I bought a hybrid and now I work from home 2 (perhaps 3 in the future) days each week, which has significantly cut down on my fuel consumption. I want to put ~1kW of solar electric plus a solar water heater up next, but I don't quite have the money for it this year.
Of course, I realize that I have some options not available to most people given the nature of my job and my level of income (not to mention that I own my house).
You are spot-on about the whole labor market observation--even given my employability, I am not truly free to choose my jobs and go to the highest bidder. There are several reasons for this:
1. I don't want to move--it would upset my son's education and I'm pretty much either stuck here for the next 14 years until he goes to college or I've got to yank him from his friends every time I change jobs.
2. Employers can easily spot people who hop from job to job to go to the highest bidder and after a couple of jumps they will simply stop offering you a job. There is just too much investment to get someone of my skill level up to speed in the specific job I would be doing.
3. I like the people I work with and would hate to have to make new friends every time some employer offered me a higher wage.
There are more, but you get the point.
I'm a little skeptical of "post-scarcity". I don't think it is attainable. Scarcity is what drives economics. Think of what a catastrophe it would be if tomorrow somebody discovered and made public the discovery of a vein of gold that was easily/cheaply-mined and was 500 times the current world reserves.
Not sure--I am interested in why you think post-scarcity is not only achievable but desirable. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I am interested in hearing you make your case.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-10-04 08:16 pm (UTC)I bought a hybrid and now I work from home 2 (perhaps 3 in the future) days each week, which has significantly cut down on my fuel consumption. I want to put ~1kW of solar electric plus a solar water heater up next, but I don't quite have the money for it this year.
Of course, I realize that I have some options not available to most people given the nature of my job and my level of income (not to mention that I own my house).
You are spot-on about the whole labor market observation--even given my employability, I am not truly free to choose my jobs and go to the highest bidder. There are several reasons for this:
1. I don't want to move--it would upset my son's education and I'm pretty much either stuck here for the next 14 years until he goes to college or I've got to yank him from his friends every time I change jobs.
2. Employers can easily spot people who hop from job to job to go to the highest bidder and after a couple of jumps they will simply stop offering you a job. There is just too much investment to get someone of my skill level up to speed in the specific job I would be doing.
3. I like the people I work with and would hate to have to make new friends every time some employer offered me a higher wage.
There are more, but you get the point.
I'm a little skeptical of "post-scarcity". I don't think it is attainable. Scarcity is what drives economics. Think of what a catastrophe it would be if tomorrow somebody discovered and made public the discovery of a vein of gold that was easily/cheaply-mined and was 500 times the current world reserves.
Not sure--I am interested in why you think post-scarcity is not only achievable but desirable. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I am interested in hearing you make your case.