[david85]

Think I'll be ignoring EV world articles for the next little while. The image at the top of the page was already a bit of a turn off, but the focus on politics is a bit disturbing too.

Between playing politics and using sex to sell their ideas, they are loosing my respect (survey pop up is annoying too).

I tend to fall right of center in many ways politically, but that doesn't mean I oppose electric cars and I don't know many like me that do. My town is filled with hippies and red necks that harbor far left and far right political views and I haven't found anyone so far that isn't genuinely interested in my car.

 

[david85]

Typical uptight conservative I'll never object to a chick's ass, unless it's too big

Guilty of stereotyping?

I think he was kidding.


But seriously, try to fight nicely ok guys? Seems there have been a some extra flames on here lately.

 

[david85]

An interesting exercise, and probably impossible, (and most likely ultimately pointless), is to consider where we might be if say the ICE had never been invented. Might we actually be better off in many ways? EV's would likely be much further along in development, as would our grid and alternative sources of electricity. Without the easy long range capability of an ICE, suburban sprawl might not have developed as extensively. The Middle East would look very different without our intense consumption of oil, and our foreign policy would be different as well. Without easy long range shipping local manufacturing of products would be more important and we would not have shipped jobs and dollars out of the country. Who knows what shape the country, and the world would be in, it might have been better over all.

I think what is more likely is the total speed of advancement would have been much slower during the industrial revolution. It also does not guaranty that whatever other advances that could have happened with EVs or renewable energy without ICEs and fossil fuel would have been cleaner or otherwise greener than what we have now.

Perhaps nuclear power would have been the primary resource that wars were waged over instead of oil. Not a comforting thought.

Considering something simple like carbon steel was made possible on a large scale due to coal being available in large amounts, I do have to wonder if something like advanced storage batteries, photovoltaic cells or electric motors (also made of refinded metals) would be as far along as they are right now. I don't doubt the world would be a very different place, I'm just not sure if it would have been better.

Definately not an easy thing to answer one way or another.

 

[david85]

I remember reading that whale oil was the primary source for machinery lubricant before the later stages of the industrial revolution when petroleum based lubricants were developed from oil reserves. Never bothered to try and verify that but there is probably at least some truth to it.

Hemp isn't outlawed all over the world even today though. I can buy cheap hemp twine in most hardware stores here in canada without any issues (have a small roll in the shop right now). Hemp cloth was common place in my parent's home country many years ago (some more impoverished regions still use it). After the early 1990s and the fall of the commies, there wasn't much appetite to keep old traditions like that alive and everyone wanted "new" stuff like cotton or wool which was often impossible to get under the previous regime (higher end products were often used for export and crappy stuff was sold locally to citizens - provided they could even afford it). But yep, back in the day when simple things like fresh fruit was a luxury only the rich could afford, they did make their own textiles at home just like you see in the movies.

Tough as hell and very long lasting (decades in some cases) but not very comfortable compared to modern synthetics or blended/strait cotton. Also very labor intensive to make, but back then honest work was essentially worthless and most struggled with what they had. They used hemp because they had to, not because they wanted to.

You could probably make better cloth today out of hemp that is on par with cotton or synthetic fabric but considering most textiles are coming from another communist or developing countries today, and most domestic textile capacity have effectively been crushed, I don't see hemp making much of a come back anytime soon. For now it's either a dirt cheap twine for wrapping a parcel or leveling a cement form, or some expensive specialty garmet that most would not pay for.

Overcoming the stigma will also be a challenge even though it's not what most would consider to be a narcotic.

 

[david85]

Hemp products might not be illegal up here but marijuana most certainly is still a controlled substance. There was some discussion a few years ago in the dying days of the liberal government for "de-criminalizing" it. In other words, it would still be illegal, just instead of a criminal record, you get slapped with a fine. The change never happened though and I can't say I am sympathetic to the "legalize it!" movement.

We used to have young teenagers (some seemed under 12 yo) sneaking into the bush next to and at the bottom of our property to toke up. Saw them sitting on the side of the street getting chewed out by a constable one day. A few weeks later they were back their usual routine. Sad....

Every fall when the first leaves start to change you can spot police choppers searching for grow ops in the bush - harvest season. The stuff seems to grow very well in our climate up here in BC. Underground bunkers are often found too. The lengths to which they will go is amazing. The flip side are house tenants that rent and ultimately destroy property in an effort to grow the plants indoors. Land lords are usually blamed for it even though they have very limited rights to evict or conduct preemptive inspections.

I could rant all day about how I've seen pot, weed, crack, and other drugs destroy lives, families, wealth and quality of living for many people - some of whom I personally knew. Its a mess.

That is correct, but obviously an unsustainable source of oil.

That was my point. Before crude oil, there was primarily animal fat based lubricants, not so much veggie oil. Considering what environmental awareness was like back then (non existent), I think it's more likely that many more whales would have simply been hunted into oblivion long before any other more sustainable solution was accepted.

I just don't see how things could have evolved any other way.

 

[david85]

"peak whale" - good one

I understand your reasoning of legalizing it because I've heard it many times before, the problem is organized crime will simply move on and find other harder drugs that are still illegal and start selling them instead. Chrystal meth is often used as the next step up from milder drugs like pot and you can make it almost anywhere using off the shelf ingredients. Growing season doesn't matter anymore and you don't need anywhere near as much floor space. I don't see how legalizing these things makes the world better when the same people are still hard at work.

 

[david85]

The last few posts here were moving toward the topic of climate change, so I moved them to the "climate change debate" thread here:

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/climate-change-debate-thread-32508.html

I hope thats ok with everyone.

 

[david85]

OK, now that was some funny chit right there!



ROFLMAO










































(sorry)