Re: Absorptive A/C viable?

[elnav]

Hello John

While I don’t disagree with your post I was left with the thought of “why didn’t people see this a long time ago?” I was born in a vey different culture and society. The thoughts you expressed in the first part seem to come from a culture and society I am still getting adjusted to. Ironically there has been a system in place for two thousand years which most people have ignored because it does not suit their own sense of greed which is the prime reason for many of the ills we now suffer from as a society. Other systems have been in existence for even longer and they too have fallen by the wayside because a minority of people found they could flex their power and feed their greed for material wealth and power over others. This is a human condition for which there may not be a cure. There will always be some individuals who figure society’s rules do not apply to them and if they break those rules, one tiny bit isn’t going to hurt. You will find this behavior in a small community of 100 people as well as a city of 1 million. Down through the ages we have had countless examples of communal groups who have attempted to band together in following a set of rules that places the common good above the individual gain. In most cases these groups have been put down as being slightly odd or even stupid; but few people attempt to emulate them. Among the more ssucessful groups are the monestaries and nunneries not to mention theological based groups like the Amish and Old Order Mennonites. The reform mennonites have managed to blend in with society to the extent they are not as visible as a group but you can still hear derogatory jokes told, that essentially denigrades them for the values they hold. Many people will dismiss them as religious kooks becaause they place a higher authority in charge yet this is the only way we are going to survive. It may not be a god but until people are willing to put a value system in place that is above them and superceded their own personal ambitions, we will not achieve the utopia you dream of. I am old enough to remember the flower power children and hippie movement. I remember reading Walden II and Erewhon and BF Skinner’s books and articles. Few people nowadays have even heard of these. The goals and intent are the same but the methods and sometimes the vernacular has changed but it is basically the same wish for a better world that motivates us. Sadly we do not look back to learn from past mistakes, choosing instead to learn by making our own and thus repeating history and making the same mistakes over and over again. I no longer pretend to have an answer. I strive to better myself and hopefully leave some shred of intent to improve the world instead of my bank book. I despair of mankind ever learning the lesson whenever I see my friends and neighbors brag about their material possessions or when they denounce me for not wanting to live closer to civilization and mass nuttiness in the big cities. I moved away from drive-by shootings, gang-land warfare and police road checks simply because I happen to live in the wrong area. I no longer have to lock my door with double locks and dead bolts. When I see someone with a gun I know they are out looking for food not someone else.

I do not characterize myself as being religious but I have found a societal template in christianity that I think will achieve the goals you profess to want. Trouble is, most beople decline to accept any sort of belief system that compels them to put society’s betterment ahead of their own desires and self gratification.

When I began buildinbg wind generator controls back in the seventies it was to allow people to live in places away from cities. Lately ‘going off-grid’ seeems to have acquired an aura of being a subculture. It is more of a political movement than anything else. I almost want to say “stop the train I wanna get off!”

But the train derailed long ago. We are simply sliding along on sheer momentum.