Thursday, April 17, 2008

Before the fall

Any fledgling engineers out there? Any full-blooded ones?
Storm the dais. Explain the physical nature of the universe. PLEASE. Help folks understand the delicate balance, the limits of cantilevers, the necessity of foundation. Explain why you can't put 50 pounds of shit into a 5 pound bag.
That's basic stuff isn't it?

Why then do people not see that sustainability demands adjustments? If one side of the balance exceeds the countering force, it's gonna tip.

The principle of cantilevering is what sustains our economy.
To reach out further, there needs to be a strong connection
extending back into the foundation. Defying the laws is unwise. Ignoring them will always be catastrophic.

On the upside, for those not out over the precipice, the fall will be short and recoverable. On the downside, those doing the Wile E. Coyote Air Dance will not be equipped to simply pick themselves up. If truly lucky they will land on enough piled bodies to be identifiable.

The ratio of bazillionaire wannabees to "ballast" is being strained. Not for a lack of ballast, but because the BWs are insisting that they alone deserve all that they've attained. They are lobbying to drag even more of their shit out to the clear air at the edge. They mistakenly believe they have no need to be connected to terra firma. The mechanisms that used to connect them; taxes, philanthropy, investment, re-investment, and community have been chiseled away. To hide the undermining that's gone on, false ballast is used. Assurances are given that the ballast is solid, but every once in a while an Enron or Bear-Stearns pops and can't be wished away.

These are the creaks and cracks of the coming catastropy. Ignore them at your own peril.

If not for the physics that assures that a goodly portion of the ballast will plummet along for the ride, I'll admit that I'd love to watch it fall.

4 comments:

Stash said...

Wile E. Coyote Air Dance

It's too bad your blog doesn't come with sound effects. The cranial visuals are cool.

Welcome. Thanks to the AzureFem for letting us know about you.

Rehctaw said...

I hear it when I read it.

Doesn't everybody?

Thanks for stopping by.

and many blessings upon
the panties queen.

Anonymous said...

Like unknowing lemmings to the cliff they plunge to their greed, dragging some but not all of us with them.

In a generation, we will be a different country (if one at that) and it WILL be a different world as oil and fuel and power run out, along with food.

The BW's won't have it any better than anyone else.

Rehctaw said...

"In the land of troglodytes the erudite man is food." -Old tagline

Logic should dictate a very different world.

Those with more to lose should be more mindful of the imbalance and what it takes to maintain their lifestyle.

In darker moments I ask people how long it would take for our civilized society to turn errr... primitive?

Most think years. They are wrong.