Kickstart My Heart

Relax. As regular readers are aware every second piece of work usually discusses something or somebody in the community who is doing something useful. This article has nothing to do with Vince Neil, Tommy Lee or glam metal in general.

Instead this piece focusses on crowdfunding. For those who are not familiar with the term, crowdfunding is a method of raising funds by encouraging financial backers to pledge money towards a project prior to the project itself being developed.

Many people think that crowdfunding is a new phenomenon. This is untrue. People have been crowdfunding for many hundreds of years.  Crowdfunding has been around for centuries. Authors have historically used various subscription schemes to fund their work.

The best historical example of crowdfunding involves the Statue of Liberty. Whilst the statue itself was not crowdfunded when the statue arrived the base for it had not yet been built. Several American cities offered to pay for the pedestal in return for the relocation of the statue to their city, the New Yorkers rebuffed all offers.

Finally, renowned publisher Joseph Pulitzer launched a fundraising campaign through his newspaper The New York World. The campaign secured the required funds from more than one hundred and sixty thousand donors and the statue was erected in its now familiar locale (1).

Crowdfunding has recently undergone somewhat of a resurgence primarily due to the digitisation of the crowdfunding model. In the past crowdfunding was often managed through mail subscription and the like. The internet has changed all that.

Kickstarter is one of the more popular websites which allow entrepreneurs to start a campaign for whatever it is they are proposing to do (2). The sheer variety of the proposed projects is impressive.

Perhaps you would like a robotic arm which can hold items for your hobby projects? It can be found on Kickstarter (3). Maybe you’d like a publication which places female protagonists at the forefront of fantasy and science fiction stories? It’s called Hell Hath No Fury (4). How awesome would it be to have a craft pen which uses recycled plastic bottles as ‘ink’? Practical, sustainable and found on Kickstarter (5).

Whist the range of items on Kickstarter is attractive the relative cost effectiveness is particularly appealing. There are many projects which participants can pledge towards for under twenty dollars. Those pledging either receive the product itself or some other benefit associated with the project.

Kickstarter enforces a fairly strict set of requirements which project creators must adhere to. Some types of campaigns, such as awareness campaigns. Kickstarter bans the use of photorealistic renderings and simulations demonstrating products. Projects require a physical prototype and or a manufacturing plan.

Despite these requirements there is of course still some risk for backers. The risks are further managed by the often relatively small financial commitment from pledgers and the practice of financial contributions not being debited from pledger’s accounts unless the project meets its funding goals.

The success of Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms is just beginning to pose a threat to the traditional finance system. In 2014 the United Kingdom decided to regulate crowdfunding through the Financial Conduct Authority (6). It seems likely that crowdfunding is destined for greater popularity in the future.

There is a great deal of resentment in the community towards the traditional finance system. This is unsurprising given that large banking institutions exist purely for profit and produce exactly nothing.

Whilst crowdfunding is not without its risks it seems a viable alternative particularly for small and medium sized businesses. If the choice between financial providers is a faceless profiteer working in finance or a collection of like people, I’m going with people like me every time.

Furthermore, consider what types of projects are likely to be successful if the people are deciding which projects get funded. Will they select projects which are very profitable but are so profitable at a cost to our environment? Will projects which are harmful to people or which seek to exploit people’s fears get funded? Yes. I think there still will be some of those.

Crowdfunding allows people to select projects that, while still profitable and useful, are also ethically sound. It’s no guarantee but when people decide, and when products need a lot of people to get off the ground, I’d suggest the likelihood of an ethical outcome is increased.

Regardless of ethics crowdfunding is an exciting development. It allows people lacking in funds, but with an abundance of motivation, to chase their dreams. It allows people who respect those chasing their dreams to fund them. That alone is a sound reason to get behind Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms.

1. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21932675

2. https://www.kickstarter.com/

3. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/254771949/littlearm-a-3-d-printed-arduino-robot-arm?ref=home_featured

4. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jmmartin/hath-no-fury-an-anthology-where-women-take-the-lea?ref=home_potd

5. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/232361696/renegade-the-worlds-first-3d-pen-to-run-on-plastic?ref=category_popular

6. http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/crowdfunding-review.pdf

The Aussie Bloke

I read an interesting article a few months ago in The Australian newspaper, authored by Trent Dalton entitled Man Up (1). The article seemed to insist that the ‘old Aussie bloke’ is a dying breed. The article then went on to juxtapose a host of old school stereotypes about Australian men in the 1950’s with another host of stereotypes about more modern Australian men.

This article was following up after an article also published by The Australian, authored by Nikki Gemmell entitled Alpha Males Rare in the Age of Soft Millennial Man (2). This article had apparently elicited quite a response from its readers.

Whilst I often loathe articles like the two above after reading them I like to pause and reflect upon the absurdities of life. For example, imagine the response a male writer might get if he authored a piece entitled Domestic goddesses rare in the age of the modern demanding woman in a national publication?

It’s difficult to distil just what makes someone ‘Alpha’ and always dangerous to try. Conveniently the Man Up piece highlights this particularly well. It begins by mapping out the stereo-typical Aussie bloke’s traits. These seem to include being able to fix stuff, drink boring beer, have a beer gut, be a dud root and have a good tan.

Dalton then goes on to describe Dylan, who is a self-described modern ‘alpha male’. Last of a dying breed according to him. Dylan considers those old school Aussie blokes as alpha’s. He remembers them, and is in awe of them apparently.

I’m unconvinced that many women, either today or eighty years ago, would consider the traditional Aussie bloke as remotely appealing. Yet somehow Dylan seems to think that’s what a man should aspire to.

Next we meet a professor of sociology and gender studies Mr Michael Kimmel. Kimmel suggests that there is this kind of feeling among men that somethings happened but men don’t know what that is. He notes that men’s lives have changed dramatically in the last forty years.

Kimmel recognises that women have achieved much over the past forty years in the workplace whilst also continuing to be the prime facilitator of domestic duties. Despite his acknowledgement he seems to have missed the fact that things have changed dramatically for both men and women. According to Kimmel its only men who are saying “what the heck just happened”.

Next the article references two young men pashing in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD. They suggest that the true-blue Aussie bloke was actually a myth. They contend that being a man is really about being open and honest.

Meanwhile Ash Taki complains that “your woman these days just wants more and more and more”. He notes that his dad never did anything around the house and that he got to sit there, watch TV and have a beer.

And so the article goes on in what quickly descends into one massive whine about how tough it is to be an Australian man in today’s world.

What utter – fucking – crap.

Men have never had it better, either have women. Women entering the workforce has led to a substantial rise in the living standards for people of both genders. With more people earning a wage there have been more opportunities for new businesses to arise which cater to fresh wants and desires.

In return for this men have to do what? A little housework. Some cooking or some cleaning. Pushing the occasional button on a dishwasher or a washing machine. Perhaps we’ll actually have to spend some one on one time with our kids. I’m not sure how we can cope.

The deepest concern I have about Dalton’s article and many like it is that they paint a picture of male impotence which is simply not true. They construct this narrative which suggests that women are being unfair when they expect men to do half of the unpaid work when women do half of the paid work. It paints men as victims of female oppression when in reality women expectations are entirely reasonable.

When I hear men voice concerns like those voiced throughout the Man Up article my response is simple. You don’t have to be in a relationship with a woman, or at all for that matter. If it’s all so bad, so terrible and if women are so unfair, what’s keeping you there buddy? If your partner is so terrible and you are so wonderful then simply leave. Surely with your special type of awesome you're better off alone?

The Aussie bloke is in constant evolution and I doubt that will ever change. This is simply because society is ever changing and societal expectations are changing with it. There’s nothing remarkable about gender stereotypes shifting.

As difficult as it is to distil what makes someone ‘Alpha’ I’d venture that ‘Alpha is not a collected wish lists of disparate traits. Rather it is just one trait and that’s competence. Doesn’t matter if it’s your performance at work, or in the kitchen or in the bedroom. Simply doing most things to a high standard consistently will put you at the top of anyone’s tree.

1. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/man-up/news-story/c382c09741fa57fb5fada6766ee82404

2. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/alpha-males-rare-in-the-age-of-soft-millennial-man/news-story/ffe5cf2eb62ccbb816446a66b0456179

Green Power

Many people find my views on the environment confusing. If someone was to say to me that “human beings are having a disastrous impact on their environment, and that if we don’t start living sustainably we will eventually damage our environment so much that it will harm the future usefulness of our environment”, I would agree with them.

What confuses people is that whilst I strongly agree that humans harm our environment and that this is hugely detrimental, I am a global warming sceptic. I don’t believe the current warming trend is the result of burning fossil fuels. I don’t believe the burning of fossil fuels has led to an increase of extreme weather events. I don’t believe global sea levels will rise to catastrophic levels.

I’m sceptical about global warming for the simple reason that activists posing as scientists have been bleating on about this impending climate catastrophe for twenty-five to thirty years. In this time many climate models have been built in an effort to predict future climatic conditions.  

The warming predicted by those models simply has not occurred. The sea increase predicted by those models has not occurred. If fossil fuels impact climate, the evidence suggests that it is by much less than has been theorised by climate activists. I’ll adjust my stance should the evidence change.

I am however a firm believer in living sustainably. I think that really is the key. Regardless of whether the burning of fossil fuels leads to global warming simply mining them causes significant damage to our environment. This coupled with the fact that fossil fuels will eventually run out provides compelling motivation for humanity to develop a sustainable means of generating power.

Generating sustainable power though is easier said than done. Solar power seems to be the front runner for managing this at present.  I am fortunate to be living in Australia, a country with abundant and consistent sunshine.

In order to live more sustainably our family decided to invest in a larger solar panel array for our roof supported by onsite battery storage. We’ve had the system for well over a year now and we’re very happy with the outcome.

Whilst we still use some power from the grid our usage has significantly diminished. So much so that in many billing periods we actually sent more power back to the grid than we used. The longer we have had the system, the less power we have used and the more power we are sending back.

This is because the system we have purchased gives us the ability to monitor our power consumption. We can see exactly when we are using power from the grid and how much we are using. Because of this our behaviour has changed.

It’s a wonderful feeling when you can walk into your garage, see a little green light flowing a certain way, and know that you’re not paying someone else for the power that your using. It’s a feeling that’s quite addictive.   

Disappointingly, even when we sent more power to the grid than we used, we still received a bill at the end of such billing periods. This is because the amount we are charged for the use of power exceeds the amount our power company rebates to us for the excess power we provide.

When you consider that our independent generation of power is approaching our overall requirements it becomes obvious that the business model of power companies is under threat. It remains to be seen just what business model will replace the power companies existing one.

I suspect societies will still need a network which allows people to draw excess power when required and distribute their excess power to other users. There are I believe some examples where smaller regional communities in Australia have gone ‘off-grid’ entirely but even these communities still require their own private infrastructure to store and distribute power (1), (2).

There’s also some talk of a trial taking place in part of Mooroolbark in Melbourne. Some homes will be invited to join an islanded network which is independent of the larger power grid whilst still being supported by it (3).  

Whilst this is all very exciting existing systems are not without their problems. Our system is not perfect. The batteries themselves will need to increase in both size and efficiency, at present they can’t quite hold enough power to allow the use of power hungry systems such as reverse cycle climate control.

Furthermore, they are also unable to actually transfer enough power fast enough to operate reverse cycle climate control. As soon as we hit the air-conditioning or the heating we tap the grid. Developing an inverter powerful enough to regulate energy needs whilst remaining safe and efficient is the prime challenge it seems.

Lastly the weather itself is always a risk. Battery storage would need to be large enough to provide power for prolonged periods of poor weather if it is to be a viable long term option. Still, with the efficiency of solar cells improving quite quickly I expect the challenge that unpredictable weather provides to solar generation will continue to diminish over time.  

To design and build our system we used a Perth company called Renewable Energy International (4). John and his team came out to our home to design and plan the system. They provided us with a range of options.

After it was installed we had a few small issues which were dealt with promptly. Whilst there is significant capital expense involved the cost was actually much less than you might think. In our experience, based on our power consumption, we will achieve a return on investment in around seven years.   

Perhaps the more important thing we’ve gained after installing the system is the change in our mindset about the way we use power. By becoming more responsible for generating our own power we are much more responsible about when and how we use it.     

1. http://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/news/four-wa-farmers-go-off-grid-help-local-utility-horizon-power-140316

2. http://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/western-power-to-take-small-communities-off-grid-with-solar-plus-storage/

3. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/utility-to-take-part-of-melbourne-suburb-off-grid-with-solar-storage-94822

1. http://www.rei.net.au/

The Convolutions of Democracy

I was really surprised when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. I wasn’t the only one. The pollsters firmly lined up behind the ‘stay’ vote although it was expected to be a relatively close call.

Less surprising than the result was the reaction of financial markets to the result. The world saw red as the pound tumbled and the FTSE suffered significant losses. Financial commentators were lining up to tell us all how bad it all was and how bad it could get.

Equally unsurprising was the reaction of social commentators. Apparently overnight we saw an increase in racism throughout the United Kingdom. What utter bunk. The leave campaign tapped into the same undercurrent of xenophobia which exists throughout most countries. The high leave vote merely exposed what was always there.

At times like these it’s useful to remember that things are rarely as bad as they seem. Whilst some commentators have suggested that the United Kingdom is no longer a part of Europe, at least geographically the United Kingdom is still a part of Europe.

As time passes I suspect those in the United Kingdom will realise that they have much in common with those in the European Union. Both entities still have markets which require all kinds of goods. People in both entities still need largely the same services.

Common ground will be found although it might not be the same ground as before. That common ground will shift in the future. Few things in life are permanent. Change is constant and sometimes frustratingly so.

Perhaps in time historians will look back on the ‘Brexit’ and say that it was the period of distance the citizens of the United Kingdom needed in order to appreciate just how important Europe was to them. Perhaps different historians will say that it was the slap in the face Brussels needed to show them that central authority cannot and should not control everything.    

Whilst things may not be as bad as they seem they are often not as good as they seem either. This I imagine Malcolm Turnbull now keenly appreciates. In another surprising result the Australian electorate has delivered a fairly stinging rebuke to the Government by way of a significant swing against it.

As the election night wore on it became increasingly clear that the election was too close to call and that the nation wouldn’t know the outcome for some time. All of the major news outlets began to salivate at the frenzy of activity which was sure to follow. The time for the parliamentary leaders to speak grew near.

First shark into the tank was Richard Di Natale the leader of the Greens. He claimed a Greens victory. They didn’t win any more seats but they did hold Melbourne with an increased majority. This left the Greens just seventy-five seats short of government in a one hundred and fifty seat house. The Greens cannot form government. The Greens were not victorious.

Next into the pool was Bill Shorten. In a very upbeat speech he also claimed victory. The Labor party was back he exclaimed. To be fair the Labor party’s primary vote had increased. It had not increased enough to prevent it from being the second lowest primary vote in history for Labor. Labor cannot form government. Labor were not victorious.

Last shark in was Malcolm Turnbull. In yet another upbeat speech he all but claimed victory. He stated that he was very confident of forming a majority government. There was not much evidence to support this view. The Coalition have a chance of forming government. The Coalition were not victorious at the time of the speech.

As if the thought of three public figures all claiming victory for the same contest wasn’t absurd enough we had one more round to endure. The ABC expert panel covering the election wasted five minutes of their lives debating over who had really ‘won’ the election. The consensus seemed to be Labor although this ‘victory’ wouldn’t result in Labor actually governing Australia. I felt like throwing a dictionary at the television.

Over the next few days Australia began to realise that as confusing as the House of Representatives was looking the Senate is looking truly gordian. Derryn Hinch will be joining the chamber. Jackie Lambie has survived and is joined by a number of Senators from the Nick Xenephon Team and a number of One Nation Senators.

There were many in Australia who were quick to engage social media to give the ‘racists’ in the United Kingdom such a good thrashing. After the strong support shown for Pauline Hansen I’m sure there is something clever to say here about stones and glass houses.

Whilst initially the Senate might appear less friendly let’s just remember who we have lost. Ricky Muir, Dio Wang and Glenn Lazarus to name a few. It also looks like the chamber will no longer be graced by a family first senator.

I have no idea what Ricky Muir stands for or why he wanted to enter Parliament. The new Senators have a clear set of beliefs. Whilst the beliefs of Hansen are in my view particularly unhelpful, the major parties at least know what she stands for. This forms the basis for negotiation. All of sudden it doesn’t it doesn’t seem quite so bad.  

In any event it’s likely that over the next week or so the political situation in Australia will become clearer. Perhaps we will need to go back to the polls. I doubt that will be the case but perhaps it is the best thing to do. Regardless of the outcome things will remain, not quite as bad as they seem and not quite as good as they seem.