The lamps are going out

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

This post is expressive in conception, not persuasive. I do not counsel others to be down. If you can manage not being down then you are doing something right.
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Sir Edward Grey, at the opening of World War I, said "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."


Our American economy is not going to be good here for a very long time, if ever.

(Is there a persuasive reason that Americans should make more money than people in developing countries? Is it possible for everyone in the world to have an American standard of living?)

The most confused and impractical iteration of the Democratic Party I've seen since at least 1984 if not 1972 is unable to use the power they should have.

The worst iteration of the Republican Party I've seen yet is certain to gain functional control of the legislative agenda in congress, whether they achieve nominal majorities in either house.

And we (as a nation) sleepwalk.

(Though Glenn Beck is "Restoring Honor"... the stuff of duels, not governance. The post-Confederate "purple dream"...)


"But it's alright. It's alright. 'Cause we've lived so well so long..."
Paul Simon
American Tune

[RandomThoughts]

1. Yes it is possible.

The American standard of living is not a money thing, it is a combination of production and tech.

What is the American standard of living, TVs, Ipods, Cars, food, shelter, housing, heath care, energy, also service for a variety of distribution, people that have the jobs of service industry, or making distribution easier or quicker.

In third world countries, they lack many of these things, but is that because of scarcity or distribution. The production capacity exist to get food, shelter, housing, healthcare, energy to everyone, the only thing would be to ask if it is profitable.

For instance, if a massive push for construction, food production, and education of medical staff, happened, those things would be available for everyone, although there would not be much money in such a thing, since as it becomes more available, it also becomes cheaper.


And cars for everyone might not be the best idea, since there are other effects to cars when they run on fossil fuels.


Someone can do a math equation to determine how many hours of work are needed to pay for an Americans standard of living. If that is more then the work done by one individual then it is not possible, if it is less it is possible or if people are a bit more thrifty in usage in America.

So take all the labor required to manufacture everything you use, and service you use, add that together, and if that is less then the amount of work one person does, then such a level of living is possible for everyone.

So if you take up 5 minutes of a farmer, 5 minutes of a waitress, 5 minutes of a cook, each three times a day by eating at a restaurant, 15 minutes of tech for administrating Ipod, PDA and Internet. 30 minutes of work done to make your cloths and cars and stuff, based on how long you keep them before replacing them, ect. Add all that up, if it is less then the work one person does, then it is sustainable for all people.


So something like clothing. If you wear same outfit for 100 days, then the labor required to use it would be 4 minutes to make it, 4 minutes to ship it, 4 minutes to retail it. but that would be spread over the amount of days that item is used.

If you do that for everything you use or consume, then you can deduce if it is possible.

So planned obsolescence, something made for consumerism and profit, hurts that goal.
Scarcity, something for consumerism and profit hurts that goal
Extream luxury, or people not having jobs available, hurts that goal.


Also the amount of people that share an item decreases how many work minutes of that item they use. This song, a few hours for a few people to make, and millions can hear it for years. so each person uses less then a second of the time used to make the song. Same thing with transfer of ideas by tech, it helps with availability of intellectual resources by distributing them over larger audiences. (an excuse to post a song I like :) )

Battle of Evermore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTuzVZsKAhY

Does that make sense?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. That's an excellent reply. (Though would be considered intolerable by many Americans)

I don't know that I fully agree, but it's a quality post. Recommended.