I’m Powerless In My Little World

I'm Powerless In My Little World

A few hours ago, I spotted this search phrase in my analytics program: "i live in my own little world. but it's okay,they know me here." (That's exactly how it was entered. I simply cut and pasted it.) It made me start thinking about things that are going on around me; things that I know I'm powerless to change.

Gasoline and Gasoline Engines

Gasoline was invented prior to the coining of the word in 1865, although the exact date is unknown. The first gasoline-powered engine was built in 1885, more than 122 years ago. Why are people still driving vehicles that run on gasoline? I don't know which business sector is behind it, either the automotive industry or the oil industry or both, but they've done a good job of stifling innovation over the years. It isn't their fault, however, it's ours. "Ours" meaning American citizens and residents. We allowed them to get away with it.

Technology

It's no wonder that countries like China and India are starting to pass the US in technology (if they already haven't). Japan is already technologically superior to the US. In some ways, so is South Korea. How far down on the totem pole do we want to be? It's all about greed and power. Those with the power are greedy and will continue to be that way for as long as we let them, but what can we do about it? Our government won't do anything because most politicians are bought by the highest bidder and the ones that aren't, well, they don't get very far. Peons like me don't have enough power to make a dent in either business or politics.

Copyrights

How about the effects of copyright laws on innovation? Current US copyright laws keeps copyrighted works protected longer than most people will remain alive. That wasn't the intent of the founding fathers, but like everything else, power and greed changed all that. The intent was to ensure compensation for creators of new works for a limited period of time. After that, the works would enter the public domain where other people could use those works to innovate in other ways. The current laws make it impossible, basically keeping copyright protection in effect for an unlimited amount of time.

Do You Care?

I sometimes feel like I'm writing to a mindless throng of people who are either clueless or just don't care about things that continue to happen around us. I know I'm not the only blog author that feels this way, but there's not much I or they can do about it. While the main intent of my blog (believe it or not) is to give other blogs a boost, the popularity level of my blog isn't high enough to do much good on its own. It now averages around 300 unique visitors per day and the searchers are looking for things that just aren't there.

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hari on 2007-12-22 at 12:38 am (Reply)

You appear to be in a very pessimistic mood today, RT.
hari's last blog post..Getting the HP Pavilion 6314 in-built webcam working on Linux

opit on 2007-12-22 at 2:18 pm (Reply)

Is it the lack of feedback that makes you feel like you're shouting down a well ? I notice that blogs like ours, where we deal with topical matters, do not garner anything like the personal touch which occur on what you might think of as dairies.
Then again , there's no telling what sets people off sometimes. Many of my readers have active comment threads : and obviously spend a lot of time on them.

opit's last blog post..21 December - BlogRolling

opit on 2007-12-22 at 2:28 pm (Reply)

s/b diaries. BTW Have a look
http://thebirdandthesea.com/
If you 'do' religion, Monte Asbury seems to have his head screwed on right.
http://masbury.wordpress.com/

Doug Robertson on 2007-12-22 at 2:37 pm (Reply)

What Hari said. Yeah, you do seem a bit pessimistic today. But to answer your question, yeah, I care.

Doug Robertson's last blog post..A Duty To Disobey

Chris Lodge on 2007-12-24 at 5:11 am (Reply)

I care…..

And as you get 3 times the visitors I do, what chance me?

Meh, all we can do is keep going.

Merry Xmas & all that
Chris Lodge's last blog post..Use Blogger And Miss 3/4 Of The Internet

Richard on 2007-12-24 at 10:21 am (Reply)

I don't know how you can say America is becoming backward when it is the most efficient in productivity in the world.

Ed on 2007-12-25 at 6:29 am (Reply)

The most efficient in productivity in the world? Erm that sounds like Fox News fud to me.

Have you any idea how backward the US is in so many spheres of business? Telecom here is a joke, check Speedmatters to see the general inadequacies of internet access and speeds ;

farming is behind the times because there is so much cheap labor from mexico stalling the need for innovation;

I have never met such incompetent and overpaid bad value for money construction workers in my life (outside the commercial sector)

There is inefficiency everywhere, from airports to rail transport to bureaucracy to health care to… no way is America as great as people here like to say it is, and the longer this story-telling about greatness continues, the quicker the gap with the rest of the world will narrow.

RT is right. this country is not well led. In fact, it is being sold down the river by people promoting mediocrity while taking huge back handers.
Ed's last blog post..Thread: rw unique entry id 523 page11. Post by Lord Likely
RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines on 2007-12-26 at 12:34 pm (Reply)

I think Richard (Dick) has been away from the U.S. for a while. He either doesn't remember how bad it was, or it's become a lot worse since he left.

Yes, the U.S. was a dynamo for a long time. It isn't anymore.

missfit on 2007-12-24 at 5:58 pm (Reply)

I do care and for what it is worth, your government and your country's overall situation is much better than ours. Our politicians are among the top5 of the worst kind! You think there is still cure?

Abhinav Sood on 2007-12-25 at 11:34 pm (Reply)

You may want to thank God you haven't seen the politics in India, the defects in the system of education, management, and what not! You would have been pulling out the last set of hair on your head by this time if you faced it, and you really care.