‽istis sat in the dark during a
power outage and pondered with wonder, appreciation, guilt, regret and shame how
different (the world) might be if just perhaps, possibly, maybe electricity was
thought about a little more…
‽ perhaps
by way of shining a spotlight (pun intended) on past and present geopolitical
arrangements, on equality and inequality, on wealth and poverty, the control of
distribution and the distribution of control – of empires old, new and virtual
‽ possibly
by the apparent c.84% of the world’s population that does have access as well
as the c.16% (1.2 billion people) that does not[i]
‽ maybe
by those with power to influence debates about public good or private profit
and shape policies that retain an apparent bias towards fossil fuels (66.8% v 16.3% hydro, 4.4% wind, 1.8% solar[ii])
‽ by
those who turn on the light in the morning; charge their ‘phones, laptops and
tablets; who reject the rechargeable batteries as too expensive; who read the timetable
at every bus stop; who both drive through and stop at the lights; who give
thanks for incubators and wired up medical equipment; who open the fridge, turn
on the microwave, watch the TV and finally set the alarm on the clock (Doomsday
or otherwise) and turn out the light
…And, if it didn’t take an absence to appreciate a
usually-present, then what else might be different?
©Pistis
[i]
Source: World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/milagros-rivas-saiz-electricity-access-sdg7/
[ii]
Source: IEA: ‘Electricity Information Overview 2019’ free downloadable publication
https://webstore.iea.org/electricity-information-2019-overview
