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Saturday, May 5, 2018

Positive Trends



My previous post concerned the signs of possible systemic collapse. There are some serious problems and I gave a brief overview of a few that merited watching.

However, not all is doom and gloom. There are some positive trends.

Believe it or not, the world is actually a less violent place than it was in the past. That includes everything from major wars to crime. The statistics show a general trend to a more peaceful world. Of course, that could change at the push of a nuclear button, but we've already survived decades of nuclear stand off. So far, so good. There's also the possibility that in a more connected world, it's harder to look at other people as being less than human. That makes it harder to hate them.

We've never been connected to more information and people. That's huge. Really good ideas can easily sweep the world. Best practices can be shared and adopted everywhere. People can see something great and decide they want that for themselves. It's never been easier for people to self educate. No need to hole up in a library when the world's information is available on your phone.

Most people don't realize how quickly we are moving to sustainable energy. Solar and wind are no longer “alternative energy.” In many places they are the cheapest and best solution. Prices keep dropping.

Electric transportation is growing by leaps and bounds. We think of things like electric cars, but electric buses, trucks, and scooters will probably have a faster impact. Electric buses make sense as they travel fairly short routes in urban areas. Electric trucks will be short haul at first, but since their operating cost is lower than fossil fuels, there's incentive to expand as quickly as possible. Electric scooters will have a huge impact in places like India and China, where scooter transportation is common.

Food problems? The world has enough food for everyone. The problems mostly concern storage and transportation.

There will be financial upsets in the future. The business cycle has not be abolished. Fiat currencies have a finite lifespan. Some bad times appear to be unavoidable. A financial crisis just might be the stimulus for the development and implementation of a saner financial system. A system that concentrates most of the world's wealth to fewer and fewer people does not make sense. None of the current economic systems appear to have all the answers. Perhaps pulling the best elements from many systems could do the job.

So there you have it. I'm not totally a doomer. I've got hope . . . and preps, just in case.

-Sixbears

10 comments:

  1. Very good post. It is very easy to see the worst in life, but it is also good to find the positives and I thank you for that.

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    1. Thank you Rosemary. It's the good things in life that keep me going.

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  2. Don't think it will happen in my lifetime but whatever happens I hope it works out.

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    1. I take some small comfort in knowing that there are paths to a better future, even if we hesitate to take them.

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  3. Call me a pessimist, but the thing is the more "connected" I am to the world, and the more I see of people, the less I want to have to do with them. Seems to me more so than ever, they insist on making bad choices and strut around like it is some kind of achievement expecting to be praised for it... in-fact they take great offense when you don't and readily hurl insults your way.... and then are surprised when it all goes pear shaped on them. I used to be a lot more trusting when I saw less of their foolishness, but I suppose I have learned my lesson.

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    1. I try not to be bitter. While I've come across plenty of people exactly as you describe, there are a lot of others who've been good to get to know.

      Maybe I'm lucky, but I've been in contact with a lot of positive people.

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  4. While there are some positive trends most are short lived. Their is a small window between introduction and expansion till monetizing taxation and profiting destroys its big advantages. I think solar is in that window now. As for electric vehicle's they would have took over years ago but our current transportation system represents 15% of this countries economy.

    P.S. I love my E bike

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    1. Political decisions make a huge difference on what new technologies get used. In tiny and dark New Hampshire I see a lot more solar panels than in sunny Florida. The FL utilities have spent plenty to make that happen.

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  5. Side note this week went camping no reservations .BIG MISTAKE!!!!! Those days are gone to many newbies. Saw a 40ft Prevost with a Sahara jeep for a toad with 2 E bikes on a rack behind the jeep.This was a 600 to 1 million camping package. The 2 bikes were factory jobs they cost more than I paid for my camper and truck combined LOL.

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    1. We quickly learned to make sure we had a spot for the weekends. If we weren't locked in by Thursday, forget about it.

      I saw a lot of really expensive camping rigs like that. Funny thing is, nobody gives them a second look anymore. However, everyone wanted to talk with us about our ambulance/camper conversion. We bought the ambulance 7 years ago for $1600.

      There are times when I think I'd be just as happy throwing a tent in the back of my wife's little economy car.

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