So he made this proposal because Jews.
AND ALSO: technocracy now! "Technocracy Now!" (Chromium & Vermillion!)
One of the random core ideas of technocracy, amid others, was to make energy a primary currency. Far more than imperial vs metric, I think this would be an ultra-interesting way to re-perspectivize society to have a more real appreciation & comprehension of what underpins the world. Those bricks? 17.4 kWh each. Those wood timers? 23.1 kWh each? (numbers made up.) That taxi ride? 7.4 kWh. The idea of energy as a currency is interesting, & to me, there's a very interesting allure to universalize the idea of value with a cost of production, which is, ultimately, also 100% capturable/representable in terms of energy.
Worth pointing out, Howard Scott, a key figure in Technocracy Movement, and a key instigator of the "energy theory of value" was himself some what a dubious character, & the short collapse of the "movement" seems related to incredulity around him. None the less- particulars aside- I miss & think there's a lot of this re-perspectiving that I think our current, well set modernity lacks, that could deeply enrich our views of the world. Energy value of the world is a neat perspective. Trying to enable the technocrats, especially under a de-politicized banner- is also I think a very powerful possibility.
I guess I shouldn't be so offended. This article purports to be a full decade before the Technocracy Movement. Ford seems to have captured "energy theory of value" well before this dubious Howard Scott character. So thanks for raising this. I was unaware. I think there's a lot of not-remembered perspectives on the world that we ought try to look at, attend to. Forgive me for not being super enthused to the original-industrialist nor one of the most capital energy-wasters of modernity as core reference points for these conceptualizations. Personally I don't find bitcoin nor many other of the prevailing factors to be a strong agent of the central ideas of technocracy now, of energy theory of value. To quote part of their 1938 writings,
"There will be no place for Politics or Politicians, Finance or Financiers, Rackets or Racketeers."
Unlikely. But an interesting trend-ing to monitor, consider, & shape our perspectives, actions, & belief towards.
