Please Consider My Serious Speculative Question.

by metatron 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  This isn't about the 'truth' or religion per se but it could affect those things. I freely admit I can't fathom all of the likely outcomes if ......

  energy became free!

  In today's world, that idea might seem absurd. Gasoline and electricity cost real money as energy but that might change radically. Eventually, someone will find a safe way to exploit "E = Mc2" in a way that doesn't involve a mushroom cloud or a reactor. If matter is just condensed energy of a sort, someone may find a way to END energy costs via a new breakthrough........ and what happens then? That's my concern.

  Good stuff that would happen:

  Terrorism defunded

  Middle East governments collapse and are forced to develop real economies

  Growing food becomes cheaper

  Pollution vanishes, global warming fears end, oil spills stop, smog disappears, strip mines stop.

  but now the bad stuff:

  possible mass unemployment at utilities, mines, and oil refineries

  a deflationary crisis because of banks and corporations collapsing

  a breakdown in centralized government because people have most of what they really need

  a lack of challengein the lives of young people

  what am I missing in this? What else would happen? Would it really be better?

  There is an absolute law in all human endeavors - the law of unintended consequences. And that has me wondering about any development that might make energy 'free'

  metatron
• 

  LongHairGal

  METATRON: I have thought about it and the result, I think, would be disastrous. There would be massive social unrest and sabotage and wars. I still think there would be pollution and global warming and all that entails. Too, too many cars and more accidents - not to mention what you said about MORE unemployment. In this world, any blessing can be turned into a curse.
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  sizemik

  I just can't see it as anything other than a remote possibility. Any "breakthrough" of this nature will still require resources to bring about, as well as delivery systems that will have to be paid for by the consumer.

  Energy utilisation is more likely to undergo gradual change IMO. There is already a property owner not too far from here who is 100% energy independent. Through a combination of solar and wind electricity generation, he powers all of the lighting, heating and appliance needs of his property . . . and even charges the fully dedicated electric car overnight. He's left with a small surplus returned to the national grid, which generates a credit through his local electricity provider.

  Of course, he still has the maintenance and replacement costs . . . as well as the "energy" element in other goods and services he purchases.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Not to sound all "Star-Treky" on you, but I hope that by the time someone harnesses free energy that we no longer live in a money-based society.
  
  Because free energy would mean that everything could be produced for next to nothing. I mean you need material, but food could be grown, water could be purified, travel could be had FOR NOTHING.
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  metatron

  There would be bigger cars - which I don't care for but are actually safer. I think the question would be - would people delve into the freedom such a free resource would bring or be content to go along with present governments.

  I think the employment issue would moderate over time, as many find jobs unnecessary. Aggregate demand would fall worldwide but poverty might decline. Volunteerism might increase.

  Higher education might evaporate as kids say, 'why study, my parents and I have enough'. Or many might just pursue learning for its own sake.

  Right now, we see the world ordered and managed by scarcity, not abundance. It's hard to flesh out in the imagination but I do believe it will come about in time, for better or worse.

  metatron
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  exwhyzee

  No matter what the source of the energy is, you could be taxed just for using it. The suns energy might be free but the cost of a solar panel could skyrocket and there could be a hefty taxes for having one on your roof. Solar powered cars might be taxed per mile driven and they could be very expensive to buy and repair. It seems like there will always be the Haves and Have Nots.
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  Anony Mous

  Energy won't ever become 'free'. What will happen if we can tap into the natural, renewable resources like Nuclear Fusion, Solar Collection and a host of others is that energy will become ever cheaper. However we'll still need to maintain the installations and the more technology we develop, the more energy we will need to collect and the more energy we'll need to spend in order to create such energy.

  Also, less energy costs will decrease costs across the board for just about everything including your wages as your wages represent your energy spent as well as the energy for your tools and since energy has becomes cheaper so the representation of your work. That means we'll have less money but it will represent the same amount of stuff you have right now.

  Economics are hard. We'll never have 'free' energy - it's impossible according to the laws of physics. We'll have energy a lot cheaper than today but we'll have more stuff to keep up with (such as robots that do menial stuff).
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  Terry

  Uh hem, Energy IS free!

  Highly enterprising, motivated, industrious people with intelligence and drive merely invented ways of extracting it from nature.

  There is no limit to what can yet be accomplished.

  Apply yourself and you may be the one who does it.

  But, seriously, "free" is not how nature works. Everything is an exchange of balances.

  You put the work in and you get the result out.
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  metatron

  I wonder if 'free' energy would go a long way towards solving income inequity, especially if it crashes the value of oil and gas investments and gives poor people enough.

  I would wager, if it ever happened, that global warming enthusiasts would be heartbroken - and thus expose their true motivations in the matter. There have been a number of people like Amory Lovins who think that 'free' energy would be a disaster.

  metatron
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  baltar447

  Freedom. Freedom from tyranny. Governments would have do something constructive with themselves instead of just trying to control everything. Free energy would mean freedom to explore our solar system and finally attain to a type 1 civilization. We would be free to devote ourselves to building the technology that could utilize unlimited free energy without damaging the environment. Free energy would propel our eveolution through the assistance of advanced technology that could improve the quality and length of our lives. As long as free energy became truly available to everyone and not restricted to the elites of the world all of the above is possible.