Rudolph Diesel: The inventor of the Diesel engine intended for his invention to be powered by vegetable oil (peanut specifically being his preference). On his way to England to arrange financing he tragically fell over the side of the ship in what was portrayed at the time as a suicide. There are conspiracy theories, but an indisputable fact is that with the champion of using vegetable oil as fuel for this efficient and inexpensive engine gone, the moderately refined and cheap to produce petroleum product came to be the fuel of choice. To add insult to injury, this fuel was called Diesel. The Diesel engine had proved more useful than steam engines because of its greater efficiency compared to its size. At the time, steam engines were making great progress, and were in fact being used in motor vehicles when investment in development dried up and they became extinct. There is an entire science-fiction sub-genre dedicated to a world where steam reamined king: steampunk. Steampunk may have become reality if steam development was pursued. Fast-forward some decades and we are reaping the whirlwind of consequences that these decisions (or more accurately non-decisions) caused, as our planet becomes more inhospitable to us. Still, we have learnt nothing from this. The decision to decarbonise and move huge amounts of resources to “alternative technologies” is being played out in a similar way to Steam v. Diesel and Vegetable Oil v. Petrol. Why do we think we will get it right this time?
Adam Curtis: Curtis is an excellent British Documentary Filmmaker. His style is unique, and his insights and way of thinking have no equal. He has been accused of being both on the left and on the right, but I can detect no politics in his work. He has said, “I am typical of my time; I don’t have a consistent set of politics.” He believes the Western World is haunted by its past, with no vision for the future, and that it has become pessimistic and backward-looking. In his latest series Can’t Get You out of my Head (all six parts are on YouTube), one of the contemporary “truths” he questions is that Social Media and the Internet have been used by bad actors to corrupt people and bring about catastrophes such as Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. He believes that there are other factors at work that are not lunatic and are not being addressed, because those with a certain world-view cannot imagine how any intelligent being could disagree with them. Listen to him here.
Watch him here.
ESL: Which brings me to the European Super League. I have long since ceased to be a football (soccer) fan, and am content with following the fortunes of Raheem Sterling and Ted Lasso. However, the universal condemnation of the ESL caught my attention and got me thinking. As one renowned journalist put it, “Eleven elite clubs and Tottenham Hotspurs attempted to form a breakaway league.” They must be an Arsenal fan. Reaction in England was fierce opposition from all quarters. Before long, the six English Clubs of the Premier League (EPL, the original breakaway) were wavering then withdrawing. A victory for the fans, supported by their politicians who vowed to do “whatever it takes.” Apparently, it has all now collapsed.
Stick a pin, an Adam Curtis moment. Greed was the cry. Look at the Germans, their fan owned clubs dared not enter. Football, the peoples game, saved by the activism of the real owners of the game: the fans. Come with me to a place a hundred years into the future and look back at this as if you were there, but unencumbered by the biases of the time. When Blackburn Rovers won the EPL, their owner was worth USD 340 million. When Pep Guardiola won his first title with Manchester City, their owners were worth USD 40 trillion. In-between was Abramovich's (USD 8 billion) Chelsea, and the Glazier’s (who, being American, are of indeterminate worth) Manchester United. The minnow in the pile was Thaksin Chinawath’s Leicester, the new underdog, with just a few billion USD. Hopefully you are seeing the progression here. The formation of the EPL changed football and brought it more in line with an American vision of entertainment, whose goal is to produce money. Liverpool resisted in the form of the Kop, which was perhaps the final demise of the fan. They too had to bow to the billions in order to secure a first title in 30 years. “Payback is a bitch,” I have been told, and it has arrived for football. Now the owners have to make money. This was always the object, but how? The money for the EPL is in the TV contracts. The Champions League dwarfs the EPL because of an even wider global audience. Spanish and Italian clubs face the same math; the money is in the Champions League. In Germany it is different, be it by chance or design, only one club of global significance exists. No other dares or is able to mount a challenge. Witness nine straight titles. But wait, on the other side are bureaucrats whom we are told are elected and neutral, standing only in defense of the sport. The righteous UEFA. My vision is different, one I hope Curtis would recognise. A clash of Titans over money and privilege, supported by bankers who seek stability and profit, underpinned by politicians defining success by number of votes, however obtained.
The Climate Question: Who is going to lose what, why, where, and when? How do we compensate them? This is the climate question. No one is voicing it. Why?
Good article! I wonder how Diesel's vegetable oil idea would have played out if it was given the chance to succeed. Would it have been cheaper or better for the environment? Maybe both?
I understand why th,e top clubs epecially the non-English clubs wanted to do the super league. I just dont agree with the format. It's too Bureaucratic a football competition needs stakes and needs to be more meritocratic.