Monday, March 26, 2007

Utopia with cisterns

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of yesterday's "Source" section of the Star Tribune. The featured article is a truly jaw-dropping musing on what the future of Minnesota (circa 2037) will be like, some 30 years on. Among the assertions are the following:

  • Houses will not use any fossil fuels for power, using instead solar panels and geothermal heat pumps owned by the "community" the house is located in.
  • Houses will have typically have multiple cisterns for collecting rain water, presumably because all the water will be polluted because of global warming
  • New construction and housing developments will have no basements (because of mold and radon) and no garages (because no one will have a car, although communally owned hydrogen powered vehicles might be available for short trips)
  • Everyone will be riding on the trains to get from Point A to Point B
  • The 37 year old woman living in this prototypical house will be an "Internet bride," married to a 29 year old Chinese dude living in Shanghai, who wants to come for a visit but can't because he doesn't have sufficient "carbon credits," which are apparently being issued by someone. The Chinese dude needs an Internet bride because there aren't enough women in China. (That part will likely be true.)
  • Toilets will automatically provide urinalysis information that can be supplied to insurance companies.
  • Children will be taught by virtual reality "Avatars" and will learn everything they need to know without leaving the house. The 12 year old son of the woman (father unknown and unmentioned) will also play a game of soccer (naturually, it has to be soccer) in his room via virtual reality, with teammates from all over the globe.

There's more, a lot more. The whole thing would be laughable except that it is obvious that there are people who want to steer the future in this sort of direction, using global warming as an excuse.

Here's the reality - the amount of governmental force necessary to impose such a world on people would require a totalitarian government. I suspect that those who would like to do said imposing would have no problem with that. Still, I suspect the required cisterns would be pretty much unusable, because there would be too many bodies of governmental agents floating in them trying to enforce their dictates.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Social Engineering at it's finest! What a load of ecrement!

Anonymous said...

Here's a link to the article: http://www.startribune.com/futurehouse

As for the article, it is an interesting read, and I have to agree that it would take a lot for it to happen. For one, if they are going to successfully make cars community property, it's going to take martial law for that to happen. I can't decide what would be more fun: watching the feds try to take cars from people, or their guns? Yeah, I really see people voluntarily giving up their automobiles in exchange for Hourcars to share (which of course would be Priuses or their future equivalent) in an effort to save the planet. Sheesh!

And, after they give up their cars, you're going to make them live in what amounts to brownstones with little to no privacy? Good luck with that one too. I am sure the folks in Elk River and Farmington will gladly have 5 more houses put on their lots. "Yeah, remember the nice yard I had back when I bought this house in 2018? Well, now it's the Town Square, where the soap-challenged get together and plot the next great scheme to save the environment. I sure am glad I gave up my 1/2 acre lot for them and 15 other people. Thanks Feds!"

Oh, and I also love how the article states that Minnesota may need to lead the way. I love that. Yet another example of the inflated sense of self-worth this state has. In the highly unlikely event this scenario plays itself out, I hope these leaps forward in carbon footprint reduction technology are invented in Iowa and/or Wisconsin. For one thing, Wisconsin and Iowa need the economic shot in the arm more, and the other would be that it would piss Minnesohhtans off.

Overall, for this to happen, it would take a declaration of martial law and complete suspension of the Constitution. But hey, whatever it takes to reduce the global temp by one degree Celsius, right?

Mr. D said...

Good points, mjh! As always, the Second Amendment is the ultimate guarantor of our liberties, which is why the Left spends so much time trying to make it a dead letter.