Buzzman
Member
I have been attempting to define the sociological function of status and it's relationship to our power consumption - and resultant carbon emissions.
I think this covers it, but no-one I've approached wants to publish it.
So have a read and if you like it, pass it on....
emmavr72
Member
Hi Buzzman,
Interesting analysis. I think carbon footprint assessments bear out that greater wealth is correlated with a bigger carbon footprint across the board (direct and indirect emissions). So it would make sense that if status anxiety pushes greater consumption, then it would also lead to greater power use.
I agree that a public campaign like 'Life Be In It' and 'Slip Slop Slap' could be really useful. But the major political parties are probably too scared of what this might do to GDP to try it.
There are some other interesting factors that affect power use. The recent RenewEconomy article about the correlation between electricity use and political affiliation in the US discusses one: http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/why-conservatives-consume-more-electricity-than-the-left-14495.
And of course renters and people of limited means more generally have less leeway than house owners and the better off to implement measures that could reduce their power use.
Buzzman
Member
No surprises in that Stanford U report, or the propensity for the Mama Bears and the Papa Bears (and all their myriad Little bears) to consume more than small-l liberal voters.
That Green voters consumed 15% less than conservatives is also a no-brainer. Would be interesting for someone to do a comparison analysis here in Oz.
We'd probably find Julia is CFL Girl, while the Mad Monk is a full-phat Multi-Halogen Boy.
No doubt Christine Milne finds her way about under the light from home-made beeswax candles, or low-wattage LED bulbs.
What we have in Oz at the moment is akin to a choice between 'moderation' and 'knock yourself out', with the occasional 'we need to think about it' from the Indies and 'we've thought about it and you're all wrong' from the Greens.
It boils down to the conflict over populist policies (in order to gain or hold power) and the concept of REAL leadership - the ability and fortitude to do something unpalatable for the sake of the greater good.
The Palin crown would have us do nothing and go to hell in a handbasket. Full phat and 100% sugar with a full-auto pumping on the way down!
It's kinda like the demand to commit suicide any way they choose. Alas for ythose of us who care, as we'll end up going down with them.
Hmmmmmm....does the inability to reduce carbon emissions thereby constitute attempted murder???? Or at the very least, aggravated assault?????
Would LOVE to see someone like Geoffrey Roberton debate that one..... 
:)
alfresco24
Member
There's little doubt about the correlation between wealth and consumption (and waste), and your article nails down this link quite well using the evidence of empirical research that shows how affluence and status betray a truth about people claiming to be green and what really happens out there.
Fact is we know this already and the game now is to turn this 'truth' around and create a meaningful status built around profligate conservation and sensibility.
The difficulty of course is the trap that people fall into so easily, and that is their denial or disbelief that their consumption/waste is so small as to not contribute to the 'problem'.
I think our challenge is to get young people, the up and coming consumers, to get educated about energy so that our messages don't continue to go flying over the tops of their heads.
Buzzman
Member
Yes, agreed. Ironic isn't it that those with the most resources, who are often the better educated, also tend to be the least willing to effect the necessary 'downshift' to consume less.
Those who could seriously use some help implementing such well-known techniques as purchasing a newer, more fuel-efficient car; replacing an older less-efficient fridge (freezer, aii-conditioner etc) with a newer more efficient one; those who could seriously benefit from the ability to lower billing on energy by adding solar HWS or solar PV, are also those least able to do so - the less well off.
The stats indicate that you need to be better educated; more well off; and a small-L liberal or environmental voter before the desire to effect change is met with the resources to do so.
I suspect large-L Liberals will only look at such measures if there is a clear *financial* benefit available to them in the shorter term.
But for what it's worth, I have no issue with Mama and Papa Grizzlies powering up with Solar PV.
If they'd only trade the V8 pickup for a Prius as well...... LOL
Morbo
Member
don't think its status related. There is people with money, that buy energy saving devices and there is people without that drive around in a V8.
Mama bear only saw 25 c feed in tarrif (yes, it existed for a blink of an eye), yet did not realise it does not really help if she raises her brood in an antiseptic 24/7 airconditioned room.
Meanwhile, is it on purpose or just because people are plain stupid:
-solar hot water/PV rebate of $1600 to be scrapped per 31 May (suppose RECS will be gone soon, too). But doorknockers push these embertec devices, each costing the govt $140. Some people take 4, sell them on ebay. Standby devices these days use 1W or so acc to the powermate. The embertec uses 1W all day. I got a net saving of 4W. Thats 35kWh per annum or $8. That means the embertec pays for itself after 17.5 years. Won't live that long I am afraid. I suppose the $1600 for PV or SHW would have yielded more.
-claims, PV would overload the grid. McTownhoses next door got 9 aircons for 4 units, all black roofs and massive west facing windows. No idea, whats worse.
-another initiative I got mailed is, getting the split aircons ducting insulated. Wouldn't the real problem be, dark coloured walls, west facing windows, wrong orientated house, black roof and no ceiling insulation in the average existing Melbourne home?
-incandescent lightbulbs are banned except halogen downlights. Thats stupid on its own, yet once again, stupidly built houses with black walls yet doomed to comply because R1.5 wall insulation with an array of aircons have LED lamps and a grey water system for no garden, that discharges into a national park.
So, several times a fortune is spent to achieve next to nil in feelgood initiatives that makes the stupid masses feel warm and fuzzy.
Buzzman
Member
Think you need to re-read the article.
Status is about who we think we are, and how we compare what we have to those around us.
Most people tick off energy-hungry, so-called labour saving devices as 'essentials' because to state that you do not have them is akin to acknowledging lower status.
This is why owners of the most expensive to run 'status accessory' - the swimming pool - is still looked upon with envy by the majority of their peers.
Ditto people who do not watch TV, nor own an electric dishwasher or clothes dryer, never mind an energy-hungry air-conditioner, are viewed as 'the poor relations' by the majority. Or just plain weird, and therefore 'not us'. And not us equates to 'no status' and thus reduced social interactions, which is how society enforces its norms.
We 'want' all of these things so we can 'belong' - in other words, keep up with the Joneses. Or, maintain our 'status' relative to those around us.
The purpose of the article is to suggest that "doing the right thing" become a 'status symbol' in and of itself - as it probably is for most of us on this forum.
Morbo
Member
I just keep it quiet, apart from that do not care about others.
Carrot grader takes so long to clean, may as well cut it with a knife. So much for labour saving. Although, mixer and washing machine is a nice thing to have.
If you need an external identity, be it owner of a dish washer, dangling you flag from your car or some christian fish, all the same, you don't have an identity at all.
My colleages know that I am weird, still got the job. Income is all you need for survival these days, they won't chase you out of town anymore because you have pimples and may be a witch.
Doing "the right thing" I just try to, simply because I feel sorry for nature. Don't care about humans, just a quirk of nature, and may well be extinct 100 years from now.
Buzzman
Member
LOL....no, thankfully we don't live in 15thC Salem....
But you could be forgiven for thinking so if you wandered down Rundle Mall of a Saturday evening, to see the "street preachers" annoying the rest of the population with their clamour....and their bizarre beliefs. You, know: God, the resurrection, walking on water, the Creation myth, and so on.
And you think *you're* weird?
Personally, I'm in favour of the French approach - no "religious demonstration" in public - but I wouldn't stop at burquas - I'd extend it to tattoos, headscarves, jewellery and 'religious' clothing as well.
Frankly I don't give a toss what people *believe* as long as they don't try to ram it down my throat or otherwise pollute my day with it.
So no muezzins on loud speaker; no church bells and so on. Sure, I'd miss the church bells, but to be fair, it has to be 'come one come all' - or come none.
And as history has proven time and again, people will not change their beliefs simply by being shouted at. In fact, this usually incites them further. And as various brutal overlords have found, persecution only makes them stronger and more determined. Witness Israel's current stupidity.
Hence why we have the - IMHO - false belief that *all* religious activity should be allowed. So while we get to hear church bells, we also have to put up with flag waving, *bizarre* clothing, shaven-headed fascists, and all the rest of it.
This, I believe, is a mistake, as it further enables us to add another layer of "difference" between us and those around us, when what we *should* be doing is focusing on that which unites us. Our underlying humanity.
However, I agree with you morbo. The human species may end up killing itself off - alas, along with every other species on the planet - but at least we can be certain the planet itself will eventually recover.
Of course, the other option is to simply accept the differences, and get on with it.
Sadly, I don't see that happening anywhere much.
Morbo
Member
as I mentioned. SFITS 6 cent, $1600 rebate scrapped as per 31 May. RECS factor from 5 to 4, you watch, in a few months they are gone, too. So much for solar flagship. That solar plant in Mildura, announced 3 years ago, will never happen suppose. How the emission targets are going to be achieved by 2020 without doing anything, no idea. But hey, my embertec thing is saving 120 Wh a day in theory, but everything was connected to switcheable power board, so net saving is nil.
