Letter to the Editor (or an opinion piece)
Watts Up With That?
8th November 2011 (Australia time)
Back towards the Dark Ages
The passage of the carbon tax bills today is no reason for celebration. It is a step back towards the dark ages.
Just a few generations ago, humans lived in a “green” world. There was no coal, oil or gas providing light, heat, transport and traction power.
In this green utopia, wood provided heat for cooking fires and forests were felled for charcoal for primitive metallurgy; farmers used wooden ploughs and harvested grain with sickles and flails; the nights were lit using candles and whale oil; rich people used wind and water power to grind cereals; horses and bullocks moved coaches, wagons and troops; there was no refrigeration and salt was the only preservative for meat.
Towns were tiny as the whole family was needed to work the farm. For most people, the daylight hours were filled with heavy labour to produce, preserve and transport food. There was no surplus to support opera, bureaucracy or academia.
Humanity was relieved from this life of unrelenting toil by carbon energy – steam engines and electricity, machines, tractors, cars, ships and planes. Prosperity and longevity soared.
Today the pagan green religion celebrates the first step in their long campaign to destroy industrial society and reduce population.
They should be careful what they wish for.
For example, just a few more bitter winters in Britain will see their wind powered lights going out.
A British observer once said of the Whitlam government: “Any fool can bugger up Britain, but it takes real genius to bugger up Australia” “.
Parliament today showed the sort of genius needed to dim the lights in the lucky country.
Viv Forbes,
Rosewood Qld Australia
I am happy for my email address to be published.
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Sparks says:
November 7, 2011 at 2:16 pm
@R. Gates You come across very well, I’m sure you would stand up for those with a skeptical view of the AGW hypothesis even if you didn’t agree with them.
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I will always stand up for freedom of thought, speech, and expression, no matter my personal perspectives. Not always, but often it seems, the truth of an issue is somewhere in the middle, and the extremes on both sides provide valuable perspective, but that extremism shouldn’t prevent the great moderate middle from seeking common ground.
Paul Coppin says:
November 7, 2011 at 12:17 pm
“Gail Combs says:
November 7, 2011 at 11:18 am
You are correct to remind us of how brutal and short life was for the majority of people living in the 1800′s. I read some where they want to reduce us to 20% of the CO2 used today.”
1800s? If you’re talking about Werner’s post, try 1956…
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In the USA draft animals were still used in 1956, heck they are still in use, I have a couple of draft ponies I use. But the equipment they pull is commercially made, disc, plow, manure spreader…. and they all have parts made of steel. As I said the factory made stuff became common in the 1850’s but was often pulled by draft animals.
Some farmers did/do not want tractors compacting their fields with their heavy weight or the fields slope too much for a tractor or they just do not need that much added expense.
The big point is mining, smelting ore and casting parts for equipment are all big energy users. That is the point everyone seems to leave out of their calculations.
That is why the article states:
“…..farmers used wooden ploughs and harvested grain with sickles and flails; the nights were lit using candles and whale oil….”
That is the early 1800’s not the 1950’s.
History of American Agriculture – Farm Machinery and Technology gives a good snap shot of each decade and the advances. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfarm1.htm
Strike me pink. I don’t know which is worse, LazyTeenagers lack of knowledge about history or davidmhoffers lack of knowledge about Aussie politics.
L.T. The Liberals did say “never, ever” in 1995. By the time of the 1998 election the GST had become policy and the Coallition went to the polls campaigning for the GST. Everybody knew that if they were re-elected the GST would come in. To say otherwise and to claim they “lied” is revisionism at its best. The fact is that they campaigned on the introduction of the GST and won the election on that campaign.
No parallel can be drawn to Gillards “No Carbon Tax” deceit. The Liberals said they would bring in a GST if elected and did just that, Gillard said she wouldn’t bring in a carbon tax and has done the opposite. Gillard lied, Howard did not.
David, the conservatives in Aussie politics are the Liberals. How you get conservatives bringing something in only to be defeated by the Liberals is beyond me. Sorry, but your whole comment is nonsensical.
I will add that the Liberals who brought in the GST were not defeated at the following election. John Howard continued on as one of Australias longest serving Prime Ministers until the defeat in 2007. Conversely there is only one thing to say to anybody who thnks that the ALP and Greens will survive the next election.
“Tell him he’s dreaming”
Robert Blair says:
November 7, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Anthony,
As much as we love you and all down under, you have completely mis-used the local idiom.
“Fair dinkum” is an adjective or adverb. It makes no sense unless you specify the person or thing that is being (or not being) fair dinkum. Although you could say something is “Not fair dinkum” you just can’t say “no fair dinkum”.
“Fair dinkum” means real, genuine, not fake. It has nothing to do with fair or balanced.
Examples:
“The hockey stick is not bullshit – it is fair dinkum”
“Michael Mann is a fair dinkum bloke, no flies on him.”
===================================================
Our colloquialisms in Australia are bastardised by everybody … ex PM Rudd, “Fair suck on the sauce bottle” gaff is a great example.
However on the point of “Not fair dinkum”, I would suggest that this is acceptable … there exists no fair or genuine reason for the actions of the Gillard / Brown government in enacting a carbon tax.
The examples quoted beg correction:
“The hockey stick is bullshit – it is not fair dinkum”
“Michael Mann is not a fair dinkum bloke, he’s a drongo.”
“Anthony Watts is a fair dinkum bloke, no flies on him.”
Fair dinkum,this Government stinks.
@Bob at 4:44PM
There is no such word(unless you failed English) as “irregardless”.
And D Marshall….so they ocubots live in a tent.Whooppie.Let’s see how many are still around come the real winter.And they might have health care if the didn’t spend all their money on ipods,video cameras,puters,etc! It’s called insurance. @Werner……A++ article.Saving that little baby up.
REPLY: Merriam-Webster defines “irregardless” so unless you failed instructions on how to use a dictionary, it exists:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless
Dictionary.com too:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irregardless
And Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregardless
It seems clear to me that it exists, and is in references worldwide.
– Anthony
R. Gates says:
November 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Mike Smith says:
November 7, 2011 at 11:54 am
…..Skeptics care about our environment too.
_________
R. Gates says:
November 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Well said Mike, and I would add that many “warmists” like myself, who believe that there is some level of AGW occurring, are not “catastrophists”…….. I am convinced that there are a great many of those who are moderates, and don’t tend to the extremes at either end, and whether we are in the “warmist’ camp or “skeptical” camp, what makes us similar is the voice of moderation. Where can we find this true moderate voice in politics?
___________________
You and Mike are correct, unfortunately most of the politicians, liberal or conservative are bought and paid for.
For one thing what ever happen to “Built to Last” The stuff made before the 1960’s was well built and expected to last, now I swear much of the stuff is ENGINEERED to break within a couple of years.
Kids who moan about the environment turnaround and demand their parents buy the latest fashions/ techy toys. Heck my vehicle is twenty years old and my computer is fifteen, they both do the job so I am not going to replace them just to be “fashionable”
Coal saved the forests, oil saved the whales and the automobile saved horses from lives of toil and misery.
Time to teach history correctly and get this greenwashed nightmare over.
“Streetcred says:
November 7, 2011 at 5:39 pm”
He never said “Fair suck on the sauce bottle”, he said “Fair shake of the sauce bottle”. Irregarless, the ALP certainly do suck. Mind you, no political party in Australia sucks any less than the ALP. That is to suck as much money out of thin air and my wallet.
Baa Humbug says:
November 7, 2011 at 5:21 pm
LazyTeenager says:
November 7, 2011 at 3:16 pm
davidmhoffer says:
November 7, 2011 at 4:22 pm
I just can’t let this pass,
Firstly, the Liberal party in Australia are the conservatives. Labor party are the lefties>>>
My apologies. I didn’t know Australia had a tax called the GST.
We have the GST in Canada, and it was brought in by the Conservative party (that’s their name) and the Liberal party (again, their name) promised to throw it out if elected. They were elected, and did no such thing.
But if LazyTeenager was referencing Australia, then I stand corrected.
LazyTeenager says:
November 7, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Gail Coombs says
This is my analysis of that misbegotten idea based on life in the USA.
——–
The flaw in your argument is that many countries other than the USA are able to achieve standards of living comparable to the USA without wasting so much energy. By a large margin. Those countries are not living in the dark ages.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I was using the USA as an example. And it seems I was spot on with using 1800 as the living conditions that were the target.
Thanks for the correction,Anthony. Just that way back when I was in grade school,the word was slang at its worse.Too old to change now…lol
The carbon tax is now law, passed in the Senate. Sad sad day for Australias race to the bottom.
D Marshall says: November 7, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@Rosco Many, if not most, of the “Occupy ….” protestors don’t have a pot to piss in, don’t have cars and, if you haven’t noticed, have been sleeping outdoors, some in the snow.
“No Pot to piss”, unless you happen to read other sites news, I believe many do.
For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee’s name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race. The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government.
Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States.
Even in the nation’s currently depressed housing market, at least 95 of the protesters’ residences are worth approximately $500,000 or more. (RELATED SLIDESHOW: Opulent homes of the ’99 percent’)
The median monthly rent for those living in apartments whose information is readily available is $1,850.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/02/nyc-arrest-records-many-occupy-wall-street-protesters-live-in-luxury/
If the Temperature doesnt increase over the next 20 years due to PDO and weaker sun, then the tax will be thrown out, and the scientists will say the warming is going into the deep ocean, or the deep land, or outer space, or somewhere, and that the science has ‘moved on’, but at least the tax will be thown out, which h will be an ‘adjustment’, same as in Squeler’s days on Animal Farm.
Back then, women died in droves. Men often outlived more than a couple wives. Why? Women worked from scratch to produce just about everything that was used or consumed in the household. There were no breaks, no lunch, and no machines in the home. If you wanted soap, you made it. If you wanted clothes you made them. If you wanted veggies in the winter you canned them. If you wanted bread, you kneaded it 4 times and raised it 5 times (trust me, it turns out better). If you wanted to survive into your old age and be cared for, you had your wife give birth numerous times. And commonly, they died giving birth.
Yeh. I wanna return to THAT age.
Robert Blair says:
November 7, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Anthony, As much as we love you and all down under, you have completely mis-used the local idiom.
REPLY: I researched this prior to making the title, and the letter writer, Viv Forbes seemed to like it, as he sent a note of thanks and “good job”. – Anthony
How to speak OZ. Take any word you like, cut it short and add the sound “EE” to the end. Unless that makes a word that already exists, in which case, add “OH” to the end instead.
BBQ becomes barb-ee.
derelict does not become dare-ee (dairy), it becomes dare-oh
Matt says:
November 7, 2011 at 3:33 pm
However, somewhere along the line control of the election process itself got turned over to the political parties in such a way that the two majority parties are able to set the basic election rules in such a way that makes it impossible for minority parties to have any significant impact especially at the federal level.
By law, monopolies are illegal in the US. Unless of course they are rich and powerful monopolies.
I have a question for the C.E.O. of Quantas. Seeing that you were losing money over a few minor industrial disputes and that you had the strength to do the right thing and shut down the Airline to save it, will you now either sell your international operation or close it, as it is now no longer competitive in the International market due to the carbon tax you have to pay.
Not hardly. A copter with IR overflew the sites at night, and the tents are almost all cold and dark — no warm bodies. They go home to sleep in warm beds, stoke up on hot food, then return to protest posturing.
Patrick Davis says: November 7, 2011 at 7:30 pm The carbon tax is now law, passed in the Senate. Sad sad day for Australias race to the bottom.
Skippy has lost a battle but not the war. Up here Lassie and Flipper are hanging on too. It ain’t over till it’s over (quoth Yogi Berra).
Simple solution Aussies, don’t hire, don’t invest, and don’t spend on anything more than bare basics. Call it voting with your feet in the economy of dunces. They fall and you can celebrate and learn from the fall of Greece first.
Gail Combs says:
November 7, 2011 at 5:49 pm
For one thing what ever happen to “Built to Last” The stuff made before the 1960′s was well built and expected to last, now I swear much of the stuff is ENGINEERED to break within a couple of years.
Yes, that annoys me too. Products can be durable when designed and made well, and properly cared for. Just last night I demonstrated my slide rule to my two youngest kids. This being the exact same slide rule that I used in high school over 40 years ago! They were speechless. Actually, so was I, but that was attributable to the fact that I still knew how to use the darn thing without a second of thought 😉
A modern calculator is unlikely to last for 6 months in the hands of today’s high school students.
you say:
There was no surplus to support opera, bureaucracy or academia.
Of course there was. It was called serfs and slaves ( not to mention armies). The lords of a feudal society live a fine life and did create opera, after all.
Thanks Anthony,
At least the US Senate had the brains to vote 94-0 against Kyoto.
I feel very ashamed about the IQ of Australian politicians.