Re: electric power surplus

["Frohne, Vickie" <VFrohne@BEN.EDU>]

A time when there were way less people, yes. I attended a colloquium once
where the speaker made a very convincing case that most of our
environmental/energy problems are direct consequences of our overpopulation.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with it.
        As for those "good old days" when tech was low and people lived
close to nature? Swinging on the front porch was good. The slower pace of
life and the closeness of family and community were good.
        Other things were not so good, so one must look past the golden glow
of nostalgia.  Calculations were done with abaci or, more recently, slide
rules. If you wanted to talk to a peron, you had to do it face to face, and
you had to walk to get there. Most people never got beyond five miles of
home in their entire lives. People made their own entertainment. There was
no television. Most people couldn't read or write or, for that matter, keep
a book dry. Children were born often, but died in infancy. If their parents
weren't in mourning, they were in pain, much of it dental. The leading cause
of death in married women was childbirth. Infectious disease was the other
leading cause of death. Hospitals were unspeakably filthy. Surgery was done
without anesthetics. If the weather was hot, you got very sweaty and tossed
& turned all night. If it was cold, you chopped wood or froze. If it was
dark, you couldn't see anything so you went to bed until dawn. The cow had
to be milked and the barn had to be mucked twice a day, every day, no matter
what. The average person, including the children, labored hard in a struggle
to survive. Most of us forget that the "summer vacation" we enjoy was born
of the need for children to labor in the fields. Local crop failure meant
starvation, as it still does in much of the world. Food could only be
refrigerated in winter. Life expentancy was under 45, as it still is in many
"third-world" areas. A jacknife was an appropriate toy for a six-year-old.
Girls painted their faces with lead and arsenic. Gray hair was unusual.
        If you really *want* to live the "good old days," there are
unfortunately many places in the world where you can still do it. Otherwise,
a week without power now & then is probably good for us. Maybe we should
make it an annual event, to restore that lost sense of community!

Vickie

-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Sampere [mailto:sampere@PHYSICS.SYR.EDU]
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 7:24 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: electric power surplus


The Labor Day storms knocked out power here for almost one week and
people were in agony!  I loved it.  The evenings were so peaceful and
quiet.  I'd love to go back to a time when there were way less people on
the planet, and they all knew how to survive despite what Mother Nature
threw at them.

Sam

John Barrer wrote:

> Do yu think you're being funny? You're not. John
> Barrere
> --- Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>
> wrote:
> > Power plants, oil refineries, factories, hospitals -
> > they're all ugly,
> > smelly, and ruin the environment of those who live
> > within 1000 ft of them.
> > Let's shut 'em all down. I say 6000 BC  now!
> >
> > Bob at PC
> >
> >
> > Tina Fanetti wrote:
> >
> > > > > And that because of needless environmental
> > regulation
> > > and insufficient investment in electric power
> > production.<<<
> > > Why are you saying that the environmental
> > regulation is needless?  Ha=
> > > ve you ever lived by a power plant??
> > >
> > > Tina
> > >
> > > Tina Fanetti
> > > Physics Instructor
> > > Western Iowa Technical Community College
> > > 4647 Stone Ave
> > > Sioux City IA 51102
> > > 712-274-8733 ext 1429
>
> __________________________________________________
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