PowerSwitch

It may have taken 30 years to get to the econmic state we're in but is it possible we could be back to 1978 levels in less than 3 years?

1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Chris, you're making with those negative waves!

We will return to the Good Old Days, with the lush green meadows full of humming butterflies, the fields lovingly tended by strapping young people working with huge plough horses.

The brooks and streams will run clear & fresh, full of happy fish.

The water mills will once again turn, grinding the flour which will make beautiful hand made bread.

The evenings will resound with cries of merriment as the workers relax with a mug of mulled cider and regale each other with tales of yore.

Some evening will be enlivened with the sound of the lute, racket and crumhorn.

Life will be good.

Excellent.

(Such a shame that all predictions of the future turn out to be rubbish.)

It's easy to entertain yourself with romantic visions of the past with a pseudo-recreation in the future. The future will be different and identified in its own way, so it won't be some LOTR Shire fantasy or some 18th Century idylic country dream but perhaps a mixture of the old or new.

Just been to a local Transition meeting Vortex? I was at one not long ago enduring conversation about how wonderful it will be to get the cart horses coming down the roads of Bristol once again.

I suppose I can't really criticise those who are at least trying to do something positive, I just wish there were more people at it, and some younger ones. One of my best mates has just bought one of those Porsche SUVs. He was going to get a Hummer H2 but GM have just stopped making them- I guess that is one thing to be cheerful about.

Vortex wrote:

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Chris, you're making with those negative waves!

We will return to the Good Old Days, with the lush green meadows full of humming butterflies, the fields lovingly tended by strapping young people working with huge plough horses.

The brooks and streams will run clear & fresh, full of happy fish.

The water mills will once again turn, grinding the flour which will make beautiful hand made bread.

The evenings will resound with cries of merriment as the workers relax with a mug of mulled cider and regale each other with tales of yore.

Some evening will be enlivened with the sound of the lute, racket and crumhorn.

Life will be good.

Sh*t! I just discovered that I prefer Charles Dickens over irony.

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what?

Lapels, sideburns and other facial hair?

...that , by the way, is Microsoft in 1978. The owner is the kid in the bottom left corner.

Recognised Bill before I even read that is was a Microsoft photo. Does anybody recall MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System)? Predecessor to Windows...... as opposed to PC-DOS.

Back on topic, I think we may experience some similarities with the 1970s, but to be honest, I think it is going to much different...... we will refer to the 70s as the good old days....

Vortex wrote:

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Chris, you're making with those negative waves!

We will return to the Good Old Days, with the lush green meadows full of humming butterflies, the fields lovingly tended by strapping young people working with huge plough horses.

The brooks and streams will run clear & fresh, full of happy fish.

The water mills will once again turn, grinding the flour which will make beautiful hand made bread.

The evenings will resound with cries of merriment as the workers relax with a mug of mulled cider and regale each other with tales of yore.

Some evening will be enlivened with the sound of the lute, racket and crumhorn.

Life will be good.

Yes, you are probably right, however, isn't the BIG question really: does the road to point B (the "good old days", which I am sure had had their own drawbacks), from point A (where we were two years ago), go via point C (war, famine, disease, societal breakdown). I tend to think that most signs indicate it is going this way, unfortunately for our generation.

[/b]

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Economy

Didn't you read my post?

Besides the economy going back to 70's levels, I was also looking at unemployment, strikes, riots, etc.

I wasn't talking about 'rose tinted' summers and green meadows etc.

Vortex wrote:

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Chris, you're making with those negative waves!

We will return to the Good Old Days, with the lush green meadows full of humming butterflies, the fields lovingly tended by strapping young people working with huge plough horses.

The brooks and streams will run clear & fresh, full of happy fish.

The water mills will once again turn, grinding the flour which will make beautiful hand made bread.

The evenings will resound with cries of merriment as the workers relax with a mug of mulled cider and regale each other with tales of yore.

Some evening will be enlivened with the sound of the lute, racket and crumhorn.

Life will be good.

Bloody hippies

J. R. Ewing wrote:

clv101 wrote:1978 levels of what? I'm generally not a fan of looking backwards, we aren't going backwards in a time machine, we're going forward. It's just that forward isn't where common opinion thinks it is.

Economy

Didn't you read my post?

Besides the economy going back to 70's levels, I was also looking at unemployment, strikes, riots, etc.

I wasn't talking about 'rose tinted' summers and green meadows etc.

Economy is a very big word, encompasses an awful lot. I guess you are thinking we might see some characteristics of the 70s - like the winter of discontent?

Chris, in what ways do you see going forward as different to going backwards?

i.e. When the UK gets back to 1970's levels of fossil fuel consumption, what do you think will differ from the UK in 1970?

I'm not sure that there will be that much difference. OK, we might still have mobile phones, and our cars may be more efficient, a percentage of us will have solar panels, but fundamentally I see more similarities than differences. Similarities I think will include;

1/ One adult per family in work, and one adult working full time in the home and garden etc.
2/ Working locally, i.e. no 60 mile per day commutes.
3/ Daily shopping for fresh produce.
4/ Less varied diet. - More local seasonal food.
5/ Holidays abroad will be rare for most people.
6/ Houses will be colder in winter.
7/ Stronger unions.
8/ Better music.
9/ Children will attend teh local school, not the best school 15 miles away.
10/ One car per family.

SunnyJim wrote: 1/ One adult per family in work, and one adult working full time in the home and garden etc.
2/ Working locally, i.e. no 60 mile per day commutes.
3/ Daily shopping for fresh produce.
4/ Less varied diet. - More local seasonal food.
5/ Holidays abroad will be rare for most people.
6/ Houses will be colder in winter.
7/ Stronger unions.
8/ Better music.
9/ Children will attend teh local school, not the best school 15 miles away.
10/ One car per family.

To which I would add

Almost everyone working on the land at harvest time, with school terms and hours of work in other busineses being altered to suit.

I suspect that we will see far more electric vehicles, not high performance ones like todays petrol cars, but something more like golf carts for personal use and more like milk floats for trade use.