Helsingin Sanomat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Everywhere you go, regardless of media platform, you hear this sad and deluded refrain – “To compete, xxx must be sustainable”. This political sound-bite, which is in effect a dog-whistle for “Make the listener feel extremely guilty for over consumption, despite years of programming to over consume”, is, by design, a call to arms for the destruction of the traditional economic and industrial model. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the “Green” agenda, where traditional fossil and oil based fuels are to be replaced by “Natural” resources such as the wind, waves and solar power. Where these methods are potentially a way to generate energy, they are very much in their technological infancy and are only cost effective and appropriate in certain extremely limited environs.
Take windmills and water wheels for instance. Both of these methods, widely adopted prior to the industrial revolution, were rapidly replaced with more efficient steam engines once the latter technology matured. Why was that? Surely our forefathers could grasp the romantic attraction of such traditional forces of nature? This “Newfangled” technology of the time was oily, dirty, smelly and noisy, so what essential benefit did it bring to society? The answer was simple and is the biggest reason why the Green agenda is so totally unworkable in its current incarnation. Steam power could effectively be stored and utilised exactly when required, either via storage in a pressure vessel or by storing rather than burning the coal that boiled the water to drive the engine itself. Man could control it and turn it towards achieving his goals at a whim. Either way, the age of steam, like Moore’s law, led to more and more innovation, and in the process transformed the landscape from an agricultural one to an industrial one. If we are brutally honest, the industrial revolution led to a population explosion in the West and a huge increase in the quality of life for many. This period also saw the rise of Malthusianism, the belief that society was over-populated and a close ideological relative to eugenics. Apart from these two hellish philosophies, it was, and remains, the greatest sustained period of innovation and progress in human history, apart from maybe the two World Wars where our creativity on both sides was focused on defeating the enemy. Here lies the fatal fault-line in this twisted agenda, unlike traditional fuel sources, sustainable and renewable energy cannot be stored efficiently or indefinitely. Any action in this universe will incur losses or inefficiencies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we do not become more efficient, that is the moral imperative of the good steward. It is just that there is no such thing as a free lunch in physics or chemistry.
So this bullshit – and it is bullshit – is just pure fallacious rhetoric. Nothing, absolutely nothing is “Sustainable” over a long enough time period, be it coal, wood, dinosaurs or mankind itself. The old adage that the only life on the planet after a nuclear war will be the cockroaches is a good example, the planet and the universe will undoubtedly outlive man and his follies. What the Greens do not want you to understand is that this whole “Goody two shoes, Let us save the planet” philosophy rests on one flawed core belief – That we are overpopulated. This belief, which emerged in the early 1800’s via Thomas R. Malthus, is correct insofar as a finite set of resources will rapidly diminish in the face of a rapidly growing population unless checked by moral restraint, disease or disaster. His model at the time didn’t take into account the development of modern medicine and pharmaceuticals which has doubled the average lifespan of man from the dawn of the industrial revolution. Nor did he foresee that the industrial society would sustain a greater number of people than an agrarian society. Better quality food, an efficient justice system and public sanitation also played a role, and these modern facilities are the bedrock of a modern civilised society. But wait, I hear you say, surely this increase in population and pollution etc. is happening outside Western nations? You are absolutely correct Sherlock, and that dirty little secret is what the Greens refuse to acknowledge. It is all the fault of us in the West, exploiting the “Uncivilised poor nations” and as a result, we must pay the price for this “Global injustice”. It is just another limb of the poisonous political octopus called Globalism.
The problem fundamentally lies in the whole post-modern concept of economics and the way our current societies are run. It is ironic that Malthus was an economist, and not a very good one at that, when compared to the father of modern economics, Adam Smith. What Smith would make of the current crop of politicians and leaders I dread to think, but I have a sneaky suspicion if the Greens were to attach one of their sodding windmills to his skeleton it would power a small city by the rotational energy generated by his skeleton. His main argument would be identical to one that I am about to make here, insofar that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
The Greens, with brass neck duplicity, reassure us that their agenda is based on sustainability. Sustainable what? Wind? Well any fool can tell you that the amount of wind is proportional to the seasons, more in winter and less in summer. Even if we could generate enough electricity by other means, wind will be an erratic provider. You would have to tailor the demand to match the provision of the weather, the exact opposite of what we have today. Under the old model, stocks of extra coal were kept to keep us warm in winter. Those with long memories will realise how close we came to government and national collapse during the miners strikes in the 70’s and 80’s, and the wonderful touchy-feely green lobby want to turn everything on its head and return us to a time of energy shortages and national insecurity. Green energy is a fundamentally flawed concept in a modern society for one simple reason – You cannot store it. The nearest we come to an efficient method in this respect is hydro-electric, and even then there are limitations. If you cannot guarantee that the lights will come on when you flick a switch, the words “Civilised” and “Society” rapidly start to part company.
Electric vehicles are the other big con. Outrageously expensive and downright dangerous, even more of a flying bomb than a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE). Here the “Sustainable” lie conveniently forgets that a) The onboard batteries are extremely expensive, use rare metals and wear out quickly and b) Energy has to come from somewhere to charge them. We forget that ICE technology is actually more sustainable and cost effective over the long term than electric, and contrary to the doom-sayers, we are not going to run out of oil any time soon. Even if we did, we could convert to biofuels and LPG if we were prudent.
No, the Greens are just playing with your mind. Sustainable in my book, and the majority of the public, includes factors such as the right to repair, building quality items that can be serviced and repaired over a long lifetime, and good quality design. Look at the Victorian inventors and designers. Despite having fewer resources than we have at our disposal today, they invented products made to last. Our sewage system is a good example, it carries far more waste than it was ever designed for, yet still manages to perform sterling service. We need to become better stewards of our inheritance rather than pandering to such commercial gods as built in obsolescence, the trendy and consumerism. The Victorians understood that, unlike the plastic engineers we have today.
All of this in essence, boils down to a very simple concept. If we wish to remain a civilised and prosperous society, we must accept that discipline and order are the tethers that hold the whole mass together, rather than the chaos and disorder which is the Globalist tool deliberately being used to destroy the inheritance handed to us by our forefathers. We are a rich nation in comparison to others, undoubtedly, but if we continue to follow the current agenda we will end up a poor hovel unable to dig ourselves out of the pit, never mind help others. A consistent energy supply is key to this. We need to start cutting our suit cloth according to our budget.
This discipline starts with some extremely difficult questions. Why have we let our infrastructure fall apart? Why do we spend and invest billions on others rather than our own people? Why do we tax families so harshly that they cannot pass their earned wealth onto their offspring? Why have we democratised wisdom and knowledge to the point that any fool can get a worthless degree and then charge them a kings ransom for the privilege? Why do we have an enormous public sector of largely underpaid, minimum wage employees who perform useless, soul destroying work just to fudge the true unemployment figures? Why are we content with supporting generation upon generation of an underclass that are quite content to take rather than contribute – be this at home or abroad? Why do we subsidise so many businesses via the back door rather than allow the market to cull the inefficient? Why encourage dysfunctional behaviours that destroy our historical civilisation? Why is grift, dishonesty and corruption rewarded? Why have we reached a point where even our thoughts can be outlawed? Why is it always the poor bloody taxpayer (be they middle or lower class) that has to take the brunt of every fault and flaw in society? Why does nothing ever change for the better? Most damning of all, why do those who howl loudest about “Sustainability” not want to sustain the amazing progress we have achieved since the industrial revolution, rather than destroy all of it in a few generations?
The Communists absolutely hate the middle class, and are determined to see society, be it nationally or globally, sink to a position where everyone is equally poor, themselves being the exception of course. The Capitalists just want to get rich, and are generally not particularly bothered about the fate of the middle classes, provided they can hang onto their wealth. Often it is in their best interests to support the squeezed middle, at other times they are a convenient scapegoat – Privatise the profits, socialise the losses being a classic ruse. The bottom line is irrespective of political or economic ideology, human nature invariably takes over and provided “I’m alright Jack” both sides are equally content with the status quo. Both sides bounce helplessly off each other, and the Uniparty rules.
This can apply no longer. Somewhere along the way, we have crossed the rubicon into La-La land and Clown world. We seem to believe that unrestrained immigration and a functioning welfare state can co-exist. No matter what the cost, there seems to be a general acceptance that the magic money tree will provide for all, despite the true value of the furnished currency being close to worthless in real terms. Houses are no longer homes, rather they are profit centres or pension pots. Most distressing and galling of all however, is the erosion of moral and ethical values of good old fashioned hard work, diligence and restraint. This perilous and deceptive mindset extends to “Renewable” or “Sustainable” energy. Something for nothing, get your chicks for free. Of course, the Greens will never admit that in their perfect society even more discipline will be required for even less return or value, all the hard work and struggle will be pushed downstream to the poor. They will still be living a life of champagne luxury in their guilded cages and gated homes while we walk or cycle to work. It is folly of the highest order.
This just leaves one question. Why bother any more, when everybody else appears to benefit from all this free stuff that has materialised out of now-where?
© Rookwood 2024
