JG is in the army, waiting to be deployed. GS is an editor of a newspaper, watching his coworkers disappear as his audience dwindles. BB is a veteran of medical software and hardware administration of 30 years, finding happiness and love in the most unlikely place. The three of them have very little in common besides the usual carbon based similarities, but do share one thing, the desire to help others.
BB says, "There is a disconnect between those who make the policy's and those who abide by them." Historically, those in positions of power make laws which benefit themselves, though this is by no means the standard. "BP, Shell, Exxon. They aren't gas companies anymore, they're energy companies. They know we are on the verge of a major transition, and each want to be on the forefront." he said.
"Yes, but how far from the same pool of thought are they going? It's not just the fuel that needs to change, but the cars that run it. Ethanol decreases the storage life of fuel, and the creation of it uses close to the amount of energy it produces to refine it. Lets not even mention what happens to the land. Not just the land of the farm it's grown on, but the effects of the farming can be felt all the way to the gulf of Mexico. Some of this is believed to joined forces with offshore pollutants to destroy the marshland that once kept hurricanes from making landfall. Vegetable oil provides it's own caveat of issues, with demand, transportation, administration,Uncle Sam's cut, and of course the biological repercussions of production. We need a new kind of car, not newer cars that run on the same system." I responded.
Replacement fuels are not the answer. We need to shift the entire paradigm. Electric cars without the infrastructure to support the refueling and maintenance on these modes of transportation, is the lack of foresight which put us here in the first place. Is it time for us to give up gas guzzling behemoth vehicles to get grocery's with? One point that makes light vehicles so dangerous is that everyone else is driving a car which weighs 3-5 times more. Viable replacement or modification technology needs to be available to the mass public. Let us decide what makes the most sense, not auto and gas companies.
The idea of a water car is alluring, significantly due to the abundance of water on this planet, but we may never see it. How do you tax something that falls from the sky? The notion is almost Utopian. The byproduct is water vapor, so pollution isn't an issue. Planning ahead makes the future easier to adapt to, if oil companies will let the grip they have enjoyed for years slip away. Unlikely, so it's back to business as usual.
GS knows this far too well, what business as usual means, as he has watched his boss and owner scale down in staff since 2008. "It started off with just one girl, then another person, and they weren't hiring more people to do those other two jobs. I was interviewing, editing, laying out the paper, then helping it get to print." Less people doing more work seems to be the common theme these days. He is the lone income for his daughter and wife and mortgage in a dying industry. The paper once covered three municipalities, now it caters to one. The staff from the other two offices have been condensed into one, and they continue to disappear without compensation for those remaining few. Though they have been around longer than a quarter of a century, it doesn't look good for the other 75%.
"What are you going to do if they close down?" I ask.
"I don't know, man. Hoping the economy, picks back up and I don't have to worry about it.", he says. "Honestly I don't think there is much here to work with. It's either change professions or move somewhere with a bigger market."
"I can look for some projects for you in the client database I use. They may not pay as much as a real job, but it might expand your skill set, and put a few extra dollars in your pocket." though I know he has very limited technical know how.
JW doesn't know if or when he'll be deployed. In the meantime, his civilian life must be maintained. It is hard to get an apartment or job that will let you off the hook at a moments notice to go serve your country, with no hard feelings. If his car breaks down, he must find the money somewhere to repair it, just like when his alternator went out on his Volvo. The new one didn't work either. He is now returning the part, and will be without a car for that much longer.
"You know, I'm just going to get my money back and buy one from Autozone or something. It costs more, but this process is completely ridiculous. Buying things online is great sometimes. This is not one of those times.". He is still waiting for the credit to his account. "We are supporting the demise of quality unknowingly all the time. Just trying to save money, we go where the products are cheaper. We don't know where those products are made, or what company owns them now, but we gladly pay a little now, for the later devolution of our economy." He said. The American dollar isn't worth the paper it is printed on. The work we do, is lost in bureaucracy, until we are undoing progress in the name of fiscal gain.
Tires are an issue, but we all need them. The policy of burning them somehow makes sense, when they could be used to make lasting roads. That would make too much sense, however. Why save money, the environment, and prevent uncontrollable tire fires, when the city can cut corners under the current administration. Just like restaurants throw away food all the time in the name of profits. How that works, only a corporate accountant can explain.
Throwing money at problems seems to be failing us now, despite it's impeccable track record of making the family's of victims and the affected be quiet. The issues we have locally parallel issues worldwide now. This is new territory for us. We have always bounced back, more resilient and proud than we were pre-calamity. We now face a need for complete restructuring of our paradigm, but can't afford to make these lasting changes, lest our employer make a statistic of us. Companies control one third or more of every employed persons life. That doesn't count drive and preparation time. Our lives revolve around jobs. Now with so many of us without jobs, those companies we devote ourselves to will not hire us for fear of losing money. Who's money?
Many of those banks would not have been bailed out if senators and congressmen/women didn't have investments they would lose if they went under. We can keep plowing away feigning ignorance, but it only ourselves we hurt, buying the business as usual party line. Economic Darwinism has been circumvented, something our economic fore fathers knew was a certain path to financial destruction. We can all panhandle at the doors of these banks together,as if this path continues, we will certainly all need a cup. Time for baseball.
End Part 5