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`Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.
`There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.
You hear some strange notions in Wonderland. Last Monday, for example, when Todd Akin spoke at Cynthia Davis’ town hall, he mentioned in passing that for every government job created, two private sector jobs are lost and that by advising FDR to create public works jobs in 1932, John Maynard Keynes turned a recession into the Great Depression.
That assertion almost sounds rational, aside from the unlikelihood that one Alcoa plant could plunge the entire Spanish economy down a chasm. Be aware, though, that Spain’s employment dived for a different reason.
Formerly one of the eurozone’s chief engines of economic growth and job creation, Spain suffered an abrupt change of fortunes last year when the outbreak of the global financial crisis hastened a correction that was already underway in its key real estate sector.
Spain’s current bleak economy, then, has little or nothing to do with undependable energy. In fact, a Google search of “alcoa spain solar wind” netted me nothing. If an Alcoa plant closed in Spain, it was more likely the result of global financial turmoil, specifically in the auto industry.
On April 7, Alcoa posted a second consecutive quarterly loss as metal prices and the auto industry slumped and global demand fell in the economic downturn.
Spain suffered because of its construction bubble being popped by U.S. carelessness about regulating the banking industry. Alcoa was less to blame than U.S. Congressional spinelessness for the last three decades, Bush policies in particular for eight years, and the shortsightedness of auto industry execs for god knows how long. So I feel like Alice when I hear Akin shudder over the “thousands and thousands of people all over Spain that have a vested interest in keeping their windmill going and their solar panel going.”
Cynthia Davis tried to keep up with the March Hare on global warming issues by airily dismissing concerns about excessive carbon in the atmosphere. She opined that the oceans emit far more carbon dioxide than all the cars. As usual, I was unsure what her point was. Should we scold the Pacific for being as naughty as the internal combustion engine?
The term tea party for the far right fringe takes on a whole new meaning in light of Alice’s departure from the March Hare and the Mad Hatter:
This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.
Putting a dormouse into a teapot makes no less sense than claiming that Keynes created the Great Depression or that alternative energy ruined Spain’s economy. In the realm of the absurd, Akin has gone to new … heights? depths? dimensions? dementia?
Hotflash,
I think you’ve hit on something with the Tea Party being the place for absurdity and rudeness. I, for one, will use that every chance I get. It’s time we stopped trying to make sense of the mind-numbing fantasies the wingnuts are spouting (although having the facts on issues is always a good idea.) As I’ve said before, we’ll never be able to keep up with their lies. We’ll be chasing the rabbit down the next hole and the next and the next.
We might have more influence on the general public if we use the Alice/Tea Party imagery in our protestations.
Something to think about. Comments?
energy issues; however, this spring, Alcoa did announce that as part of a suite of global cutbacks in response to falling earnings, they would be cutting back production in their three (still functioning) Spainish facilities by 18%. Nothing to do with solar energy issues at all.
In fact, Solar remains an integral part of the Spanish energy strategy, and Spain expects, as a result of the growth of the industry, to be able to phase out nuclear energy by 2020. Nor will it be necessary to increase subsidies as dependence on solar grows, since the solar energy sector is now becoming established and is attracting sufficient investment to offset its costs without increasing subsidies.
It is estimated that Solar power alone, if develoment continues along its current vector, could meet 25% of all (global) energy needs by 2050. The success of the Spanish experiemnt has led to plans in France t build: