tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post5310347214551562491..comments2021-01-30T03:38:33.581-08:00Comments on Kevthefarmer: NZ Government is Anti-ResilienceKevthefarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03119504308538393274noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-89338566600016570182011-05-18T23:36:49.553-07:002011-05-18T23:36:49.553-07:00Absolutely, devolution of power to the lowest poss...Absolutely, devolution of power to the lowest possible level. But we'll have to fight for it. Already see how local government rates demands make absolutely no reference to <i>affordability</i>. They will demand their 7% per annum increase regardless of the fact that real <i>per hour</i> wages are falling. their sense of entitlement and immunity from the conditions of the real world is staggering. (Actually, no it's just what you'd expect- but it doesn't make for good rhetoric!)Kevthefarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119504308538393274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-8920574927498410502011-05-18T19:34:15.635-07:002011-05-18T19:34:15.635-07:00It seems to me, as our civilisation navigates it&#...It seems to me, as our civilisation navigates it's way down the curve of readily available, economically justifiable extraction of concentrated energy in the form of fossil fuel, that the reach of government and all other entities must also decline.<br /><br />Very hard to project force over distance without consuming a lot of energy.Blockhill (NZ)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07954425998416563455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-83287467963629323802011-05-18T14:58:06.717-07:002011-05-18T14:58:06.717-07:00Try Joseph Tainter. I hope he's academic enoug...Try <a href="http://sustainabilityintl.com/biographies/josephtainter" rel="nofollow">Joseph Tainter</a>. I hope he's <i>academic</i> enough for you! For a short paper try <a href="http://dieoff.com/page134.htm" rel="nofollow"> Complexity, Problem Solving and Sustainable Societies</a>. If you can summon the concentration required to <i>read a book</i>, try <a href="http://intersci.ss.uci.edu/wiki/index.php/The_Collapse_of_Complex_Societies" rel="nofollow">The Collapse of Complex Societies</a>. Note that it is published by Cambridge University Press- I trust that institution carries sufficient gravitas for one who demands such a high level of credibility from his intellectual peers ;-)Kevthefarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119504308538393274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-56587385075865238742011-05-18T00:09:53.107-07:002011-05-18T00:09:53.107-07:00Argh! - don't subject me to the unrelenting gl...Argh! - don't subject me to the unrelenting glare of your towering intellect! It burns!<br /><br />See, Kev, we don't mean any harm. We just find it ironic that there's this growing cult of 'doomers' using the culmination of thousands of years of technological evolution, the computer, to preach messages that haven't changed much since the dawn of language itself. Namely, AHHHH! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, AND I KNOW BEST! DON'T BELIEVE THE SHEEPLE!<br /><br />Anthropologically, it's interesting that crap like this keeps popping up. We discovered these hilarious niche blogs a year or so ago, and we've been following this trend ever since. The reason I mention the whole academic thing is because almost no one that goes in for this Nostradamus stuff has actually studied the field they claim to be an expert in. No professors, no particularly accomplished economists or mathematicians, just university drop-outs and people that couldn't make it in to begin with. Not to say that geting edukated is impoortent or anyfing but when an entire group shows signs of making the same mistakes over and over again, like this whole scaremongering thing you've got going at the moment, then it becomes pretty telling, eh.<br /><br />Even more interestingly, most of these people are falling into the same pattern of blinkered self-preservation, that is, instead of taking ANY KIND of political action (protesting, petitioning, you know, trying to influence anything within the political sphere), they just set up farms or look out for their own with no consideration for anyone else. <br /><br />And hey, that's just swell; all of us here appreciate your offer of salvation after the great calamity, but if it involves living in an aftermath with guys like you, we'll just sit it out cheers.<br /><br />Glad to see you looked up old Occam on Wikipedia. That's what the internet was built for - eh?Hephaestushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12765076856638751384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-85881040101871967342011-05-17T22:48:42.385-07:002011-05-17T22:48:42.385-07:00@ Hephaestus, you may have noticed that my "b...@ Hephaestus, you may have noticed that my "blogging rate" is somewhat less than twice a month. This is, because I do, in fact, have something better to do with my time. I actually am a farmer, believe it or not, and I have spent the last six years setting up my farm so that, in the event of an unusually severe economic catastrophe, I will be able to carry on farming, albeit at a somewhat reduced level of output, but nevertheless sufficient to feed my family and my immediate neighbours, who, despite their present faith in the "business as usual" scenario, I would rather have on my side than in conflict with me. So much for your "I won't do anything constructive" jibe.<br /> Your faith in "educated professionals" I find alarmingly naive. One of the outcomes of the demise of "public good" research activity is that the most successful and prominent intellectuals are, of necessity, bought and paid for by corporate interests. "He who pays the piper calls the tune".<br /> You like to rail against "pseudo-intellectuals" and "IQ deficient internet bloggers", yet you erroniously attempt to invoke the argument of Occam's Razor (which, is only an conjecture in the first place, rather than an immutable law) In circumstances where it is meaningless to do so. Where are the two competing hypotheses? Where is the equivalence of factual evidence when your world-view totally ignores the "elephant in the room" fact of the conflict between depleting resource base and an economic model that only works in "growth mode"? Who is to say which one is the simpler argument? The fact that you always fall back on the argument that "educated intellectuals know best" when my viewpoint seems utterly unsophisticated- a mere farmers common sense. Even if Occams Razor were relevent, the balance of judgement would fall on my side.<br /> Next you attempt to invoke the metaphor of Cassandra. So are you saying that, like Cassandra, I am blessed with the gift of true foresight? I think not, you are saying my vision of the future is nonsense, so the metaphor does not exist. Are you saying like Cassandra, I'm doomed never to be believed? Never? By anyone? as I said above, I didn't come here to evangelise, but the fact is that a significant but growing minority see the world as I see it.Kevthefarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119504308538393274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-45906010618799521292011-05-17T22:03:15.730-07:002011-05-17T22:03:15.730-07:00@Fiunary, Hephaestus has posted antagonistic comme...@Fiunary, Hephaestus has posted antagonistic comment on this blog before and I have chosen to ignore him, but not to take down his comments. For the time-being, I feel it serves my purpose best to leave those comments in place for others to analyse or ignore as they see fit. However, I would ask you with all due respect not to encourage a slanging match with Hephaestus, as you then become a proxy for all the timewasting unpleasantness that he would like to engage me in. In short, "do not feed the trolls".<br /> Understand that the reason I blog is not to try to convert "non-believers" to my thinking. For a small-fry like me to believe such a thing would be mere vanity. It is, in the first instant, as an aid to my own cognitive process, that is to say it helps me to assemble the jumble of loosely connected thoughts that pass through my mind into something more coherent. In passing, I hope that people that maybe have a gut-feeling that something is wrong with the direction that society is heading in and read my blog will find it helps them to see with more clarity.Kevthefarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119504308538393274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-17863932549209267642011-05-17T03:43:20.853-07:002011-05-17T03:43:20.853-07:00Sure thing - just as soon as soon as the fear mong...Sure thing - just as soon as soon as the fear mongering pseudo-intellectuals find other things to occupy their time. Like, erm, you know, reading up on economics (that necessarily includes: why economists, mathematicians and other specialists that actually studied at university and graduated know more about markets and "the collapse of society" than outspoken and IQ deficient internet bloggers). We're all going to die! - but I won't do anything constructive. I'll just blog about it. Yeah. Loads'o'blogging. That'll show the corporate elites!Hephaestushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12765076856638751384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-28741007890283287152011-05-16T22:19:02.758-07:002011-05-16T22:19:02.758-07:00Get a life Hephaetus! If you have something to sa...Get a life Hephaetus! If you have something to say please be constructive. It's just sooo easy to slag people off. I bet it makes you feel important!fiunaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455334339524705016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-69161027171736784872011-05-15T23:27:00.097-07:002011-05-15T23:27:00.097-07:00I'm confused. So, despite the end of the world...I'm confused. So, despite the end of the world being just around the corner, we're supposed to care about political integrity?! But there won't be any governments left, silly! What kind of desperate-to-copy-Cassandra-like oracle ARE you?!Hephaestushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12765076856638751384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740466015006420404.post-15484409659425098122011-05-07T00:00:02.196-07:002011-05-07T00:00:02.196-07:00Hey Kevin!
"In New Zealand the government is ...Hey Kevin!<br />"In New Zealand the government is choosing keep in step with the US, UK etc,"<br /><br />This is the edge of empire, under a govt of occupation...<br /><br />The govt sits under the power of corporations, then banksters, then the elites. Of course NZ would follow in lock-step with the heart of empire! Under present conditions of globalisation, welcome to what I call the Golden Curtain. The corporations have us locked down behind it, telling us to shut up and shop, as they farm us...<br /><br />We need a culture of resistance, but it's going to be tough going under conditions of occupation everywhere...Ted Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10120433652983909267noreply@blogger.com