Goodbye Grid

Before we get very much further into the 21st Century we are almost certain to see the emergence of what I believe will seem from the perspective of history to be a defining trend. What I am referring to here is what is collectively known as off grid living and no, I'm not talking about muddle-headed hippy "alternative" lifestyles either.

I think we were heading down this path inevitably anyway, driven by the twin imperatives of dwindling oil reserves and looming climate change, but the abrupt financial crisis that occurred on the cusp of 2008/2009 has likely accelerated that process by so profoundly shaking up the prevailing order and conventional wisdom.

When things get as messed up as they have been of late people are often quite prepared to think, and do, the previously unthinkable. Right now there exists a fertile ground composed of many, if not most, folk searching for a new order, a better way, a means to patch up the past and mend the future. Hitch this to the extraordinary coincidence of the inauguration of arguably the most charismatic, visionary and intelligent US President since Roosevelt held office against the backdrop of the Great Depression and WWII, and conditions for rapid and far-reaching change could hardly be more favourable.

A central point about being off-grid is that it is not simply an ecological statement. It has massive economic and political implications also. It implies self-reliance and reduced dependence on big business, which in turn weakens political control - relationships between a few large energy giants and governments are much easier to maintain than attempting to control a sprawling mass of individuals each with their own collection of assorted solar powered products and each with their own personal and possibly contradictory set of agendas.

It will be interesting to see how President Obama uses this opportunity to spend government money on an epic scale that the financial meltdown has handed him. The US automobile industry could serve as a clue; for decades this schlerotic manufacturing sector has done pretty much all it could to ignore the winds of change howling outside its door. Now that the door, roof and half the walls have blown away, propping this industry up so that it might resume business as usual would be akin to buying a drunk another drink to replace the one that got spilled.

My guess is that with the old guard for the moment caught off guard and unable to mount its customary obstruction to anything that might upset their privileged position we may well see the kind of seismic shift that eventually attracts a handy historical label (think Industrial Revolution, Age of Mass Communication, Renaissance, you get the picture). Aside from anything else, how exactly can anyone stop people in their billions deciding to vote with their wallets and install indoor solar lights in preference to paying the utility companies any more money?