Nanotechnology. Artificial Intelligence. I think there is a real growth potential in medicine, especially research, extending life, making new drugs, etc. Stem Cell research is one facet of this, but there are other, less political and more valuable therapies not being adequately explored. Only problem is that much of this is seen as being "evil" if its profit-driven. And if you can't protect a company's intellectual property, there is no incentive to innovate. This is the next wave...but unfortunately its not going to happen for a while given the current climate.
I pretty much agree with most of what you wrote, although I certainly don't think "green jobs are a scam." My city just started doing curbside recycling, resulting in quite a few new green jobs. My employer is quoting on multimillion dollar car projects with three different manufacturers for green applications (electric cars, remanufacturing). I dropped $500 to beef up insulation in my attic a few months ago. We're moving away from incandescent bulbs. All of this stuff, and a lot more, demonstrate pretty clearly that a ton of industries are making pretty radical changes toward adding "green jobs." I suppose you could argue that many of the changes I cite are government imposed, but guess what? The government policies pretty much reflect popular opinion. Is green energy production a scam? Is all the money going into those sectors an utter waste? I kind of doubt it, but I don't know. The real issue is that there's only so much money people have to spend on electricity. It's like telecommunications. People don't really spend any more money to talk on phones now than they did in 1985. It's just that they pay cell providers and sometimes cable companies and sometimes Skype instead of just one phone company. Most of that business has been reshuffled over all these years, but I bet the net number of employees working to deliver phone service hasn't changed that much since that time. Similarly, energy production might get reshuffled, but I wonder how much new business will emerge at the direct expense of older energy companies, with no net difference in employees. I really think it's going to be all about extending human life. Making people live longer and healthier lives. I just can't think of anything that has more universal interest and potential profitability.
you would think so, but nowadays, its just more about how to make people make themselves feel more important than they actually are!
The next big thing is robots, which will replace everyone in the service industry. Think of it, walk into a fast food joint, the server-robot says in a nice warm voice "what can I do for you today?". And you say, I'd like a burger, and I'd like you to suck my dick while I eat. And the she-robot says "yes sir!" and does just that. Then she goes in the back and removes her disposable oral cavity, drops it in the trash, and inserts a new one. And yes, she'll be powered by green energy. No one wants a coal-fired blowjob. barfo
So I have a few thoughts to add to the various things mentioned. One: renewable energy I think about the most is blue-green algae making biodiesel. Look it up, I'm lazy and have mentioned it before here I believe. What is good about reshuffling of the jobs in energy? It can be done in the usa instead of the middle east getting our oil money. We can have electric cars for the small stuff and biodiesel for the big stuff. The electricity can come from cleaner sources and if it must be coal, you can immediately recapture the CO2 to make, guess what! green algae biodiesel! [video=youtube;EnOSnJJSP5c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnOSnJJSP5c&feature=PlayList&p=E1797DC65E7C51C4&index=0&playnext=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnOSnJJSP5c&feature=PlayList&p=E1797DC65E7C51C4&index=0&playnext=1[/video] as far as medical research goes, there have been significant advances in creating stem cells out of regular cells. it's not perfect yet, but it's getting there. And Cord-blood/placenta, is becoming quite useful! Nano-technology is a pretty vague term, especially since microchips are already on the nano-scale. Robots already make our cars, but yes the service robots will be here soon. [video=youtube;7KaZ_YrYUrw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KaZ_YrYUrw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KaZ_YrYUrw[/video]
It'd be awesome if she dispensed condiments out of her fingers. So if you wanted more mustard, she'd just point at your burger, you'd take off the top bun, and she'd zap it with just the right amount. Also she has to do anal.
The reason I call it a "scam" is that it's making us pay for something we already have. It's transferring businesses, not creating new ones. For example, you get LED and flourescent light bulb manufacturers, but the incandscent manufacturer changes or dies. There's no net increase in bulb production; each bulb simply becomes more expensive. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of clean air, but these cram-down policies are hurting the economy at the worst possible time. The difference is that cell phones have resulted in a more productive workplace (and a less productive one, but that's another subject). It used to be that if I had to travel to check out a property or meet someone, I had hours of non-productive time where I couldn't talk to anyone because I didn't have access to a telephone or a computer. Now I can talk on the way to and from the airport, on a train or in my car. I can talk while I'm walking around a property. I can talk taking light rail to work. Waiting for a flight or on a train, I can link to the internet, allowing me to do work. Don't confuse the transformational change of moving from buggy whips to car manufacture with moving from "brown jobs" to "green jobs". The former grows the market; the latter simply replaces one with another. I really think it's going to be all about extending human life. Making people live longer and healthier lives. I just can't think of anything that has more universal interest and potential profitability.[/QUOTE]
I only call Green Energy a "scam" because of the way people are saying its the wave of the future. Its good to explore clean and alternative energy but when they want to mandate its usage when its still kind of "iffy", it will suck.
I do not think that investment in "pure science" is a bad thing - so while the outlook for "Green Jobs" is not pretty from a direct ROI in the near future - I have no doubts that there will be a lot of side-effects that will help the economy big time in the long-term, just as the space race in the 60s has done wonders for American industry in many areas, a lot of them very far from space exploration. The reality is, however, that there is tons of stuff to do to make our energy usage a lot more efficient - even without "green jobs" - and this, in turn, will make America more competitive elsewhere - a lot of money that is used inefficiently to create energy can be used elsewhere, prices for production will be done making us more competitive etc...
