Issue 39 - Stealing Electricity from the Sun

Hello fellow Eco Punks! It’s been a while between issues, and in hindsight that should be expected at the start of the growing season. The daily grind on the farm in spring is relentless, as the list of jobs always exceeds the available time.

However now that summer is right around the corner, it’s a little easier to take a few moments to look back at what we’ve been working on, reading, and writing. Like our tiny pepper house:

Table of Contents

• Pandemic Update

• Stealing Electricity from the Sun

• Eyes on Balaji

• The Most Vulnerable Should Rule!?

• Is Homesteading Inherently Racist?

• Need RV parts?! 😂

• Your New Groove: Hind’s Hall

Pandemic Update

The threat posed by H5N1 continues to increase, and a new COVID wave is rising with the summer. Emergency level is low, preparedness level is high.

Nonsensically, the Ontario government has decided to extend their suppression of data that might track such things by cancelling the province’s waste-water monitoring program.

Thankfully, researchers are still able to do what they think needs doing, and a Pan-Canadian Milk Network has emerged to track H5N1 in the consumer marketplace.

We’ve got a close eye on this, both locally, and internationally.

Stealing Electricity from the Sun

Over the past few weeks we’ve done a massive deep dive into solar tech and the joys of stealing electricity from the sun.

It raises the question of why the knowledge and technology around solar power is not as available as it should be. There’s nothing magical about it, though it does evoke such feelings. It turns out that installing a solar power generation setup is a straightforward logical process that can be done with safety and relatively ease.

Yet in North American we remain remarkably reliant upon fossil fuels, and power generation facilities that can have massive ecological impact. Part of that may be geopolitical, as so much of the solar supply chain resides in China. Canada and the US want to change this, but at this point, only at the industrial level, and not at the scale of the end consumer.

Eyes on Balaji

Another subject that we did a deep dive into is a key ideologue of Silicon Valley, Balaji. His full name is Balaji Srinivasan, but he’s actively trying to brand himself by his first name, making it easier to recognize his desired status as guru to the tech capitalists.

The work and ideas Balaji is engaged in came to our attention via a journalist and politico named Gil Duran, and his writing in The New Republic:

We highly recommend giving that article a read, as it sheds light on the current political and intellectual climate among SV capitalists. A clear and powerful force within the larger fascist movement.

Of course as researchers it is important to seek the source where possible, and we did take the time to listen to several episodes of Balaji’s Network State podcast, as well as other podcasts on which he was a guest. The podcast Balaji produces is surprisingly low production quality and yet still coherent and interesting. Guests include Ethereum cult leader Vitalik Buterin and Shopify founders Tobi Lutke. If you’re really feeling masochistic, there’s Balaji’s appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast that is almost 8 hours long!

Balaji’s rise is not happening in a vacuum, but as part of a larger political, economic, and cultural movement. Gil Duran is doing a great job digging into it all.

Balaji’s role in contemporary Silicon Valley politics is comparable to the role of Aleksandr Dugin in Russia. He’s not someone who should be ignored or dismissed, but rather understood and countered. Identified, and opposed.

The Most Vulnerable Should Rule!?

So what is the alternative to the tech-centric dictatorship? How about a society ruled by the most vulnerable?

We spent two days in late May participating and volunteering at the Accessible Canada, Accessible World event in Montreal.

What made this event particularly exciting is that it employed a flipped conference format. All presentations were uploaded ahead of time, creating room for as much participation and discussion during the event. Similarly the event was both in-person and online, with simultaneous translation, closed captioning, and sign language. Considerable effort was invested towards making the event itself and the knowledge shared as accessible as possible.

It was exhilarating to spend time with people who desire and work for an inclusive society that meets the needs of all. It provided us with an opportunity to further refine my beliefs around leadership and trust.

Trust itself is a by-product of vulnerability. Contemporary leadership is based on trust that is earned, and this trust can only be earned by being vulnerable.

One way we can navigate the existential threats we currently face, whether climate volatility, or the impending wave of H5N1, is to seek and invest in leaders who are themselves vulnerable. To create the supports necessary that enable the most vulnerable to govern, and ensure that we all survive and thrive.

Accessibility is not about helping the most vulnerable be part of a society that rejects them, but rather it should be seen as a path to power and a path to a better society.

Is Homesteading Inherently Racist?

Not the concept, just the word. Some food for thought:

Thomas the newest kid on the block wants to know what you think:

Need RV parts?! 😂

Oh wait, we haven’t had any TikTok content yet. No worries. Here you go:

@youngfarts_rv_parts

Lets Make your trailer not so fucked! #campinghacks #camping #rvlife #rvliving #camper #fulltimerv #rvtiktok

Your New Groove: Hind’s Hall

This issue’s tunes is the kind that you should have heard by now but if not, you do now: