The Politics of Technology
Since its election day tomorrow I had better say something political; Mmmm
I am not going to vote for the Greens tomorrow. They want to stick up dozens of wind farms around the country, in the name of protecting the environment. I cant see how these are so clean and green. Firstly the inefficiency of them requires acres and acres of giant rotating blades to create enough energy for a small town. Besides the noise (I've been to Holland; they make noise) it ruins the landscape for farmers and property developers alike- they are just plain ugly and intrusive!
One maybe wondering why I should bring up such a point in a techno-media blog, well think about it from this point of view; We are film students who one day might want to make a film in this clean green country. What offshore investors will pay to come here to shoot on supposed untouched landscapes- with windmills in the backdrop? The NZ film industry certainly won't benefit from this ridiculous scheme.
I imagine one could argue against this from a technological determinist viewpoint; This technology imposed upon us will shape our lives and media. So like the mobile phone (wich probably causes cancer, and a few years ago was regarded as an intrusive social gadget) these giant wind farms will become part of our everyday lives. They will be incorporated into the backdrop to all those southern man Speights ads. They could even stick webcams on the top and invade the privacy of the sheep grazing underneath - since no-one else will want to be around them.
I do realise this is a rather extreme argument, but what the hell I'll post it anyway.
posted by Anonymous @ 5:45 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
So what would you suggest instead of wind power? Because we most certainly cannot rely on oil for much longer, the only thing that i don't like about the Greens are how anti they are about Nuclear Power.. while i am in wholehearted agreement over the nuclear weapons issue i see nuclear power as a short term soulution to the coming oil crisis, while uranium is also a non renewable resource we have much more left than we do oil.
Personally i don't mind some aesthetic pollution if it means a decreased reliance on non renewable resources which are totally destroying the planet.
Other stuff i like about the greens:
> Improved public transport system
> Commitment to combat climate change
> Electrification of rail system
> Their student loan policy (debt write-off - one year for each year you work in New Zealand, UNIVERSAL STUDENT ALLOWANCE!, adequate government funding for staff salaries etc
Ok, this comment was in noway related to technoculture and new media but we will let it slide :p
Something sort of related though is the idea of fuelless flight that i have been reading about today, which could see a huge reduction in travel costs and no need to worry about rising oil prices affecting the cost of air travel.
http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/3060/
http://www.fuellessflight.com
Can't remember the technology exactly but something to do with using inert helium to create a lighter than air effect so that the plane effectively floats.
There has also been a lot more coverage online in this election i think, what with party blogs and all that, video streaming, webads and all that jazz. Giving voters a chance to be a lot more informed than perhaps otherwise.
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