spklbuk said:
Graham, it was your post about Japan rethinking nuclear that propagated this ride/rant. Well that and the "Burning the Future, Coal in America" airing on public broadcast last night that set me off.
Why the same hell can't we (and I'm as guilty as anyone) rethink our energy future too?
It's in our collective culture over in the west, and since it has served us so well in the past, before we started making a big dent that is, we just think it will work well into the future. It's sort of thing that makes people wear suits and ties on hot days. It's what you do.
Japan on the other hand seems to have a bit of a culture of deciding what's good for me AND the company / country. I have seen may examples where they will do something ONLY if there is a tick in each box. So there is a bit of give and take there.
Sometimes I think that may be just a caricature but when things like the nuke thing happen and it just reminds me how different cultures deal with things. There was no fanfare, no press releases, they just did it.
Now to try and bend thins back to motorbikes
go and read "ZEN and the art of motorcycle maintenance" (if you haven't already) It's available free online.
Not only was that whole book about the the musing of a man thinking about Quality but he was writing it on a road trip riding a 305cc bike two up with gear.
I often think about that when I am sitting on my 1200cc bike alone wondering why I have to have a 1200cc bike, but a 1200cc bike with ENOUGH power (for a 1200cc bike).
I think the collective population if the world has yelled out "Super Size Me". On the other hand YAMAHA has delivered a bike that gets way better fuel economy than could be achived in even a modest car (except those hippy diesel European lefty things
) so I don't feel too bad.
I suppose it's the difference between people demanding Quality of life and those demanding Quantity of life. I would much prefer less crap that lasts than more crap that doesn't but reading around a few places I think we have all been convinced that we must just have more stuff to be happy.
So hats off to people like WASP and TABASCO and woody's wheels and you spklbuk. Yes they have to make money, but there is obviously more to it than that.
Anyway, this deep stuff always gets me in the poo so I better go 8)