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1 EiMitch  Mar 25, 2015 5:09:01pm
The fact that they’re literally endangering the planet in the pursuit of profit doesn’t even register.

Nitpick: Its not profit per se that the CD denying mega-corporations are after. Otherwise, they would’ve invested in solar power by now just to cash in. Its hard to argue lately that its more profitable to fight it instead. If they were really all about the money, they wouldn’t care where the money came from.

But they clearly do care. Which means that money isn’t enough for them.

No, what they want is power. They want us, the general public, to need them. They want us to have no choice but to bow before them. This isn’t (just) capitalism, this is feudalism. They’re our lords and they don’t want that to change.

2 Uraniabce  Mar 25, 2015 5:38:50pm

re: #1 EiMitch

Sounds to me like you’ve hit the nail on the head.

3 lostlakehiker  Mar 25, 2015 9:22:40pm

Clipper ship owners probably fulminated against steamboats. Capitalism, when not mired in government cronyism, weeds out losing technologies and those engaged in the old-fashioned work adapt or fade. Workers and management and stockholders are all at risk. They all see it as a threat, because it is.

To the general public, the change is a change for the better. But not on the same scale. So while more people stand to benefit from allowing the new technology, few of them have any personal economic reason to be intensely involved in the issue. So if it is possible to buy Congress, or some regulatory agency, that’s what those whose livelihoods or wealth depend on the old technology will do.

Hence the need for a government that either just won’t, or simply isn’t in a position to, hand out favors that ban progress. A government that just stands back and says sorry, they can build that wind farm off the coast if they like. Sorry, they can build those high tension power lines right through the Mojave Desert even if there is a threatened tortoise that lives there. Sorry, they can build Ivanpah even if it fries some birds, and they can build wind farms even if they kill a whole 1/1000th of one percent of the bird kills due to skyscraper windows.

The kind of government we need can be achieved by either party. The Democrats just need to put NIMBYists in their place and turn a cold shoulder to lobbyists for the past. The Republicans just need to remember their founding principles as the party of free enterprise. Both these things are not so easy. Right now, we don’t have the robust growth we should have in nuclear power because Harry Reid managed to block the Nevada nuclear waste repository. Political reasons. And then there’s Republicans, unfortunately a majority of them, who are riding the hobby horse of “the science is flaky”—-because—-campaign contributions.

Solar is the wave of the future. It can use some help from subsidies, especially subsidies that scale back as the market price of solar drops, but it can probably slog along without them, just so it has protection such as mandatory cooperation by utilities regarding hookup costs, feedback rules, etc.

4 Higgs Boson's Mate  Mar 25, 2015 10:07:48pm

re: #1 EiMitch

You make very good point. Solar offers the possibility of small scale and even large scale competition to the electricity companies and we can’t have that. As much as large corporations pretend to love capitalism they do everything that they can to stifle the element of competition.

5 EiMitch  Mar 26, 2015 1:47:37am

re: #3 lostlakehiker

Hence the need for a government that either just won’t, or simply isn’t in a position to, hand out favors that ban progress. A government that just stands back and says sorry, they can build that wind farm off the coast if they like. Sorry, they can build those high tension power lines right through the Mojave Desert even if there is a threatened tortoise that lives there. Sorry, they can build Ivanpah even if it fries some birds, and they can build wind farms even if they kill a whole 1/1000th of one percent of the bird kills due to skyscraper windows.

Ah, the old “regulations cause cronyism” libertarian argument. (I won’t even comment on your specific focus on environmental regulations) I believed that for years until I came to realize it was bs. Unless the government is weakened to the point that it effectively does not exist, (a.k.a. anarchy) cronyism can still happen. Police can be bribed/pressured to look the other way. The national guard can be called in to brutally suppress a workers’ strike as a favor to a corporation. The Supreme Court can reinterpret and/or ignore the constitution as they please. More to the point, congress can propose specific laws to block progress (anti-net neutrality bill anyone?) despite regulatory bureaus or a lack thereof. Dogs and cats can live togeth… Wait, that Ghostbusters reference doesn’t work here, does it? Anyway, you should get the idea by now.

We can (and often should) argue that a particular regulation is ineffective, or counter-productive, or being misused, or otherwise doing more harm than good. But to argue that regulation per se is the cause of political corruption is naive. (yes, I just admitted I was naive on this issue once upon a time. Sue me) There are ways to reduce and mitigate corruption, but history has demonstrated that lax regulation a la 19th century isn’t one of them. Ayn Rand’s polemics notwithstanding, the US government was no less corrupt back then than it is now.

As for preventing corruption, that will require changing human nature on a fundamental level. Speaking of which, anybody here volunteer for a brainwashing experiment? It’s not based on MK Ultra, I pinky swear it.

6 EiMitch  Mar 26, 2015 3:28:56pm

re: #1 EiMitch

Its not profit per se that the CD denying mega-corporations are after.

I’m only NOW noticing this typo? Wtf is CD supposed to mean? That’s how I started my self-proclaimed nit-picking comment, and everyone is too polite to mention it. LOL


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