Sunday, July 07, 2019
Storage is the heart of civilization
Noticed a badly done graph on corporate bankruptcies at ZH. The graph doesn't adjust the assets for inflation, so it's useless.
There's an even stupider description on a currently relevant item. One of PGE's bankruptcies happened in 2001, as a result of "drought that decreased hydroelectric output."
No. Southern California is ALWAYS in a drought, some years worse than others. When your CONSTANT CONDITION is low rainfall, you need to add ENOUGH reservoir capacity to keep your generators going.
PGE failed to do that. They chose** Gaian craziness over civilization. Instead of building more dams, they REMOVED some of the existing dams, pretending to replace the input with wind and solar.
Wind and solar CANNOT power civilization because they aren't steady. Wind is actually COUNTER-steady. Wind is weakest exactly when you NEED extra electricity.
Civilization requires steady and reliable power sources.
I've made this point before. Storage is the heart of civilization.
When you have a steady supply of power and material and labor, you can start building a SURPLUS of value. A good season can be stored to get you through a bad season. Grain elevators, oil storage tanks, dams, savings accounts.
In basic economic terms, civilization happens when you have a reliable SURPLUS of value. The SURPLUS can be used to build new farms and factories, and to build better and more beautiful cities and parks and schools. Without the SURPLUS, civilization collapses.
When you're constantly behind the curve, living hand to mouth or deep in debt, every slight perturbation kills you.
Western debtism guarantees that the whole system is constantly on the negative side of the ledger, constantly relying on bankers to supply loans or the central bank to print money. Just-in-time inventory, wind and solar "power", zero interest on savings, arbitrage instead of grain storage. Civilization is impossible, and independent decisions are impossible. NYC controls everything.
Sharia and Soviet systems are firmly planted on the SURPLUS side, with government taking part of the surplus to fund its operations. Monopolizing the surplus is prohibited. In Sharia the prohibition is cultural and legal; in Soviet the stock traders simply don't exist so they can't slaughter the world.
= = = = =
** Footnote on chose Gaian craziness. PGE can't claim that it was meekly obeying EPA genocide. PGE is big enough to buy regulators and break rules with impunity. It breaks all other rules all the time. When it follows Gaia instead of rationality, the choice is voluntary and intentional.
I've made this point before. Storage is the heart of civilization.
When you have a steady supply of power and material and labor, you can start building a SURPLUS of value. A good season can be stored to get you through a bad season. Grain elevators, oil storage tanks, dams, savings accounts.
In basic economic terms, civilization happens when you have a reliable SURPLUS of value. The SURPLUS can be used to build new farms and factories, and to build better and more beautiful cities and parks and schools. Without the SURPLUS, civilization collapses.
When you're constantly behind the curve, living hand to mouth or deep in debt, every slight perturbation kills you.
Western debtism guarantees that the whole system is constantly on the negative side of the ledger, constantly relying on bankers to supply loans or the central bank to print money. Just-in-time inventory, wind and solar "power", zero interest on savings, arbitrage instead of grain storage. Civilization is impossible, and independent decisions are impossible. NYC controls everything.
Sharia and Soviet systems are firmly planted on the SURPLUS side, with government taking part of the surplus to fund its operations. Monopolizing the surplus is prohibited. In Sharia the prohibition is cultural and legal; in Soviet the stock traders simply don't exist so they can't slaughter the world.
= = = = =
** Footnote on chose Gaian craziness. PGE can't claim that it was meekly obeying EPA genocide. PGE is big enough to buy regulators and break rules with impunity. It breaks all other rules all the time. When it follows Gaia instead of rationality, the choice is voluntary and intentional.Labels: Carbon Cult, Natural law = Sharia law, Natural law = Soviet law, storage
¶ 5:43 AM
