Solar Power and Energy Independence

I have had many conversations with those close to me about sustainable energy, and why Big Oil, Edison, and other major energy producers are so stubbornly opposed to the transition to more sustainable energy sources like Solar power.  The argument I often hear is "wouldn't they make MORE money?"  Or else "The oil will run out.  Investment in Solar is an investment in THEIR OWN future." We can also point to arguments made on both sides of the climate change debate.  However, it is my assessment that the reality of climate change and even money come secondary to the true purpose behind the continued reliance on coal and fossil fuels.  The ultimate reason for the resistance to solar energy is not to make objectively higher profits, it is to control the market for energy.

Examine what has already happened with solar energy: those who have invested the funds into making their homes fully integrate solar energy, with modern panels, tend to have their energy bills drastically slashed, or even nonexistent.  At the far end of the spectrum, some users even gain some monthly INCOME from surplus energy produced by their solar systems.  This has made it increasingly plausible for people to live "off the grid" and thereby to weaken the stranglehold that Edison has over the electrical needs of the people.  In some states, like Florida legal hurdles are being put up to prevent people from living off the grid.  This is primarily a matter of energy independence, not of the nation, but of individuals.  The more people who can supply their own power, the less energy companies like Edison remain necessary.  Ultimately, the energy companies will be rendered redundant, and collapse.  Therefore they fight to protect their monopoly on power, by lobbying the government to restrict access.

Big Oil is similarly invested in preventing Solar Energy from taking hold.  The burgeoning solar industry threatens Big Oil's longevity.  Since there is such potential for people to acquire surplus energy, this creates an incentive towards the predominance of electric cars over those run on gasoline.  If solar panels continue to be made more efficient, each home could be able to supply enough power to consistently charge a car, effectively for free, making Big Oil similarly redundant.

The transition of such companies from the oil industry, or even from the traditional forms of electricity into solar companies would only be a stopgap measure.   For a good long while, there will be a market for solar energy as people become energy independent one by one.  The technology will inevitably become cheaper and more efficient to produce and install, making it more commercially available even for lower income families.  Ultimately, it will reach the point where Solar is simply cheaper and better than paying the energy company, and the return on investment will come sooner and to a greater degree.  The rate of homeowners switching to solar will increase exponentially.  There will come a point at which there is too much independent energy, let's call it "Energy Critical Mass."  When we reach this Energy Critical Mass, there is no longer any social need for an energy company.  It serves no purpose.  Neighborhoods will at this point produce so much energy that charging money for it becomes an utter absurdity.  With this advent comes the complete energy independence, not only of the nation from foreign oil reserves, but indeed of most individuals from energy companies altogether. 

This form of economic and energy independence of the average citizen will be a tremendous democratizing force.  It will eventually level the playing field in a significant way.  When those living in poverty, or on the edge of it, are freed from their bondage to monthly utilities bills and gas expenditures, they will achieve unprecedented freedoms, in terms of freedom of movement and self-reliance.  They will be able to freely relocate to where their skills are most valued, shifting the balance of bargaining power in the employer/employee dynamic in favor of the worker, weakening the hold bosses can have over those working under them.  Employers who offer lower wages or fail to offer benefits will risk losing their workers, whose poverty once forced them to accept what work they could get where they were, not only to locally competitive rivals, but to rivals at great distance as well.  They will ultimately have no recourse but to adequately and humanely see to the wellbeing of their workers.  Capitalism will be required to adopt a conscience or die. 

It is my belief that this in inevitable.  Government action on behalf of electric or Big Oil lobbies, the restriction and holding back of research and development regarding solar energy can only forestall this eventuality.  They can hold it off for a time, perhaps even a very long time, but sooner or later it MUST come to pass that the people at large will be freed from the yoke of their masters.  As they gain one freedom they will demand another, until all chains have been broken.  It is only a question of when?

American Evolution: an Exegesis

For those who are curious; you may be many, or you may be nonexistent, in which case I am speaking into a void, I thought I'd explain in detail what I intended when I chose to title this blog "American Evolution." As is done with scripture, I chose to look at each word individually, in addition to their connection to each other.

American: This is easy.  I will be focusing on American issues.  The news I look into, respond to, and talk about is American, or at the very least affects America or Americans.

Evolution: Yes, I adhere to the theory of evolution.  If a better supported and incompatible theory supersedes this as a viable alternative, I may reconsider, but I don't consider religious texts to be hard evidence against this theory.  However, this is not solely concerned with the past and the origins of our species, but also with where we are going; how I see American culture developing, for better or worse.

Now for the two words together.

American Evolution: It is my hope to highlight, and perform my small part to advance, the evolution of America beyond the current state of today.  It is to point out the areas in need of improvement, and highlight a direction to head in, or a path to follow, as I see it.  I desire to see an evolution of consciousness in the American people.  I want to see a people who is educated, and capable of critical thinking.

We've reached a point in American society where we no longer trust our elected representatives to, well, represent us.  The prominence of political "outsiders" like Bernie Sanders (and yes, Donald Trump) are a testament to this growing zeitgeist.  Unfortunately, even amid the backdrop of this awakening to the corruption and disdain of the establishment for the desires and passions of its constituency (which I sincerely hope is a true awakening, with lasting repercussions, rather than a venting of steam into which will be spent the revolutionary fervor, allowing us to settle anew into the familiar complacency of lassitude and despondency) we as a people fall short, for even in the glimpsing of it, we lack the acumen to put that realization to good use.  This is by design.  It is also the hurdle I wish to see us surmount, and play out my little role in boosting us over.

Right now what unites American is a sense of pervasive dissatisfaction, but with what or whom, we are divided.  We have noticed that the narrative we are being fed does not make sense; we've dimly grasped that we are dreaming, but in that foggy way that does us little good.  We are trying to wake up, or at least learn to dream lucidly, but we lack the skills, and they are pumping us full of tranquilizers and anesthetics to keep us under.  It's time to pull out the morphine drip, and face reality.


It is no accident that this is but one letter away from American Revolution.  I see the process of evolution as an inherently revolutionary act.  We must change the way we see the world and interact with it.  If we do that, the status quo cannot remain intact.  Many of us, myself included, are strongly attached to the idea of America.  This attachment to the idea often causes us to don the rose-colored glasses with regards to the truth of America, and the truth is that we are not what we claim to be.  In a sense, we never have been.  Some of you may have the urge to shout epithets at the screen upon reading that, and if it were the end of the thought, I might even say you were justified; but it's not the end of the thought.  Because our history is a tangled mess of people who have been trying to be what we claim to be; and those who beat the drum louder than anyone else, while marching against the tide of history and the values that they would claim to represent.

Part of growing up is accepting the delusions an romantic misconceptions of your childhood.  Despite all of our self-righteous chest-slapping over our moral superiority, our history is filled with some of the worst atrocities in history.  Slavery, the Trail of Tears, the internment of Japanese Americans, mass incarceration, these are only a prominent few.  They need not define us, but we cannot pretend they are not a part of who we are as a nation.  They continue to shape us even now.  Racism did not end with Martin Luther King Jr.  Upton Sinclair didn't forever stop industry from mistreating its workers.  Women's suffrage did not win them equality.

The process of cultural evolution must be accompanied by a wide-spread personal evolution.  It is the responsibility of each of us to become better than we are.  It is our responsibility to pay attention and observe the world around us; our city, our state, our nation, and hold it accountable for being what we deserve it to be.

Protesting the TPP

Going down to Rancho Mirage, CA today to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would sell out not only our environment and economy, but even our own national sovereignty to the depredations of corporate greed.  This is a disaster of legislation that must not be allowed under any circumstances.

If you are near the area, I urge you to join us.  President Obama and leaders from Southeast Asia will be present to discuss getting the deal ratified.  Let's show them that we don't want any part of this corporate coup.

Bread and Circuses

Today's the big day!  The Super Bowl!  A titanic struggle of champions for glory and the adoration and adulation of the masses.  A test of skill, teamwork, and spirit to determine once and for all, or at least a year, who is the greatest of them all.  That is the premise of the event.  But we all know that the Super Bowl is really about the commercials.  It is the one time of year where we actually WANT to watch the commercials, maybe more than the actual event.  This time, the companies make it their special mission to entertain us as much as market to us.  This day we forget our troubles.  This day we gather and consume, and revel in team spirit and merchandising.  

In the days of Imperial Rome, the ways the upper class (Patricians) kept the lower classes (Plebians) in check was a system known as "bread and circuses." By giving them enough to not starve to death, and something to keep them entertained, they largely prevented the masses from rising up to overthrow their oppressive overlords.  "Circuses" in those days, by and large, meant gladiatorial combat.  Throughout history, even today, nations have provided "circuses" as means for people to let off steam, so they forget they are under control.  At no time is the parallel more apparent than in a game of football, and none more so than the Super Bowl.  A team of men charging at each other in mock military patterns, slamming violently into one another, often resulting in injury, these are America's gladiators.  

The problem is, that by going along with this, we are playing into the hands of a system meant to keep us in check.  The corporations who own this country are especially strong today, and will make us love them, if only for a day, and convince us to keep consuming.  Buy buy buy, spend money you don't have on shit you don't need.  It's something you've been conditioned to do, and we're made to love the occasions that reinforce this behavior the most.  

I'm sure this message will be upsetting to many people, because you may love the super bowl.  You may love the game, or just the commercials.  And that's actually ok.  Enjoy the game.  But be aware of its roll.  Why is it this such a big deal?  Because it gives you something to rally behind instead of a real cause.  It gives you a distraction, a place to spend your emotions, so that you continue to be apathetic to the way the corporations and the government are screwing you over.  We all need distractions now and then, or else we'd go mad.  Just make sure you don't forget what you're being distracted from.