January Talking Meme: If I Ran the World
Jan. 2nd, 2014 05:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readerjaneSo the fact that I'm one day late with my Jan 1 question means I can breathe easy, because I've already messed up a New Year's resolution so there's no more worry about a perfect record, right? That's what I'm going with.
innocent_lex asked, "If you ran the world, what's the first thing you'd put on your agenda?"
I tried to decide, does this mean I'm the political leader of the world? Have we arrived at one big nation-state for planet Earth, and am I its President, and is this a utopia or a dystopia? Am I the Prime Minister of the most powerful nation on the globe?
Or do I have genii-like powers, such that I can speak into existence whatever change I think is best? And how tyrannical am I anyway?
I grew up on genii stories. I spent a lot of time in my childhood working out the perfect wording for that all-important wish, the formula that gets you what you want without leaving any loophole for the malicious turbaned trickster who's waiting for you to slip up so they can turn the tables and cackle at your distress.
I don't think there is a perfect formula. And I know for sure I'm not the best person to construct an optimal one.
So I think, if I had the opportunity to make a magical wish (or, if I had such political or financial power that I could declare an agenda with a reasonable assurance of seeing it carried out), the best option would be one that gives the most people the broadest options of their own.
And if I had to pick a field in which to throw my magical (or political) weight around, I think it would be... batteries.
What if we had a safe, non-toxic, rechargeable, open-source, portable, huge capacity, cheap kind of battery? One that made it feasible to abandon fossil fuels, gather energy where it's cheapest to gather it (solar panels in the desert, wind farms in the mountains), then transport the energy to where it's wanted?
What if there was no need for fracking, or hydroelectric dams? What if a hurricane or ice storm didn't mean power outages? What if there were no carbon emissions? What if no one needed to worry about having their electricity cut off?
Well, several industries would collapse, for one thing. I think others might rise to take their place, though. Things would be feasible that aren't now: maybe desalination plants? I think we, as a race, would have more choices.
And more choices is what I'd want to give the world, if I ran it.
Lots more days open! Getcher questions answered here.
innocent_lex asked, "If you ran the world, what's the first thing you'd put on your agenda?"I tried to decide, does this mean I'm the political leader of the world? Have we arrived at one big nation-state for planet Earth, and am I its President, and is this a utopia or a dystopia? Am I the Prime Minister of the most powerful nation on the globe?
Or do I have genii-like powers, such that I can speak into existence whatever change I think is best? And how tyrannical am I anyway?
I grew up on genii stories. I spent a lot of time in my childhood working out the perfect wording for that all-important wish, the formula that gets you what you want without leaving any loophole for the malicious turbaned trickster who's waiting for you to slip up so they can turn the tables and cackle at your distress.
I don't think there is a perfect formula. And I know for sure I'm not the best person to construct an optimal one.
So I think, if I had the opportunity to make a magical wish (or, if I had such political or financial power that I could declare an agenda with a reasonable assurance of seeing it carried out), the best option would be one that gives the most people the broadest options of their own.
And if I had to pick a field in which to throw my magical (or political) weight around, I think it would be... batteries.
What if we had a safe, non-toxic, rechargeable, open-source, portable, huge capacity, cheap kind of battery? One that made it feasible to abandon fossil fuels, gather energy where it's cheapest to gather it (solar panels in the desert, wind farms in the mountains), then transport the energy to where it's wanted?
What if there was no need for fracking, or hydroelectric dams? What if a hurricane or ice storm didn't mean power outages? What if there were no carbon emissions? What if no one needed to worry about having their electricity cut off?
Well, several industries would collapse, for one thing. I think others might rise to take their place, though. Things would be feasible that aren't now: maybe desalination plants? I think we, as a race, would have more choices.
And more choices is what I'd want to give the world, if I ran it.
Lots more days open! Getcher questions answered here.
