Paul de Lagarde isn't a household name. If you brought him up among a hundred Germans......one might recall the name and simply note that he came out of the 1800s and had some strange connection to the Nazis, but was dead forty years prior to Hitler and the Nazis coming to power.
de Lagarde is a Berliner born in 1827.....and mostly destined for his life as an intellectural. He spent three years of time at Humboldt University (Berlin, 1844 to 1846) and two years at University of Halle-Wittenberg (Halle, 1846 through 1847). His field? Religious studies, philosophy and oddly enough.....Oriental languages.
All of this led de Lagarde to a self-appointed status as a Bible scholar and oriental languages expert. And.....to this odd field of expertise referred to as a polymath.
Naturally, you'd ask what a polymath is.....because you've never heard the title or word before.
Well....it's a Greek term that goes back centuries in terms of usage but mostly defined as a modern science or way of thinking in the 1700s.
Basically, a polymath is a guy or gal who has had a number of fields of study....beyond the normal university graduate.....so they "say" that they have "learned much" and can make better decisions over problems than the normal average guy with one single field of study. He can draw upon vast knowledge.....to answer complex questions unrelated to the general field of his expertise.
It's kinda like the guy who studies diesel mechanics, read all of Mark Twain's books, spent four years at a Bible college, and then spent eight months at some community college with intense studies into business operations......THEN he says that he's a big-time five-star expert on farming or professional baseball management.
So, le Lagarde comes out in 1875 with a book, and discusses the problem of German society integrating (you have to remember in 1800.....there were 300 different cultures, kingdoms, city-states, and empires existing in Germany). Prussia was roughly 70-odd years into integrating this massive structure into one country, and de Lagarde decided that the majority could make the integration move....BUT the Jews could never integrate.
In the logic that le Lagarde used......various Germanic peoples had the power and capability to blend into one society.....but the Jews were not of the Germanic people or culture.
All of this led le Lagarde to suggest at one point.....why not pressure or force the German Jews to move to a new land.....well.....like Madagascar (an island on the Indian Ocean side of Africa). Naturally, in the world of intellectural wisdom.....it all made sense. The fact that you were forcing in some way the event....the fact that Africans already inhabited Madagascar.....didn't really get mentioned. The fact that you'd have to take property and wealth from the Jews as you did this.....for redistribution purposes.....well, that was lost on le Lagarde as well.
Most historians who try to recount the real birth of Nazi-thinking.....end up in the 1875-era and looking over a highly published number of items from Paul de Lagarde. People read his essays and got attached to his way of thinking. Looking around for some mention in a college history class? No.....you won't find le Lagarde mentioned. In fact, if you took a basic class on German history.....it's a one-percent chance that le Lagarde will get mentioned even once. If you could find a history program splits German history up into six different classes and emphasized the events in each era......that's about the only way that you get a ten minute-introduction into the effect of one single guy on German history.
A self-absorbed intellectural who thought he knew the big picture? Yeah....that's the simplicity of this one single guy.
How many polymaths do we have around today? Hmmm.....that would be a curious question to pose.
Friday, June 5, 2015
The Thing About a Sabbatical
It existed to a minor degree prior to WW I, and took off to a fair degree in the 1960s. Today? You rarely hear much about it.
A European sabbatical.
This isn't a two week trip to London or Paris. It's not meant to be a ten-day trip to Rome. It's not really a seven-day trip to Madrid.
This was typically where you'd take anywhere from a month to twelve months.....just hoping on a train and going places in Europe. Somehow.....junior would graduate from college and convince dad to pour a couple of thousand dollars into a life-experience. Somehow....Mandy would convince mom that she needed ten weeks in France to get a flavor of life that she'd missed in school.
These were all people who would return and for decades....talk about that summer off in 1972....or that entire year off in 1964....where they saw Paris, Munich, Normandy, some unnamed beach resort in Greece, ate real Italian pizza every day for a month, sipped cheap Portuguese wine, and rode a scooter around Denmark to see things.
I've spent roughly twenty-four years of my life on the European 'sabbatical'. I admit....I worked most of the period in Europe and it wasn't my intentional goal to start with. But somewhere along the way.....I've come to realize the value in walking around Europe and getting a feel for history, culture, and dynamics.
For example.....until you've walked around London and gotten a feel for the area involved in the 1666 'great fire of London'......you really don't understand the vast nature of the town burning down. Until you've stood in the Gutenberg Museum of Mainz and looked over the printing process.....you don't understand the drift of society and impact over the next hundred years. Until you've actually driven over the Alps (not through the tunnels, but over the top).....you really don't grasp the division of Europe from north to south. Until you've sat in an Irish pub and listened to the woeful tales of some strange Irish guy and his crazy family.....you don't understand the nature of the Irish people.
No one keeps statistical data on how many Americans do this. I'd take a guess that ten thousand do it each year. Some write journals over the experience.....some write a simplified blog of the grand trip....some never return to the US, having realized some alternate reality of American life is slightly better and more desired.
If you asked me about the advantages.....I'd say there are four distinctive achievements from such an experience.
First, you get the raw truth of life in the 'other' world. It's not relayed to you via the news media or some guy who spent seven nights in Paris and thinks he's got the big picture. In some ways, it's not a pleasant picture because you realize the limits or negatives of life in Europe. It costs more....it's not simple to get from A to B.....and languages can be a massive issue.
Second, a typical trip around the US will introduce you to three-hundred varieties of a lunch or dinner....more or less. So you'd think that's it, and discover after six months of traveling around Europe.....another four-thousand ways of making a lunch or dinner and tempting you with different degrees of cooking. You develop a taste for Italian pizza because it's cooked on a stone oven, or you savor the taste of Rhine Valley wine over the Ebro River Valley wine from Spain. You get some passion finally over liquor-filled chocolate from Austria.....that American chocolate can never satisfy again.
Third, structure.....design....format....and architecture take on another dimension once you finish up twelve weeks walking around Amsterdam, Munch and Vienna. You ask why bicycle paths in Leiden, Netherlands can't be copied and worked into the city design of American cities. You question why every single airport in Europe is hooked into a railway spur and connect people quickly to airport usage......and why we can't do it in the US. You look over Danish beach areas and ask why Danes leave their beaches "as-is".....without any fancy resorts or hotels scattered around them.
Fourth, finally.....you come around to this odd thing of American patience versus European patience. There is this calm nature that is anchored into most of European society. Rash decision making isn't an item that you'd readily find in any European country. The idea of a bold new concept suddenly taking root and transforming itself in a matter of weeks or months? It won't happen in Europe. Wal-Mart failed when it tried to introduce itself into Europe. Most American fast food enterprises enjoyed a good early start, but over the past two or three years in Europe.....they've realized overgrowth and less-curious customers. Playing business poker or agenda poker with society.....isn't something that readily occurs in Europe....with odds for success being a bigger deal than most Americans are used to or enjoy.
So, if someone asked me over the idea of giving 'junior' ten-thousand dollars and six months in Europe on some sabbatical after four years of college.....I'd generally say it'd be money well spent and deliver a unique experience to the kid. I wouldn't give an 18-year old kid the experience....mostly because I'd question how they'd view the whole thing or the gains for them for later in life.
Sabbatical traveling.....might be the twist in life that someone needed.....to reset their compass and view the bigger world.
A European sabbatical.
This isn't a two week trip to London or Paris. It's not meant to be a ten-day trip to Rome. It's not really a seven-day trip to Madrid.
This was typically where you'd take anywhere from a month to twelve months.....just hoping on a train and going places in Europe. Somehow.....junior would graduate from college and convince dad to pour a couple of thousand dollars into a life-experience. Somehow....Mandy would convince mom that she needed ten weeks in France to get a flavor of life that she'd missed in school.
These were all people who would return and for decades....talk about that summer off in 1972....or that entire year off in 1964....where they saw Paris, Munich, Normandy, some unnamed beach resort in Greece, ate real Italian pizza every day for a month, sipped cheap Portuguese wine, and rode a scooter around Denmark to see things.
I've spent roughly twenty-four years of my life on the European 'sabbatical'. I admit....I worked most of the period in Europe and it wasn't my intentional goal to start with. But somewhere along the way.....I've come to realize the value in walking around Europe and getting a feel for history, culture, and dynamics.
For example.....until you've walked around London and gotten a feel for the area involved in the 1666 'great fire of London'......you really don't understand the vast nature of the town burning down. Until you've stood in the Gutenberg Museum of Mainz and looked over the printing process.....you don't understand the drift of society and impact over the next hundred years. Until you've actually driven over the Alps (not through the tunnels, but over the top).....you really don't grasp the division of Europe from north to south. Until you've sat in an Irish pub and listened to the woeful tales of some strange Irish guy and his crazy family.....you don't understand the nature of the Irish people.
No one keeps statistical data on how many Americans do this. I'd take a guess that ten thousand do it each year. Some write journals over the experience.....some write a simplified blog of the grand trip....some never return to the US, having realized some alternate reality of American life is slightly better and more desired.
If you asked me about the advantages.....I'd say there are four distinctive achievements from such an experience.
First, you get the raw truth of life in the 'other' world. It's not relayed to you via the news media or some guy who spent seven nights in Paris and thinks he's got the big picture. In some ways, it's not a pleasant picture because you realize the limits or negatives of life in Europe. It costs more....it's not simple to get from A to B.....and languages can be a massive issue.
Second, a typical trip around the US will introduce you to three-hundred varieties of a lunch or dinner....more or less. So you'd think that's it, and discover after six months of traveling around Europe.....another four-thousand ways of making a lunch or dinner and tempting you with different degrees of cooking. You develop a taste for Italian pizza because it's cooked on a stone oven, or you savor the taste of Rhine Valley wine over the Ebro River Valley wine from Spain. You get some passion finally over liquor-filled chocolate from Austria.....that American chocolate can never satisfy again.
Third, structure.....design....format....and architecture take on another dimension once you finish up twelve weeks walking around Amsterdam, Munch and Vienna. You ask why bicycle paths in Leiden, Netherlands can't be copied and worked into the city design of American cities. You question why every single airport in Europe is hooked into a railway spur and connect people quickly to airport usage......and why we can't do it in the US. You look over Danish beach areas and ask why Danes leave their beaches "as-is".....without any fancy resorts or hotels scattered around them.
Fourth, finally.....you come around to this odd thing of American patience versus European patience. There is this calm nature that is anchored into most of European society. Rash decision making isn't an item that you'd readily find in any European country. The idea of a bold new concept suddenly taking root and transforming itself in a matter of weeks or months? It won't happen in Europe. Wal-Mart failed when it tried to introduce itself into Europe. Most American fast food enterprises enjoyed a good early start, but over the past two or three years in Europe.....they've realized overgrowth and less-curious customers. Playing business poker or agenda poker with society.....isn't something that readily occurs in Europe....with odds for success being a bigger deal than most Americans are used to or enjoy.
So, if someone asked me over the idea of giving 'junior' ten-thousand dollars and six months in Europe on some sabbatical after four years of college.....I'd generally say it'd be money well spent and deliver a unique experience to the kid. I wouldn't give an 18-year old kid the experience....mostly because I'd question how they'd view the whole thing or the gains for them for later in life.
Sabbatical traveling.....might be the twist in life that someone needed.....to reset their compass and view the bigger world.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Hessen and Immigration
The Hessen (my local German state) State Statistical Office noted yesterday that for 2014.....the state of Hessen took in 26,600 immigrants.
That's seventy-eight percent more than in 2013.
The division? Only eleven-percent of the 26,600 came from Syria. Thirty-percent came from Afghanistan. Thirty-nine percent came from Asia. The rest were a mixed group.
A high point? No.....actually, the all-time record was in 1997 with 53,300 people, and most came out of the Bosnia region.
For 2015? It's difficult to say a prediction but one might guess that it'll go higher than the 2014 number. I might take a guess at 30,000 or more.
Problems? The news media is careful now to avoid discussing any problems. I noticed this week.....one refugee center in the Hessen region got into the news because rat problems and marginal social office assistance. Two years ago.....you might have seen thirty to fifty stories a month via national and state-run TV. Now? There might be three or four stories a month. My humble guess is that there are a lot of Germans frustrated over the immigration and refugee business and it's best to say as little as possible.
Successful end? No one is really sure when this immigration/refugee episode will come to a downgraded situation. Housing in Hessen....particularly in Frankfurt, Hanau, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden, is on an odd trend. We are mostly maxing out in the urban areas.....with massive construction going on in the suburbs outside of the urban zones (Wiesbaden has several thousand apartments either in construction presently or planned through 2016-2020). In the rural areas.....houses and apartments sit empty.....particularly if the town is fifty kilometers away from any urban area. Oddly.....the new immigrants don't want to live in rural areas.
So, it's impossible to predict where this trend will finally stabilize.
That's seventy-eight percent more than in 2013.
The division? Only eleven-percent of the 26,600 came from Syria. Thirty-percent came from Afghanistan. Thirty-nine percent came from Asia. The rest were a mixed group.
A high point? No.....actually, the all-time record was in 1997 with 53,300 people, and most came out of the Bosnia region.
For 2015? It's difficult to say a prediction but one might guess that it'll go higher than the 2014 number. I might take a guess at 30,000 or more.
Problems? The news media is careful now to avoid discussing any problems. I noticed this week.....one refugee center in the Hessen region got into the news because rat problems and marginal social office assistance. Two years ago.....you might have seen thirty to fifty stories a month via national and state-run TV. Now? There might be three or four stories a month. My humble guess is that there are a lot of Germans frustrated over the immigration and refugee business and it's best to say as little as possible.
Successful end? No one is really sure when this immigration/refugee episode will come to a downgraded situation. Housing in Hessen....particularly in Frankfurt, Hanau, Darmstadt and Wiesbaden, is on an odd trend. We are mostly maxing out in the urban areas.....with massive construction going on in the suburbs outside of the urban zones (Wiesbaden has several thousand apartments either in construction presently or planned through 2016-2020). In the rural areas.....houses and apartments sit empty.....particularly if the town is fifty kilometers away from any urban area. Oddly.....the new immigrants don't want to live in rural areas.
So, it's impossible to predict where this trend will finally stabilize.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
The Process of Life
We had this odd accident in the region yesterday morning. Gal was driving herself and two kids in the car into Wiesbaden (probably fifteen minutes from the city limits). Suddenly, a spider appears in the front seat area.
Yep, the gal freaks out....weaves across the road, and hits an oncoming car.
Fairly serious situation and all four folks were carried off to the hospital with significant injuries.
The spider? Well....based on lack of comments.....I'd say he walked away.
This is the thing about car accidents. You could be feeling great and marvelous.....and end up on the road at the same time and place where Sammy the spider decides to show himself, with the other driver freaking out. Life is that screwed up.
Yep, the gal freaks out....weaves across the road, and hits an oncoming car.
Fairly serious situation and all four folks were carried off to the hospital with significant injuries.
The spider? Well....based on lack of comments.....I'd say he walked away.
This is the thing about car accidents. You could be feeling great and marvelous.....and end up on the road at the same time and place where Sammy the spider decides to show himself, with the other driver freaking out. Life is that screwed up.
Germans and Spring Water
I'm using my best-guess numbers....because no one ever collects this kind of data.....but I'd take a guess that around fifteen Germans out of a thousand.....will go out weekly to collect local spring water from one single source, for their water and coffee requirements.
These are people....mostly over the age of fifty and fairly dedicated to a particular taste of water and it needs to be non-city piped water. Health conscious? Well.....I'd take a guess that these are also people into a certain way of living.....into wellness things....and into nutritional enhancement.
So people take a dozen odd containers every week or two and run off to a local spring. Water quality? Best not to bring this up. Within thirty minutes driving of my place....there's probably two-hundred such springs, and I doubt if any government office really wants to have that responsibility.
The most unusual of the springs I've seen? Between Wiesbaden and the Frankfurt airport.....there's a spring area about 100 feet away from the autobahn itself.
These are people....mostly over the age of fifty and fairly dedicated to a particular taste of water and it needs to be non-city piped water. Health conscious? Well.....I'd take a guess that these are also people into a certain way of living.....into wellness things....and into nutritional enhancement.
So people take a dozen odd containers every week or two and run off to a local spring. Water quality? Best not to bring this up. Within thirty minutes driving of my place....there's probably two-hundred such springs, and I doubt if any government office really wants to have that responsibility.
The most unusual of the springs I've seen? Between Wiesbaden and the Frankfurt airport.....there's a spring area about 100 feet away from the autobahn itself.
Germans and Homeopathic Medicine
German doctors are probably among the best in the world......they will tell you that and the public generally believes the 'status' of the comment. My personal belief is that they probably are at the same level as American doctors. There are a few differences in medical beliefs and practices that tend to pop up....like Homeopathic medicine.
Somewhere down the line in the 1700s....within Germany....Homeopathic practice started up. The basic idea? Your body is capable of doing a lot of great things and you need to practice some good habits and let it go on cruise-control.
So, they hype up a balanced diet....less meat....heavy on vegetables....and wine somewhere in the mix (in moderate portions of course). They talk up the use of herbal remedies....lots of tea usage....moderate walking/hiking.....and baths (this is how Wiesbaden got into the spa business originally).
In the middle of all of this Homeopathic medicine.....are globules. These are Schuessler salts or referred to as Bach Flower Therapy. If you looked at a container.....you'd say these were tiny M&M-like....often referred to as "beads".
What I'll generally say about the Bach Flower Therapy is that the German doctor who devised this.....said there were nineteen different emotional states of the mind (he says he did a fair amount of survey to arrive at this analysis). This was part of a trend in the 1930s.....generating different views on medicine. So the globules or Bach Flower Therapy....come mostly from an assortment of flowers (Wild Rose and Willow are among them.....I won't waste a lot of time listing all of the thirty-seven flowers in the group), and mountain spring water. That's it.....nothing else.
You can get the globules in this form, or in a sugar-like form. Don't ask me the difference in terms of effect.
So you'd come across a doctor who would prescribe this as part of his Homeopathic practice (it would one of dozens of concepts to utilize).
Success or failure of the globules or Bach Flower Therapy? Well.....in the eighty-odd years since introduction....NO one has ever proven that this area of Homeopathic medicine with the globules work. What is generally believed is that continued usage and positive thinking that they work (like sugar pills).....come out as a positive. Long term usage and effect? Nothing negative, but nothing positive either.....at least if you look around and ask questions.
How did this guy arrive at 37 different flowers mixed into this therapy? Unknown. Maybe he bumped into someone in Bavaria who had an old mixture that grandma made up or just accidentally came to this conclusion.
As for the bulk of Homeopathic medicine? It's a divided audience in Germany. Some doctors readily utilize the ideas and suggest different gimmicks for their patients. Some readily discount the whole thing as a fraud. In general, if you ate better, drunk more water, threw in a glass of wine here and there, kept your weight down, walked two miles a day, didn't smoke, and enjoyed less stress.....you'd generally live longer. It's a statistical thing. By flipping this into a whole concept and stressing various elements as a practice....maybe that's all you need in life.
Homeopathic medicine ideas featured on German TV? Occasionally, these guys slip through the cracks and get an interview or time to spell out these ideas. The regular medical establishment isn't that happy with them but they haven't been able to stop the practices or outlaw anything. Some Germans will swear that certain things work for them.
That's the thing with globules.....a gimmick of sorts for your health. You might bump into a German neighbor or some associate who brags about their success with Homeopathic concepts. Don't be skeptical of the person.....but don't readily accept it as some scientific breakthrough. Bottom line.....it won't hurt you.
Somewhere down the line in the 1700s....within Germany....Homeopathic practice started up. The basic idea? Your body is capable of doing a lot of great things and you need to practice some good habits and let it go on cruise-control.
So, they hype up a balanced diet....less meat....heavy on vegetables....and wine somewhere in the mix (in moderate portions of course). They talk up the use of herbal remedies....lots of tea usage....moderate walking/hiking.....and baths (this is how Wiesbaden got into the spa business originally).
In the middle of all of this Homeopathic medicine.....are globules. These are Schuessler salts or referred to as Bach Flower Therapy. If you looked at a container.....you'd say these were tiny M&M-like....often referred to as "beads".
What I'll generally say about the Bach Flower Therapy is that the German doctor who devised this.....said there were nineteen different emotional states of the mind (he says he did a fair amount of survey to arrive at this analysis). This was part of a trend in the 1930s.....generating different views on medicine. So the globules or Bach Flower Therapy....come mostly from an assortment of flowers (Wild Rose and Willow are among them.....I won't waste a lot of time listing all of the thirty-seven flowers in the group), and mountain spring water. That's it.....nothing else.
You can get the globules in this form, or in a sugar-like form. Don't ask me the difference in terms of effect.
So you'd come across a doctor who would prescribe this as part of his Homeopathic practice (it would one of dozens of concepts to utilize).
Success or failure of the globules or Bach Flower Therapy? Well.....in the eighty-odd years since introduction....NO one has ever proven that this area of Homeopathic medicine with the globules work. What is generally believed is that continued usage and positive thinking that they work (like sugar pills).....come out as a positive. Long term usage and effect? Nothing negative, but nothing positive either.....at least if you look around and ask questions.
How did this guy arrive at 37 different flowers mixed into this therapy? Unknown. Maybe he bumped into someone in Bavaria who had an old mixture that grandma made up or just accidentally came to this conclusion.
As for the bulk of Homeopathic medicine? It's a divided audience in Germany. Some doctors readily utilize the ideas and suggest different gimmicks for their patients. Some readily discount the whole thing as a fraud. In general, if you ate better, drunk more water, threw in a glass of wine here and there, kept your weight down, walked two miles a day, didn't smoke, and enjoyed less stress.....you'd generally live longer. It's a statistical thing. By flipping this into a whole concept and stressing various elements as a practice....maybe that's all you need in life.
Homeopathic medicine ideas featured on German TV? Occasionally, these guys slip through the cracks and get an interview or time to spell out these ideas. The regular medical establishment isn't that happy with them but they haven't been able to stop the practices or outlaw anything. Some Germans will swear that certain things work for them.
That's the thing with globules.....a gimmick of sorts for your health. You might bump into a German neighbor or some associate who brags about their success with Homeopathic concepts. Don't be skeptical of the person.....but don't readily accept it as some scientific breakthrough. Bottom line.....it won't hurt you.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
No Cash?
There's a concept which is openly discussed now in Europe and some people think it'll happen within the next decade.
One of the chief problems facing society today....among the 500-odd problems you might dream up.....is the fear of a bank-run. I admit.....in Germany or Denmark or France.....it's a zero-percent chance. In Greece, it's now around a ninety-percent chance that a bank-run will occur. In Italy.....it's gone from zero to ten-percent.
A bank- run.....is where everyone realizes a collapse or financial downfall will occur, and they run down to the bank and withdraw ALL their money. So imagine a bank in your town with 3,000 accounts and each person has between $500 and $500,000 in that bank. Things get hectic, and suddenly....there's no cash. If people had maintained some sense and just been a little careful.....the crisis would slowly pass.....their money would be safe.....and no five-star collapse of their state financial network would occur.
The concept here to stop this run on money? No cash.
Yeah......all your money would be digital. Walking in and trying to remove all your cash? It won't happen. You can remove your cash and digitally deposit with another bank or credit organization.....but you couldn't take down a country's economy by the whole town or whole state or country removing all cash (like we might observe in Greece).
The concept is generally referred to as the 'cashless society'. You'd have an ATM card and simply pay for everyone with the card. Buying two pairs of underwear? Fine.....put down the ATM card and simply pay with it. Buying an ice cream cone? Pay via the ATM card.
Issues? Well....it costs something to have a connection to the ATM network, and banks know there's some profit here for them.
The odds of the public accepting a cashless society? I'd question it openly and personally doubt if you convince more than fifty percent to go along with the idea.
Having the digital cash wiped out by some hacker? I could imagine some bank having some idiot get into the system, and wipe out all cash via ten thousand customers in a matter of a minute. Back-up data? It could also be wiped out.
Convincing people to give up cash and coins? I have my doubts that it'll ever happen.....but if there was a favorable economy to try this idea.....it's Europe.
One of the chief problems facing society today....among the 500-odd problems you might dream up.....is the fear of a bank-run. I admit.....in Germany or Denmark or France.....it's a zero-percent chance. In Greece, it's now around a ninety-percent chance that a bank-run will occur. In Italy.....it's gone from zero to ten-percent.
A bank- run.....is where everyone realizes a collapse or financial downfall will occur, and they run down to the bank and withdraw ALL their money. So imagine a bank in your town with 3,000 accounts and each person has between $500 and $500,000 in that bank. Things get hectic, and suddenly....there's no cash. If people had maintained some sense and just been a little careful.....the crisis would slowly pass.....their money would be safe.....and no five-star collapse of their state financial network would occur.
The concept here to stop this run on money? No cash.
Yeah......all your money would be digital. Walking in and trying to remove all your cash? It won't happen. You can remove your cash and digitally deposit with another bank or credit organization.....but you couldn't take down a country's economy by the whole town or whole state or country removing all cash (like we might observe in Greece).
The concept is generally referred to as the 'cashless society'. You'd have an ATM card and simply pay for everyone with the card. Buying two pairs of underwear? Fine.....put down the ATM card and simply pay with it. Buying an ice cream cone? Pay via the ATM card.
Issues? Well....it costs something to have a connection to the ATM network, and banks know there's some profit here for them.
The odds of the public accepting a cashless society? I'd question it openly and personally doubt if you convince more than fifty percent to go along with the idea.
Having the digital cash wiped out by some hacker? I could imagine some bank having some idiot get into the system, and wipe out all cash via ten thousand customers in a matter of a minute. Back-up data? It could also be wiped out.
Convincing people to give up cash and coins? I have my doubts that it'll ever happen.....but if there was a favorable economy to try this idea.....it's Europe.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Local Vote
They had a vote this weekend in the region.....over in Eltville. The vote discussion? Well....the windmill electrical power folks want to put up several windmills over the Taunus Ridge that overlooks the Rhine River. On the Pfalz side of the river.....there's already various windmills.....but on the Hessen side....none.
What the news media will say is that 13,300 people were eligible to vote in this election. The final tally in this vote were 3390 people against any windmills in the area, and 2921 people in favor of windmills. Statistically, roughly forty-percent of the voters showed up, and barely fifty-one percent of those who voted.....carried the election. Numbers-wise.....it's not a clear majority and so most folks think the discussion will continue on.
What's the whole thing about? The windmill folks have come to realize that river regions and hills overlooking the river....are the best place to put a windmill operation, if you want a successful profit margin. On the Pfalz side of the river.....no one ever said much. On the Hessen side.....everyone got all hyper when you suggested a windmill operation might be put up. It was a harsh situation over landscape and the 'view'.
Oddly, if you counted up the first ten-thousand windmills built in Germany.....I doubt if any public debate or public vote was ever done. The local city council would have read the proposal, and had a simple vote. Over the past five years, you get the impression that this anti-windmill enthusiasm came out of nowhere. These are the same people who voted for the anti-nuclear power program, and the same folks who voted for coal-power being a bad thing. They will openly say they are pro-windmill.....but they need to be in locations where no one can really observe them.....and if they generate half the power of one on a river hillside....well....that's acceptable.
Yeah, for an American.....it's a difficult reality to grasp.
What the news media will say is that 13,300 people were eligible to vote in this election. The final tally in this vote were 3390 people against any windmills in the area, and 2921 people in favor of windmills. Statistically, roughly forty-percent of the voters showed up, and barely fifty-one percent of those who voted.....carried the election. Numbers-wise.....it's not a clear majority and so most folks think the discussion will continue on.
What's the whole thing about? The windmill folks have come to realize that river regions and hills overlooking the river....are the best place to put a windmill operation, if you want a successful profit margin. On the Pfalz side of the river.....no one ever said much. On the Hessen side.....everyone got all hyper when you suggested a windmill operation might be put up. It was a harsh situation over landscape and the 'view'.
Oddly, if you counted up the first ten-thousand windmills built in Germany.....I doubt if any public debate or public vote was ever done. The local city council would have read the proposal, and had a simple vote. Over the past five years, you get the impression that this anti-windmill enthusiasm came out of nowhere. These are the same people who voted for the anti-nuclear power program, and the same folks who voted for coal-power being a bad thing. They will openly say they are pro-windmill.....but they need to be in locations where no one can really observe them.....and if they generate half the power of one on a river hillside....well....that's acceptable.
Yeah, for an American.....it's a difficult reality to grasp.
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