John Kobylt's rant about Black Friday, November 28, 2011

Green energy bubble?

I've had my doubts about "replacing" fossil fuels with solar power & wind power for several years now. If these technologies made thermodynamic sense, they could easily support themselves and power their expansion as well, without the need for subsidies.

Instead I've noticed that the factories which manufacture solar panels & wind turbines get their electricity from fossil fuels, nuclear power or hydroelectric sources, not from solar panels or wind turbines already installed. Guess what? Oil companies have traditionally used oil to bootstrap the extraction of additional oil because it works thermodynamically, up to a poInt, without having to get subsidies which hide where the energy really comes from.

For some recent stories:

Dutch fall out of love with windmills

Solar power: Google pulls the plug

'Green' debacle: Tens of thousands of abandoned wind turbines now litter American landscape

Of course, the facts haven't stopped the Occupiers from adding calls for more "green energy" to their lists of ignorant & irrational demands.

"The Bridge in Your Mind"

"They built the bridge in their minds." Ooh, spooky. But I agree with the general perspective. This shows how the better parts of Ayn Rand's world view, minus the Rand cultism, continue to infiltrate into the culture and contribute to a kind of alternative humanism on the American right.

In other words, Rand cultists can say some interesting and defensible things which we don't hear often from others. Consider their interpretation of today's holiday, for example. Rand cultists, like this one, argue that Thanksgiving celebrates man's ability to produce and trade, and to enjoy the fruits of his efforts - a perspective which leaves god beliefs optional. Christmas, in the Rand cultists' view, serves a similar function. (I guess they would consider April 15, which penalizes production and trade and deprives us of the fruits of our efforts, a kind of anti-Thanksgiving.)

And consider this as well: You can go to an American supermarket open on Thanksgiving day, and at the very last minute buy everything you would need for the standard holiday meal, including wine and fresh flowers if you choose. We shouldn't take this marvel for granted, and we should show more appreciation for the institutions which make it possible.

Voluntary decivilization

Conservatives who ridiculed the Occupy movement early on as the Flea Party came pretty close to the truth. In addition to reports of outbreaks of lice and preventable infectious diseases in the various camps, the New York Times also reports an outbreak of magical thinking:

Demonstrators do maintain a medical tent, filled mostly with over-the-counter medications and alternative treatments, like herbal remedies. Some have spotted shamans walking the premises, Mr. Carey said, though licensed doctors and nurses often take volunteer shifts in the tent as well. Some strap flashlights to their heads, like workers in a mine shaft, because the site becomes so dark at night. (The tent has no electricity.)

Miniature bottles of hand sanitizer have appeared sporadically inside the park, though it is unclear who placed them there. Volunteers at the medical tent also have on-call contacts in acupuncture, chiropractics, massage therapy and psychotherapy, protesters said.

Herbal remedies? Shamans? Acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapy? Yet according to the calendar we've nearly reached the year 2012. I can remember what we used to call stories about technologically advanced civilizations set in the year 2012: Science fiction. In some ways the Occupy culture resembles world views before the Enlightenment.

Other things about the Occupy craziness strike me, like how it attracts people who ran up huge debts to get useless degrees in the social sciences and humanities, then complain that they they can't find jobs. And how the somewhat more docile participants have complained that alleged "provocateurs" have used the gatherings as cover for vandalism, theft and other crimes.

Well, what did these simpletons expect? When they advertised that 99 percent of the population should share their grievances and participate in their protests, they failed to consider how many career criminals, sexual predators and opportunistic lawbreakers that figure includes. Without a process to vet the participants, you get what you implicitly invite to your party.

Given the underwhelming nature of the Occupy movement so far, I have to agree with what L.A. radio talkshow host John Kobylt says about it: The Occupy movement displays a lack of intelligence and rational thinking necessary to plan and work towards practical goals. If anything, the camps look more and more like what Kobylt calls "outdoor mental institutions."

Natasha Vita-More on NPR's "Studio 360"

And some objections to badly needed human re-engineering from one of those "bioethicist" parasites: