Are Psychopaths at the top creating narcissistic Policies that destroy our environment?

Phewww! An out there post this morning. I usually steer clear of politics on the blog, but the environment and politics are inextricably linked and voting is one of the most important ways you can have an effect.


I'm reading Jon Ronson's book, The Psychopath Test. It's a great read, at the same time both funny and frightening.

1 in 100 people are psychopaths, this doesn't mean they're necessarily criminals or go around hacking people to death. They are usually able to restrain violent tendencies and use their 'talents' to get themselves into positions of power.

I believe our capitalist structure rewards psychopaths (being able to make decisions on who loses their job and actively enjoying the process, the people at the top who enjoy the cut and thrust, are ruthless and due to their inability to feel empathy make decisions that increase profits. And politicians who enjoy the ruthlessness and power.)

All of these qualities lead them to make decisions that do not take into account anything other than profit and as a result the environment suffers. Having read a little of Abbott's plans and seeing him in action...I can't help thinking he may have a higher than average psychopath score.

So, for fun, have a go at evaluating our good friend Abbott. There are items you won't know the answer to, and usually the assessments are used once a person is in the criminal system, and performed by a professional, but out of interest, have a go. You could even try to rate your boss, your partner, your best friend and other politicians while you're at it.  If you're really brave (and honest) yourself.

I posted this on Facebook this morning. I think I may rate highly for being a shit stirrer. Lucky it's not one of the ratings.

What score do you get for Abbott?

Trev's Whipper snipper Invention

He didn't really invent it. He saw it elsewhere in a different form and decided he could use a pair of old wheels he had to rig himself up something similar. It's now a cross between a whipper snipper and a lawnmower and works well to reduce stress on our buggered backs, it gets close to chook wire fences without being sucked in and ripping them up, and it reduces the likelihood of accidentally 'scalping' the grass.

In NZ we'd call it Kiwi Ingenuity, not sure what Australian's call it. What about elsewhere in the world, do you have a popular culture of being able to do anything with number 8 baling wire?

MORE!

I spent way too much time (weeks) creating this short Flash movie based on Edwin Starr's song War, but with a theme of MORE! over-consumption, poverty, greed, pollution, inequality and all those other lovely things we love to hate. If nothing else it will get you dancing!

http://www.shareswf.com/game/29811/more

We've been boring on the block!

We bit the bullet and bunged in a bore.

Every year we run out of water right when crops need it most and our succession planting goes to pot.  (well it never goes to  pot, because that which is not planted cannot be cooked).

I've always been very suspect about the use of bores but we did the research and discovered that in sandstone country groundwater replenishes annually from rainwater and in an area which is using 5% of sustainable groundwater we decided to splash out (yeah, it's a deliberate pun) and secure a reliable water supply and use it wisely.

The drillers were great. When we mentioned divining they immediately started spluttering about the idiocy of water divining and water diviners. They said we could put the darn thing where it was convenient because geologically speaking we could pop a hole through anywhere with equal likelihood of success. 80% likelihood.  Which meant we had a 20% chance of blowing  $7000 and still not have any water. The day they came I told Trev, I psychically predict it will be 42 metres deep (but I didn't share this with the drillers). I didn't even think about it being the answer to life, the universe and everything, just to our water issues.

I was in the garden furiously rotary-hoeing new land to put into crop for this still mythical market garden. when they hit water at 15 metres, but just a little bit of water, not enough to do anything with. They went further. Then excitement, roaring and jumping, they'd hit something at 36 metres and it was gushing out at 3.3 litres per second. It was black and oily and was running into the chook paddock. Had we hit oil? I bloody hoped not. It was black mudstone. I was told it would soon clear and if our water quality is like any of the other bores around here it will have low conductivity (be drinking water quality).

Then they told me, 'Once we hit water we go another 6 metres to create a sump'. 36 + 6 = 42
Yup, we have a 42 metre deep bore! With my 'gift' I might hang up a psychic shingle. (not)

What having a 42 metre bore means is we will be able to grow more than just our own food, we'll be able to grow enough to supply local cafes and restaurants and sell direct to other families and create a small income from our 3 acres. We're already on our way to growing the food and setting up relationships with local businesses. It's been a big investment but with our increasingly hot, dry summers... worth it.

We've purchased a solar pump setup which will slowly feed into a water tank during daylight hours at a rate of 13 litres a minute (once we get the darn thing working).

Louis(e)

I've been working (for a couple of years now) on a new novel, Louis(e). Most of that time has been spent researching what is a very different topic for me. Historical fiction.

While it is fiction it is based closely on her true story. This remarkable French woman masqueraded as a man and travelled on the scientific expedition with D'Entrecasteaux from 1789 - 1793.

The first 8,500 words are available to download as a pdf at this link. It's completely different from Living the Good Life, even further removed from Who Killed Dave?

It takes the unusual perspective of Louise's ghost.

Download available - www.togetherpress.com/louise.html

The Great Benevolent Dictator

I read another interview with a big shot saying, ‘There’s nothing we can do’ about our spectacular slide down the other side of the peak oil curve and all the co-mingling issues of global warming, financial crises, food shortages, species extinctions etc. I’ll call it the Great Decline for ease of handling.

 

But if you’re anything like me, you’re sick of hearing the doomsayers, the naysayers, the hopelessness, so here’s an opportunity for optimism, a bit of pie in the sky as you are newly anointed as benevolent dictators of the world. I’ll go first and take the juiciest pieces of pie…

 

When I am welcomed wholeheartedly as the Great Benevolent Dictator to deal with the Great Decline I will implement a number of key changes …

 

Renewable energy projects and research will be given all the subsidies now given to unsustainable industries such as mining, oil and traditional automotive with a target of 100% conversion to renewable energy worldwide by 2020. (this will include tough energy conservation measures on a domestic and industry level).

 

Organic agriculture will become the norm, with support and incentives provided to farmers in conversion. Farmers will be valued and financial rewards will follow. Food will no longer be the high flyers or long distance travellers,  unless they are light, unperishables like spices, eg, tons of cloves, cinnamon, etc will go a long way and help assist those countries that need the income and without significant strain on the system, but gone are the days where you will expect to eat US oranges out of season in Tasmania.

 

A drastic capping of income for non-productive jobs such as executives and bureaucrats,  and a reduction in the number of people employed in these types of positions. Instead there will be a  return to a system that values those who produce, eg research and development and finding key ways forward, not rewarding sociopathic tendencies and the ability to lay off half the work force in order to increase the profits of stakeholders.

 

Whoa, that was big, take a breath, my pulse, and plough back into the thick of it…

 

Everyone is given a yearly fuel allowance for personal vehicle use, flying etc. Public transport does not count as part of your allowance.  If you don’t use your allowance you can trade it.  People living in developing countries that don’t use their allowance can trade them internationally. But people will be encouraged to use various strategies to reduce their use, eg carpooling, public transport, living close to where you work, working from home etc.

 

Built in obsolescence is considered to mirror the built in obsolescence of our world system and it becomes a thing of the past. This includes the belief that any item can be one use only, from drink bottles to computer systems,  there is no such thing as non-recyclable and everything is produced with the materials reclamation in mind. Companies that produce items such as laptops that will last and for which replaceable parts and upgrades will be available for at least a decade if not longer (yes, the cost of a laptop will be more than a couple of hundred dollars, but it will be cheaper in the long run).

 

OK, if I haven’t already started the war to end all wars and I haven’t had to put my head through the little window or stand blindfolded against a wall, then I will…

 

Give our system of politics a radical overhaul, it is no longer an ad hominem, adversarial screaming match full of bloated egos seeking to undermine change, particularly if it has any hope of actually succeeding, but instead it’s…. Oh, yeah, you’re right, now I’m really dreaming.

 

OK, I took the juiciest, easiest to reach pieces of pie, lots of room for a bit of tweaking. Obviously in 500 words I can't provide enough details to offset the obvious responses such as.. yes, but what about if people abuse and corrupt the system.. you do what you can to offset it, it's an issue in the world we live in too.

 

It’s a big pie, so what, in 500 words or less, is your plan once you're anointed The Great Benevolent World Dictator? Trev’s plan is to feel overwhelmed by the position, instantly resign and ask for a redundancy package.

 

 

 

GIVEAWAY!

I'm often asked how those living overseas can get a copy of Who Killed Dave? and always figured I'd make it available to download, one day.  But no, I finally organised for 10 days!

Feel free to share the offer around!
To keep a track of how many downloads I only ask that people download it from the website rather than share it via email etc. In a fortnights time I'm looking forward to seeing how many downloads and what countries Who Killed Dave? was downloaded from. I'll let you know.

www.togetherpress.com/free.html
www.facebook.com/WhoKilledDave? 

Living the Good Life is also at www.facebook.com/lindasgoodlife

For those of you who haven't already read it, I hope you enjoy the read.