Archive for May, 2005
Superior Hiking Trail
I took last week off and went on a hiking trip with my friend Eric on the Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota. It was fun. Here are photos.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : May 23rd, 2005
The Big Experiment
I just watched “The Corporation”, a documentary detailing exactly what a corporation is, where they came from, and what they’re doing. It’s a well made film, worth a watch (although suffers from a lack of editing. It’s too long.) It got me thinking . . . [disclaimer: this may sound outlandish, but there's some truth to it]
Industrialization, and the subsequent rise of corporations, is a social experiment carried out on a global scale by the leaders of powerful Western nations. Since its birth, industrialization has been carried out by mostly rich, white men. The ruling class, as it were, has widened in the last few decades, but you will still find a whole lot of R.W.M. holding the power positions in today’s corporations.
The benefits of industrialization have been enormous. We have been able to expand the population of the planet to levels before unimagined. We have developed fantastic improvements in health care through modern science. We now live longer and with more comfort than ever before. Make no mistake that industrialization has benefited mankind.
The problem is that there is a cost. Worse, we don’t really know what the cost is. Recently, most signs seem to be indicating that the cost is huge. Millions of people all over the world lack the basic facilities required for human life: clean water, reliable shelter, food. Many ecosystems sit on the verge of collapse, and the health of the biosphere is in rapid decline. Global warming is threatening to ravage the planet, with extreme weather patterns serving as warning of what’s to come.
The root of this problem is that, at its heart, industrialization is not sustainable. The formula works as follows: mine/harvest/extract X from the earth. Add value to X through industrial process. Sell X to the masses for profit. Repeat indefinitely. The problem is that the resources in the earth are finite. We are learning this painfully in the case of oil.
You can’t blame the early forefathers of industrialization for our current situation. The science of their day simply lacked the understanding to warn of impending doom. We can blame current business leaders, politicians, and each other for not recognizing the reality of our situation and dealing accordingly.
We know what is happening to the earth and yet we keep the great experiment alive. When is enough enough?
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : May 9th, 2005
biodiesel
Wow. It’s been awhile since I updated this site. Oopsy-doosey. Anywho:
I’ve been grappling lately with the moral dilemma of whether to buy a car and what kind of car to buy. (At first, I really wanted to go with the Ford Excursion, but the Lincoln Navigator is just so tempting. . . ) As you probably know, I’m a big proponent of reducing our foreign oil dependencies and reducing our need for driving in general. But I feel like I still need a car to get around in this big ol’ country of ours. Quite a dilemma indeed.
I don’t think that the hybrids are cost effective enough yet, with a higher sticker price and unknown battery life-span. Plus, I’d still be relying on foreign gasoline even if I was burning it more slowly in a hybrid. Instead, I’ve been seriously considering buying a diesel VW Golf and running home-grown bio-diesel in it. I think that this is the ideal solution, given the great mileage (40-50 mpg!) low emissions, and the ability to use 100% domestic fuel. Plus, a diesel will last forever. (They’re really great engines!)
The only downsides are price (diesels are a bit more expensive on the used market due to their rarity) and the necessity of scaling back to B20 (20% bio-diesel, 80% petro-diesel) during those cold wisconsin winters I love and enjoy.
My other moral conundrum is that this is a great solution for me, but I know that 99% of drivers out there are not willing to make their own fuel and put it in their cars. And frankly, I don’t believe that the U.S. has enough production capacity to generate 20 million barrels of bio-diesel to completely offset our foreign dependencies. So I may be soothing my conscience but I’m not solving the root problem.
Yet.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : May 6th, 2005
