Dress Like the Future.
Monday, February 14th, 2011In this time of budget craziness and discussion of re-building the US infrastructure, I wanted to share a few ideas that I like. Thin of this as a list of “we should be doing this already” ideas. Colin Jones posted something today that inspired this crazy rant, so if I sound socialist, I blame him. He’s corrupting my poor patriotic mind. Don’t hold me responsible.
-Let’s start by creating a domestic energy production workforce. This might raise employment and could potentially sustain a college educated work force. For power sources we should us here, I have two thoughts , shale gas and nuclear. We should do both, but only put the nuclear where you can’t get at shale easily. The whole country shouldn’t be working on one thing (we would never agree anyway) all at once. Also, the shale gas will run out, so that won’t work that well for too long. We also shouldn’t pump the gas too far cause that is a wasteful infrastructure expenditure when you realize the shale gas is just gonna run out one day. On the topic of nuclear, I suggest that we are still a highly educated country. Why don’t we make nuclear plant jobs the new factory job, and sustain the people? You would have to go to college to work at the nuclear power plant, right? Maybe this is how we justify our need for an incredibly long educational period for so many people.
The oil companies would never go for it…
-Let’s stop focusing on food agriculture in the US and start re-foresting for harvest. Wood is a way better source of biofuel than food products. It’s also actual sequestration when you build with it. That carbon stays in the wood for a while. It’s an under-utilized building material that adds a classy feel to anything. We should do this for style points more than efficiency or environmental concerns.
Monsanto might go for it…
-Trains. Trains just make way more sense. Cars make sense to make by independent industry because they break a lot. It makes no sense to fix them in the short term which helps companies sell a ton more of them. Train systems exist for centuries, lower transportation costs for huge groups of people, and barely break even. Systems like the T or the Metro in NYC would never make sense as a private business model because it would not make much money compared to an essentially consumable transportation system (like cars) would. In addition, metro systems employ a shit ton of people locally while allowing for more efficient energy expenditure in getting the people of a region around from place to place. We would also solve a secondary problem if people didn’t have to own as many cars. It’s not just the credit cards that cause problems in this expansive Union… Debt based vehicle purchase is endemic, and that debt makes no sense. A car costs most people far more in car loan interest than they would be willing to recognize on their budget. The myth of the american car is dead. Start making trains, Detroit.
GM would lose their shit, and Ford would just get up, turn off the music, and kick everyone out.
-I like the idea of dressing like we are in the future too. Why don’t we make clothes out of the vast wealth of recyclables that EVERY city, big or small, has access to, and do it locally? I worry that the answer is that people would be afraid to dress like the future. Maybe not in the post-gaga world? Who knows.
The lawyers would never give up their hand sewn third world baby made cashmere sweaters…
