THE EDITOR, Sir:
RECENTLY MY 11-year-old son had an assignment to write about the great changes that occurred in air transportation as a result of World Wars I and II. With mechanised flight first occurring courtesy of brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903, one would expect a 70 to 100-year gap between the first flight measured in yards, to flights twice the speed of sound and measured in thousands of miles.
It took us thousands of years to move from the wheel to the first mechanised vehicle. However, due to massive Government spending by three industrialised nations: England, Germany and France, flight and flying machines evolved to supersonic speeds in only 40 years, half the time one could reasonably expect under peaceful conditions. This underscores in my estimation, the brilliance that is one of mankind's greatest gifts from God; his ability to achieve great leaps in science and technology once enough resources, both human and financial, are applied.
With Sheriff George Bush's OK Corral-style diplomacy, exacerbating the already chaotic environment of the oil-producing Middle East, fuel prices and ,therefore, the prices of everything connected with it, must increase. What does this have to do with my son's homework and mankind's brilliance? Well, it is my sincere opinion that if mankind were to devote the same intensity currently employed in searching the surface of Mars for ancient life, then in the time it took to move from yards to miles in air travel technology, the current 'oil crisis' would be just another lesson given to my son's children in school.
THE BIGGER QUESTION
The bigger question now seems to be: "Why hasn't mankind had this surge of intellectual discovery?" The answer in my humble view lies in the fact that most of the decision makers are older men and women, whose outlook is only for the next 20 years or less, and do not care less that there is only but so much oil in the earth's crust. Let's make the reasonable assumption that these decision makers are also in possession of most of the 'research' capital... will necessary resources be allocated to find alternate sources of energy? Europe, and particularly Germany are the leaders in production of renewable energy; if what I understand is true, wind energy will in the next decade or two become a significant contributor to that country's energy needs.
Things are looking bleak. Let's look closer to home, to the world's largest single consumer, the good ole US of A. The government of the good ole US of A, is known to be subject to the whims and fancies of special interest groups, (e.g. the Cuban exile community in Florida and the Cuban embargo), therefore no federal monies will be spent in any great (or significant) quantity on research into renewable energy while there is still pristine Arctic wilderness in Alaska just waiting to be drilled for crude, and certainly not while a president indebted to the oil lobby (he is a Texan after all) is in office.
So these old wealthy white Anglo-Saxon men, including those noteworthy gentlemen of the aristocracy in the British Isles, are fixated on the maintenance of the current status quo, which is, the wealthy continue to get wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Wealthy people tend to be very uncomfortable in an expansion of their ranks... as they are all too aware that with the global economy as it is, it is very crowded at the top, and when one person or group ascends to this plateau, it is usually at the expense of another person or group who once had their place at the summit.
OIL CONSUMPTION
So the current system of oil consumption, which feeds, defines and protects the 'powers that are', will continue as long as it is allowed to do so. This system is threatening to come apart at the seams however, as India and China's increasing demand in tandem with America's insatiable appetite for crude drive up prices to 'unacceptable' levels for consumers on a global level. The current Iraq crisis isn't helping matters either.
Our children will grow up in a world that is racked by what is really unnecessary violence and random killing so that Mr Oil Co. and cronies can continue to reap the spoils of their degenerating system. What is obvious is that the finite nature of the oil supply means nothing to a man in his 60s and 70s, who knows that the oil won't finish in his lifetime so... as Alfred E. Newman of MAD magazine reminds us... "What, me worry?" Well us 30-somethings need to worry, and as Jamaican D.J. Super Cat put it, "Mi ago cry, mi ago cry fi di youth..."
I shed a tear for my son and his children, and wish that I had the resources to devote to the development of a renewable energy source that impacted the environment minimally, and was accessible to all. Would that suffice?
I am, etc.,
WOODROW JUNIOR
Kingston 8
Via Go-Jamaica
