At one time the situation they are describing was true all over America for basic electric service. The privately held utilities had decided that it was not profitable enough to extend electric service outside of towns. America’s economic and social development has held prisoner by these companies and millions of women grew old prematurely hauling water in buckets, doing their wash on wash boards and watching their children try to learn to read by kerosene lamps.
Back then we had a President who was not afraid of these malefactors of great wealth, and he enabled the creation of rural electric cooperatives to put the people’s wealth and power together to bring electricity and labor saving appliances to ordinary citizens.
But that’s all over now, finished, closed down and repudiated by those who tell us that our society cannot do anything cooperatively, but only by the gracious favor of limited liability corporations and their wealthy stockholders.
I started my career as a tech writer in 1999 – a time when we could not offer computer based tutorials for our customers in some countries due to their limited Internet capacity. A handful of years later and they had left us in the dust…
I’ve read about the lower costs and better speeds in many foreign countries. Here, the government allows big corporations to call the shots.
And our pols get their big campaign money from those corporations, so….the rents will continue for as long as the corporations can get away with their business plans. Low service, high rents.
Allie, your anecdote is gobsmacking. And most people have absolutely no idea things are better elsewhere, very unexpected elsewheres. We are so provincial — t/u, MCM!
At one time the situation they are describing was true all over America for basic electric service. The privately held utilities had decided that it was not profitable enough to extend electric service outside of towns. America’s economic and social development has held prisoner by these companies and millions of women grew old prematurely hauling water in buckets, doing their wash on wash boards and watching their children try to learn to read by kerosene lamps.
Back then we had a President who was not afraid of these malefactors of great wealth, and he enabled the creation of rural electric cooperatives to put the people’s wealth and power together to bring electricity and labor saving appliances to ordinary citizens.
But that’s all over now, finished, closed down and repudiated by those who tell us that our society cannot do anything cooperatively, but only by the gracious favor of limited liability corporations and their wealthy stockholders.
I started my career as a tech writer in 1999 – a time when we could not offer computer based tutorials for our customers in some countries due to their limited Internet capacity. A handful of years later and they had left us in the dust…
I’ve read about the lower costs and better speeds in many foreign countries. Here, the government allows big corporations to call the shots.
And our pols get their big campaign money from those corporations, so….the rents will continue for as long as the corporations can get away with their business plans. Low service, high rents.
Also liked this one at Cracked –Five Ways the Internet Could Be Destroyed.
Allie, your anecdote is gobsmacking. And most people have absolutely no idea things are better elsewhere, very unexpected elsewheres. We are so provincial — t/u, MCM!