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Like Donald Trump or hate him, one factor’s for certain: Elon Musk’s latest dedication to donate $45 million per thirty days to a Trump Tremendous PAC has stirred up quite a lot of controversy. Together with a full-throated endorsement after the tried assassination, it’s fairly clear that Elon Musk is taking cash earned operating a clear expertise enterprise to each fund and amplify people who find themselves overtly and rabidly hostile to issues like EVs, photo voltaic, wind, and battery storage.
However this text isn’t going to scold Elon and inform him that he must as a substitute assist Joe Biden. Whereas Biden has achieved quite a lot of good for clear expertise (one thing we’ve repeatedly coated right here), readers on all sides of the political panorama aren’t very impressed with the Democratic Get together, both. Particularly to scrub applied sciences, issues like loosening emissions rules to permit extra plug-in hybrids are a very good instance.
As a substitute, I wish to discover the issue on a deeper degree after which recommend some ways in which clear expertise can contribute to fixing the issue as a substitute of feeding it.
The Drawback The Common Particular person Sees
Most individuals who don’t stay within the MAGA or progressive echo chamber are completely disgusted with each events proper now. Trying solely at present occasions, we’ve received two outdated males hogging the possibility to run for an workplace that youthful individuals would do a greater job operating. Countless political bickering leaves every kind of societal issues unsolved as a result of no one’s keen to compromise on something. Either side solid the opposite aspect (and its voters) as a risk to the way forward for the nation, with nasty rhetoric main all too usually to hatred, violence, and the rising risk of civil warfare, which is disgusting as a result of most of us know that folks from the opposite social gathering are good individuals. They’re our mates, household, and neighbors, in any case!
We’re kidding ourselves if we predict these items are new, although. Violence and division have been part of the American political scene because the Revolutionary Battle, and continued in suits and begins by way of the Civil Battle, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the civil rights motion, the Chilly Battle, the Oklahoma Metropolis Bombing, and more moderen conflicts just like the riots in 2020, January sixth, and the latest assassination try. And these are only a few of the extra outstanding examples.
To essentially see what’s behind all this, we’ve got to zoom out somewhat extra. Globally and over longer time durations, we’re seeing quite a lot of stagnation in political thought. The identical outdated fights between traditionalism and new issues, capitalism vs communism, oligarchy vs democracy, faith vs secularism, and different dualities preserve enjoying time and again like a tune we’re sick of listening to. In a long time and generally centuries, we aren’t seeing any new concepts come alongside and supplant these outdated competitions. Regardless of the entire technological progress we’ve made, the place’s nonetheless preventing outdated fights from the sixteenth by way of nineteenth centuries!
We’re caught in these outdated paradigms so deeply that when somebody like Elon Musk will get sick of 1 social gathering, he sees no various however to modify sides and throw his assist behind the opposite as a result of he needs one thing from them. As imaginative and revolutionary as even Elon Musk is, even he couldn’t provide you with a contemporary thought or a brand new manner ahead within the political realm. So, we’re caught with clear expertise funding individuals who wish to set it again.
The Politics of Concern & Apathy
Breaking entrenched methods of doing issues isn’t simple. Whereas the typical particular person is disgusted with the U.S. authorities and most different international governments, we worry making an attempt to take off-ramps as a result of the opposite man may catch as much as us if our aspect slows down even somewhat on the street to doom. It has gotten so unhealthy that the majority politicians don’t even spend time creating superior pictures of the longer term to encourage voters, as they’re too busy spreading worry of the opposite man. And voters eat it up, as a result of they don’t like their man, however worry the opposite one sufficient that they go forward and vote for the evil of two lessers each time.
Third events have tried to interrupt this Catch-22, however haven’t had any luck. Ross Perot, the Libertarians, the Greens, the Ahead Get together, the brand new Liberal Get together in the US, and lots of extra individuals simply can’t persuade sufficient voters that they’re something however a spoiler. The prevailing political and financial constructions would should be damaged up earlier than any alternate options can have even a snowball’s probability in hell.
The even larger situation is that the majority of us are just too busy making an attempt to remain afloat to get interact severely in fixing these issues. Until you’re one in every of people who find themselves paid to have interaction with politics, authorities, and such, the challenges of paying for housing, groceries, utilities, and every little thing else takes up an excessive amount of of your time. Different life obligations take up many of the relaxation, making it powerful to even go vote a couple of times each different yr.
It’s not apathy as a lot as too many calls for on our lives.
The Lease-Seekers That Preserve This Drawback Entrenched
One of many methods the entire damaged and corrupt system retains us from tossing it out is by having its nasty tentacles in every little thing. Issues that ought to have by no means been political, like what faith one practices (if any), who you begin a household with, how your youngsters are raised, what vehicles you drive, and even what manufacturers of espresso you purchase have all been put within the D or R field nowadays.
As soon as politics is concerned in one more essential space of your life, they now have entry to your worry button, and so they push it to get your vote or your cash (or each) time and again and over.
The one method to expel politics from actually every little thing is to take the financial energy out of the arms of the individuals who profit from shoving politics the place it doesn’t belong. Oil firms are a giant one, however now we’re seeing firms like GM and Starbucks and rich individuals like Elon Musk put their names into the fray as a result of they suppose doing so will result in rewards, or on the minimal keep away from retribution when any individual like Donald Trump will get into workplace. The one method to cease this rent-seeking conduct is to cease paying the lease.
However no one needs to be homeless, go with out groceries, or go with out electrical energy and water service. No one needs to stroll to work or go and not using a very important shot of caffeine to get by way of the day. No one needs to surrender their revenue to remain afloat, even when which means giving up 4 a long time of your life with no assure that you just gained’t die early or be too outdated and sick to take pleasure in retirement (assuming you ever even can retire).
Most of us are left with no alternative however to be one other cog within the homicide machine, and allow them to use the fruits of our personal labor to fund and perpetuate the system because the rent-seekers make extra issues political in order that they’ll get extra ill-gotten acquire.
How Clear Know-how Can Assist Us Cease Grinding For These Backside-Dwelling Parasites
Wish to cease rent-seekers? Cease paying them lease! I’m not actually saying that you must cease paying for housing and go stay on the road (one thing that occurs to a LOT of individuals with out a lot of a alternative, to be honest). I’m speaking about stopping the funding of entities that acquire wealth within the economic system with out including an equal or larger quantity of worth to it.
For instance, in case you do what many people have achieved and purchase an EV, you cease giving oil firms your cash. This implies the oil firms have much less cash they’ll use for lobbying, which in flip diminishes their capability to regulate the federal government and preserve individuals depending on oil whereas getting large subsidies. If sufficient individuals do that, the cycle will get damaged, and oil executives must go discover sincere work like the remainder of us.
The identical can usually be true to your utilities. Whereas many individuals dwelling in rural areas get power from electrical co-ops, investor-owned utilities usually take a part of the cash you give them to get even higher sweetheart offers and subsidies from authorities. Slicing them out with solar energy means much less cash for them to make use of towards us all.
Even housing may be this manner in lots of locations now. Cartels of builders, HOAs, and company landlords bidding up the worth of a house, controlling it, and getting particular guidelines for his or her business suck us dry to make a couple of individuals rich. Whereas that is one thing most individuals really feel powerless to boycott, it’s attainable. Tiny houses, dwelling in RVs pulled by an EV and powered by photo voltaic panels, or transferring to a rural space with low-cost land and dwelling off-grid are all methods to stay it to the person on this one.
This concept might sound excessive, however there are a lot of individuals doing this:
If you may get to the purpose the place your value of dwelling is low, you’re free to chop again on contributing to the rent-seeking. As a substitute of promoting your self to the best bidder (who most likely didn’t bid very excessive), you’ll be able to as a substitute take pleasure in extra of your time and be extra picky about what work you do and the ethics of the initiatives or firms you contribute your life to.
There are lots of names for this concept. Some name it Agorism or the counter-economy. In China, they name this 躺平, or “lying flat.” When practiced in teams, we’d even name it a commune. American rent-seekers usually name it “quiet quitting” and “coffee-badging,” amongst different issues.
The principle thought is that individuals are exiting the system that grinds them to dying (generally actually) for the advantage of the rent-seeking parasites who inject politics into increasingly issues in order that our worry can result in them getting much more cash and energy. Lower off the funding, and we’d get an opportunity to start out pruning the tentacles again and regain management of our lives.
No matter you wish to name this concept (and this most likely relies on what angle you’re it from), it’s not one thing it’s a must to take an all-or-nothing fundamentalist strategy to. Even in case you solely lower down what you’re giving the rent-seekers by a couple of hundred bucks a month (with one thing like rooftop photo voltaic) whereas nonetheless in any other case maintaining a standard life-style, you’re serving to repair the issue by reducing again your contribution to it.
The Empire Strikes Again
Sadly, these applied sciences have been hijacked and centralized, and now generally serve the rotten system. Whereas photo voltaic panels can liberate a household from its residence electrical payments or allow a van dweller to have air con and web, they may also be utilized by the rent-seekers to vacuum up subsidies and preserve you paying for greenwashed companies.
Not all utility-scale renewables are like this, as some are run by moral firms making an attempt to make sincere cash offering a priceless service to the general public. There are some that sport the system, cost a premium for the ability, after which use a part of that premium for lobbying and different rent-seeking actions whereas not paying their individuals nicely.
In different phrases, it’s not about scale as a lot because it’s about ethics. Like every expertise, it may be used for good or for various quantities of evil.
Featured picture by Jennifer Sensiba.
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