the electricity supply, for whatever reason, for example. There has never been a more sensible time for solar, wind and wave power!
  
  Tom.
  - - loiswakeman
    - http://lois.co.uk
    - 09/01/09 @ 11:17:39
    The big problem with renewables that we still need to address is baseload generation: what to do for example in winter anticyclonal conditions when it's very cold, not windy, sea is calm and sky is overcast - which rules out effective solar, wind and wave generation just at the time of peak demand.
    
    Conventional power stations (with the exception of the unconventional Trawsfynydd/Maentwrog) take hours or days to come up to full capacity, so it isn't practicable to turn them on and off for when renewables are not available - they need to run more or less all the time.
    
    No-one has yet come up with any practical proposals for large-scale 24-hour renewable generation, sadly - tidal power is one, but there are only a few suitable UK locations and most have environmental implications of their own. I agree we need to do a lot more, but until this basic problem is solved, we are just fiddling round the edges.
    
    Of course, there are other ways to help - cutting demand by being less Western in our habits and insulating older houses more effectively for starters. But the first one is a political non-starter in our ghastly consumerist society, and (at least for people like me living in an old stone house on a limited income) the second is prohibitively expensive.
    
    But despite all that, a happy new year and enjoy the new camera! Have you read the manual yet?
    - - SeasideMan ^Pro
      - 09/01/09 @ 11:28:29
      The best answer to the baseload problem is a global solution, but that seems unlikely in the current political climate of the world. What seems crystal clear to me though is that we should be funding a LOT of research into alternative energy sources as a high priority. Contracting our energy usage and making it more efficient are also areas that need more work too.
      
      I have dipped into the manual, but it will take me a few weeks to get through it. After I get through it the 1st time I'll wait a month and then do it again. I really am a total novice with all the flashy features at my disposal!
      
      I wish a good year to you.
      
      Tom.
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- deana24
- 09/01/09 @ 09:32:45
Can't really see the British revolting. There were plenty of opportunities in the past and apart from the Oliver Cromwell blip we've been remarkably middle-ground people. I wonder why... being an island nation perhaps?
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 09/01/09 @ 09:40:46
  I don't see a revolt either - we're all too afraid of offending anyone, and I think that is related to a small island mentality.
  
  Tom.
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- Middleagedbloke ^Pro
- 09/01/09 @ 14:34:01
Renewable energy sources are favoured by many people I believe yet none want them in their back yard so to speak. I read a while back about the objections to harnessing the tidal power of the Severn Estuary. As I recall the concerns were about the environmental impact of the scheme. The same concerns were often raised when we were building motorways but nature does seem to have a wonderful habit of adapting to the man made incursions. Surely it would do the same in the Estuary.
Nigel
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 09/01/09 @ 15:16:09
  There is a windfarm in clear view on a hill behind my house. I like the fact that it's there - no Nimbyism from me!
  
  I agree about the Severn Estuary, I suspect the wildlife would learn to cope, with the exception of fish swimming upriver.
  
  Tom.
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- wehavetoactnow
- 11/01/09 @ 10:50:10
I've recently encountered this quote by Trotsky, in a book am I reading at the moment. In this book, the emphasis is placed on rebuilding local resilience - the ability to support our own communities without relying so heavily on export.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 11/01/09 @ 11:17:39
  I think that's something we should be doing more of, particularly with food. The UK is pretty fertile and yet we still import a lot of our food. Resilience is one good reason we should be doign this, but food miles is another.
  
  Tom.
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