ratsforhorses

Maybe our economic systems have to be rethought? A tree is worth more dead than alive..... European economies have been accumulating wealth for centuries through colonization and exploitation of humans lifetimes... in the end what do you have? inflated real estate prices, overly mechanized agriculture producing basic junk foodstuffs, increasingly authoritarian political policies designed to restrict or bore people from contributing to civil society... this is leading to an existential crisis .... So many good films out there which capture the essence of the problem, that dreadlock guy who works? for Microsoft has a very good quote in "Social Dilemma" (1)

One suggestion would be politicians to be chosen by jury, for periods of say a year to lock them out of having so many fingers in lobbyists pies...

(1) https://files.fm/f/nm8vs6h5g

Who are their customers? Other companies... honestly when you take a bit of perspective, the need for companies to make a profit is a huge cause of the overuse of resources... indeed the lack of a social net in the US is probably the cause of it huge part in the world's pollution...as in China the ability to work less or not at all isn't encouraged by the system in place...and please don't get me started on if you don't work who's producing the (junk) food... in WW2 the British poor actually eat better thanks to rationing... maybe less meat, ice cream, bread would be good for the world and the more developed countries...

On youtube there's an American guy called Hinkle dishing out pro Russian viewpoint, I mean even Trump was a Putin apologist and under the veneer he's probably still got a grudge against Zelensky for his 2nd impeachment so I expect a lot of his believers hold similar twisted views... I mean even if on the surface people agree Putler is evil, many probably view the inflation of oil prices and their diminishing buying power (and their economy...whatever that means) as being caused by the said WAR rather than too much money being printed in 2020-21 to prop up all those poor airlines etc etc

Honest question , how are they "very different from Romania or Poland"? Do you mean bigger? Also hypothetically if Belarus wanted to join the EU (after a regime change ofc) what would your objections be?

I completely agree, I think the problem with "agricultural" land is that due to WW2 (in western Europe) we jumped too quickly in the 50's from a largely rural society to mechanised farming to pick up the slack from all that surplus war production and lack of (killed off) manpower. The wealthy have used the captive cheap labour force to fill it's offices, factories and rental tenements... Governments have made bigger farms a priority and as in NZ they have become the playthings of hedge funds and corporations (where ironically a Maori once told me something that still sticks with me as profoundly one of the best ways to manage land, telling me "in our living space people have their houses but it's communally owned land, ie " your house, our land") To certain extent our society is focusing on using farming largely for "junk" food, ie wheat and other grains for bread and bakery, corn for glucose syrop, rapeseed for oil used in biofuel, palm oil, sugar beet... and of course, meat and diary... (i heard something like 60% of straw is burned in Germany...) rather than focusing on letting people produce fruit and vegetables in small-scale holdings... Here in Romania a lot of people still live in the countryside (40%?) government is sidelining people selling on the street or in markets and the westernized , yuppified youth is being sucked into the glamour and anonymity of huge supermarkets full of too much stuff but so convenient...

He's old, autocratic and in power, also hugely trying to appeal to the (rural) "believers" ...so I don't think so... I think you have to be a special kind of honest when being a believer to admit you may be wrong.... and besides power is hugely corrupting, maybe a lot of the problem is patriarchy... I mean women are so beautiful they represent a danger (vulnerability ) to the hold men in general have on power... Funny how many young expat Turkish men in Germany seem to admire him (sad too) but that's anecdotal

I'd also like to throw you some links... https://elpocito.wordpress.com/

Pfaf.org plants for a future

Ic.org intentional communities

Basically "unproductive" land is/should be cheap, being out of the hustle and bustle of city life is great for clearing your mind, travel to a warmer climate (or snug it down) in the winter, consider it'll take you about a decade but your barren land can become a real cornucopia... There's a feel good film out there called "the biggest little farm"https://youtu.be/UfDTM4JxHl8

There's a guy who made it big in Silicon valley and bought 150 hectares near Cluj , north west Romania, he's built/building 28 houses with a school and afaik there's a agricultural component attached... curious if he's using ecological insulation (compressed sawdust, hemp, wool) or ecological plumbing, heating systems... seems a good intent but such initiatives have a tendency to push up local land prices :-( I have no idea how much his houses cost but since people have been going to Europe as "cheap" labour and especially since the banks have gotten involved in lending money for real estate purchases , prices have been going through the roof... https://youtu.be/VCBIyvYtMBI

I love the idea, living in Europe I had the opportunity to squat in my younger years and the fun of living with others while having the opportunity to transform the house we lived in was extremely empowering... have you ever heard of Hundertwasser , his houses seem similarly exciting ...https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser

Ic.org is a good place to visit to see what exists and you could emulate, it was started from a community called Twin Oaks that has quite a radical approach :-) I learnt about it from a book called "Is it Utopia yet" picked up in of all places Nuremberg... honestly agricultural land is cheap (2k a hectare) in non productive places and vegetable gardening or just plain planting stuff for lols like from "plants from a future" (pfaf.org) interspersed with a couple of weed plants should cover expenses... strawbale housing, adobe or trailer parks are much cheaper options at least initially... Gas made from compost, shit or wood chippings is a great alternative... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost_heater

Maybe they just realized there's a bunch of expenses they don't need...or can streamline... I think and see how Covid gave a bunch of people time to focus on what they found was important... literally in my case I've found it's cheaper travelling in the winter to a "cheap" warmer country such as Egypt or South America or even New Zealand (Scoot does cheap no frill flights from Athens to Melbourne) living off odd jobs or freelancing... I mean at this point volunteering or living off the land is a good way to opt out and find "meaning" rather than be stuck in a polluted city in a "mindless" job...

Atmospheric water generation (AWG) uses technology to produce potable water from surrounding air.

Here's a cool example of using the sun to do just that...

https://youtu.be/VQRAtwz3Igs

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_water_generator

Is this also true for places like Detroit, small inner towns in the mid ? West... my impression was that once banks got involved lending money the prices took off, I was under the impression that getting a house loan directly contributes to the amount of money in circulation...thereby increasing ? inflation.... another myth?) I heard was that in China houses are leased for x years (80?) thereby leading to a lot of Chinese buying foreign Real Estate.... if RE has the reputation of accruing value surely it'd be a good thing to put the brakes on companies from investing in it? I mean seeing endless same housing is kind of mind numbing....

I also have a theory that high RE prices are a perfect vehicule for stashing/laundering large sums of money....

Also to what extent isn't it political cronyism with the construction industry that leads to such shitty urbanistic decisions like we have in Romania where people are pawns to short term greed ...

No idea if this is on spec, but i use Youcut to make clips from films i watch, it works with Chrome, maybe others?

"there is no easy solution for the NHS. People are living longer and longer, and the required pot of money for running the NHS is getting bigger and bigger. Something will need to change, and I think it will be more private healthcare."

Couldn't a solution be to outsource to countries where healthcare is cheaper? Taking advantage of the cheap flying options like Ryanair or Easyjet...

As for immigration, why not use their (the immigrants) minds and manpower to deindustrialise agriculture and help turn England into a fruit and veg powerhouse... I mean the climate certainly has to have some advantages...

In immigration it's interesting that Denmark is pursuing a similar deal with Rwanda https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/denmark-talks-with-rwan...

Will Musk let Trump back on Twitter? I dislike the latter but was under the impression both are kind of buddys? It's just I thought a lot of advertising revenue was driven by polarization of issues and both have used Twitter to push the boundaries on that...

"other European countries including Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Greece and others are purchasing in rubles. Also, India and China are purchasing a large amount of oil. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/who-is-still-buying-..."

I did a bored skim read through the linked article, but couldn't find any reference to " Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Greece and others are purchasing in rubles" Do you have any other sources? Btw thanks for the link, interesting info

Atm I don't know how to answer, history itself is writing on the wall, I just came across Charlie Chaplin's last speech from the dictator and think it quite relevant

"I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"

I did not want to suggest "ask you to go cold on your heating and kill your industry " ...maybe you're overreacting.... I suggested giving Germans some time out to extend their Easter celebrations... why not italy or austria or Switzerland? someone needs to show the way and Germany has a wealthy economy with gas reserves that would last apparently at current consumption rates till the summer so who knows how long they could last in reality...... but as one young man remarked when I met him in 2019 in Hamburg on a Saturday among 100 000 other demonstrators wanting the government to do something about climate change... Germans don't really want change, they're too comfortable... I think that goes for much of the western world, covid was an opportunity , this war is one too, for us to rethink our economics into terms more caring and sharing rather than people being run around like well paid slaves by companies whose end effect is? producing more ICE cars, fertilizers for the wheat/meat industry (Fast food Nation is an enlightening book-film as is Demain or Tomorrow a french film...)

I'm sorry if I hurt your patriotism, but I do appreciate very much your and the other comments contributing to helping me flesh out an idea.. as one commentator mentioned rebuilding Ukraine...and helping break Putin's teeth on the Ukrainian rock go hand in hand...

We need to educate people that plastic atm is not really recyclable and they need to avoid using it... buying bigger quantities wrapped in paper, not buyng that mixed salad... changing buying habits is key, legislation another...unfortunately the more affluent "West" has it's head in the sand , is transfixed by the headlines of a potential WW3 style conflict or has beliefs(religious) which induce themto believe(and welcome) a future apocalypse....

I picked up this comment from a HN user in another thread but it got no traction, seeing Germany drag it's feet on sending arms and Zelensky's recent comments about blood money I think it's especially relevant... "seeing as we're heading into spring, seeing Germany has quite a wealthy economy and QOL, that many if not most workers get 5 weeks of holiday, the chip shortage is leading to slowdowns in the automotive industry etc... why doesn't the government just go cold turkey, give people a month or 2 free holidays while drastically reducing public lighting, telling businesses to stop heating their premises at night etc etc... I mean we had a dress rehearsal 2 years ago with the onset of Covid, this would be better ,for a good cause, probably give a boost to domestic spending and send a f...U to the rest of the world saying we too can think outside of the box :-)"

I know it may seem naive, but how so?

I found this in my archives http://www.ecomowtech.com/hardware.html it's probably 8 years old, lovely idea, wonder if they ever did something with it... tangentially maybe microbial batteries could one day become efficient enough or be used in places where slow is ok https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_fuel_cell

Pretty sure this has been posted before....

Switzerland locks you into obligatory health insurance, starting at around 200$ a month but with 2k franchise which you pay before you get covered or more like 400$ a month and then you're still liable for 10%of the bill...it's a capitalistic hellscape allright...sure you can get government subsidies...not sure what each cantons requirements are... the irony imo is that under the guise of competition people pay multiple management organizations of different health care companies a good cut ... they tried 7? times to vote by referendum to amalgamate them all but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... Also I've been through their "Urgences" triage in Lausanne with a menisque problem and they were incredibly inefficient and then had the gall to charge me 100chf and bill me for painkillers I didn't want...

I live in Romania and often wonder why there isn't more medical tourism...a good way to have a holiday and get a diagnosis.. I've had surgery done here, maybe I was lucky because it was dirt cheap but the hospital stay was beyond basic but then again I didn't stay long... I stayed the winter in Egypt and heard the same thing, cheap prices, good service... wierd not many seem to be taking advantage of combining travel and doctors...

Just my 2 cents, but seems to me Western society depends a lot on meat, bread, diary as "food" , the fast food for the masses, sugar or glucose syrup made from corn is another huge ingredient as is palm oil... there's a great french film out there called "Demain" or Tomorrow, which is much more succinct... but basically growing vegetables can be done much more intensively by small farmers and generally is... Obesity epidemic in the US and elsewhere is because sugary products are so much more accessible to the lower income earners ... there's a huge variety of plants we no longer eat such as purslane or nettles which are highly nutritious... agriculture as is currently is imo a form of terrorism on nature, monoculture, x"cides", and heavy machinery which still isn't in this day an age of hype about self driving and gps,automated (because legislation...duh) even pastures could and should be planted with bushes because they provide added shade, roots reaching deeper and leaves the cattle eat.... I could rattle on but just saying in Switzerland apples taste of sugary water, here in Romania we have so many tastes... so I guess good luck you WIERD countries...

I totally agree, here in Romania, prices have skyrocketed since the banks became involved... one might argue they fund new construction but the downside is it's destroying a lot of the authentic inner cities with "ugly" high rises...

Also somewhere there is a succinct explanation of how when you want a loan from a bank for a new property, they go to the central bank and get one to finance you, thereby creating money out of thin air, and adding to monetary inflation... but please correct me if I'm wrong

I'd say thats the approach I've been taking (ie using a jacket and hat) one winter I used an electric blanket, went to work a bit early during the winter, my room managed to stay above 3C, boy was I glad and enjoyed the warm up of spring so much more...this winter I went to Egypt... my point not having makes you appreciate things differently and if you do it by choice there's less stress...in Egypt I chose to live as cheaply as possible, hitching, learning the language, eating street food, sleeping in doorms...I find you appreciate people , time more... as for the above question it's about CO2 poisoning your surroundings, it's why we finally got rid of lead from petrol, asbestos, smoking on airplanes and hopefully one day CocaCola plastic bottles...

I'm sure that wearing warmer clothing, keeping windows doors closed will keep in the heat, or open the windows and let a breeze cool you in the hot weather...for 10-20mins but ofc depends... Here in Romania unfortunately no such a law, so I ask politely, if refused ask why, if again leave their door open or take their car picture... I feel like a jerk sometimes so have been doing it less... also so many car drivers seem to think they have a right rather than are a blight....¯\_(ツ)_/¯ One thing the bus drivers here said is their electronic system resets if they stop their motor, don't know if it's BS , they seem nice guys just not very educated in ecological stuff , like most Romanians.. Nice to see such an article

But isn't one of the problems of global warming (ie where humans have a "future") the amount of waste heat we are producing?

https://environmentalsystemsresearch.springeropen.com/articl...

Just a thought, outside of humans, surely this thing would haves uses? Any ideas?