Campaign – Peace sign vs. don’t mess

[tcg]

This certainly has turned into an interesting conversation. The inevitable diminution of job opportunities is certainly true, but it seems to me only if the technological horizon remains static or shrinks. For the last fifty years this has been so, but not always before that.

Canals used to be big on the East coast. Thousands of workers were employed digging them, barge builders produced at full speed, factories sprang up along the banks. Then came the railroad. The diggers were unemployed, and barge builders went broke, but overall the horizon expanded. The steel industry shifted into high gear, new jobs were created running rail lines across the country, Midwestern farmers had a way to market their produce, This story was repeated in many diverse ways. The expanding horizon readily absorbed the job losses, and the U.S. entered a boom time.

I hope we may see a chance to expand the horizon with new opportunities which we have yet to visualize. I have already described one which I am sure will be huge in my part of the country. In the Southwest we mostly don’t get rained on. We must import our water, stealing it from some one else to fill our needs. Cheap power for water purification of brackish or salt water would be an enormous breakthrough. For example, factories which can’t be built now because of the need for large amounts of water would be feasible creating jobs. Our biggest industry, agriculture, could be doubled if we had more water. This is just one narrow slice of the spectrum of possibilities.

How many more opportunities will we see through an expanding horizon?

[Brian H]

tcg wrote: T
…

I hope we may see a chance to expand the horizon with new opportunities which we have yet to visualize. I have already described one which I am sure will be huge in my part of the country. In the Southwest we mostly don’t get rained on. We must import our water, stealing it from some one else to fill our needs. Cheap power for water purification of brackish or salt water would be an enormous breakthrough. For example, factories which can’t be built now because of the need for large amounts of water would be feasible creating jobs. Our biggest industry, agriculture, could be doubled if we had more water. This is just one narrow slice of the spectrum of possibilities.

How many more opportunities will we see through an expanding horizon?

Preszakly. Not only known limits to growth imposed by lack of affordable power, but others of which we yet know naught, will be removed. There are many potential plans and projects which never make it even to the “what if” stage because the power inputs required are just too overwhelmingly expensive currently.

Check with a macro-economist about what the effect would be of suddenly cutting power costs by 95%, and making it readily available in currently inaccessible locales and regions. The water purification issue is key, too, as that is a limiting factor in any number of micro- and macro-economies.

[Brian H]

The “horizons” response to Aero’s shrinking jobs/labor component of the economy is fascinating in the big picture, too, as you point out, Tulse. New KINDS of activities replace previous ones. John Tamny the economist continually makes this point: that it is long-range GOOD to export high labor-component jobs to other economies, as the net value returned is greater than would be earned by doing the “grunt work” locally. But, of course, the borderline of what that includes is moving faster than ever. One of the major hopes I have for the knock-on effects of FF is the explosion of creative activities and products that it will enable.

One shadowed, not-quite-dark, horse possibility is space-related occupations. We barely see the glint of the tip of the iceberg of what that might involve, so far, IMO.

[Rezwan]

OK, back to the peace sign. I just had a bit of an idea. How about flipping the peace sign over? I’ve put it up on the site, don’t know if many people will catch it.

It makes a symbolic difference.

Rezwan wrote: I didn’t know the history of the symbol.
Looking it up on this website, we read that:

Gerald Holtom, a conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament). He later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater, more personal depth:

I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.

Eric Austin added his own interpretation of the design: “the gesture of despair had long been associated with the death of Man and the circle with the unborn child.”

How depressing is that? But now, with aneutronic fusion, the hands are uplifted. It looks like a tree now, growing, expanding.

Also, some Christians are under the impression that the old peace sign is a broken cross and an insult to the Saviour. This flipped symbol obviously is not.

[Rezwan]

Of course, now the shadows are in the wrong place. It’s lit from below 🙂

Attached files

[Aeronaut]

I think the reaction diagram flows better- more intuitively- headed up. Its also no stretch to see somebody leaping for joy.

[tcg]

I have to say I like it. This new orientation looks like a tree, the tree of life maybe. The traditional peace symbol looked a bit too much like an ICBM to me. The new orientation also looks like a person with uplifted arms. All good.

[Rezwan]

Just got a comment that putting the peace sign upside down is like flying a flag upside down – it’s a signal of distress or the opposite of peace.

However, looking at this site – http://www.teachpeace.com/peacesymbolhistory.htm

Ken Kolsbun, author of the book Peace: The Biography of a Symbol, reported that Holtom expressed regret in not designing the peace symbol with the joyful lifting of arms towards the sky. For most of Holtom’s life he would draw only the upright peace symbol. Holtom requested that the upright peace symbol be placed on his tombstone in Kent, England. As shown by the picture of his tombstone, his wish was unfortunately ignored.

Holtom’s wish that the peace symbol connotation of despair be changed to joy is illustrated by the picture on the right. When the peace symbol is inverted the letter “N” becomes the semaphore code for “U” which could mean universal disarmament.

[Brian H]

Yep, up is better! Anent which, here’s an inspirational poem:

Uppards
by Marriott Edgar

‘Twere getting dusk, one winter’s night,
When up the clough there came in sight,
A lad who carried through the snow,
A banner with this ‘ere motto…
‘Uppards’

His face was glum as he did pass,
His eyes were shiny… just like glass,
And as he went upon his way,
He nobbut this ‘ere word did say…
‘Uppards’

And people sitting down to tea,
They heard him plain, as plain can be,
They thowt ’twere final football score,
As this ‘ere word rang out once more…
‘Uppards’

A policeman on his lonely beat,
He stopped the lad up t’ end of t’ street,
He said, “Where’t going wi’ that theer?”
The lad just whispered in his ear…
‘Uppards’

“Don’t go down t’ clough.” the policeman said,
“It’s mucky road for thee to tread,
Canal’s at bottom… deep and wide.”
“That’s not my road.” the lad replied,
It’s… ‘Uppards’

A young lass stopped him further up,
She said “Come in wi’ me, and sup.”
He said, “I’m takin none o’ yon,
Besides… I must be getting on…
‘Uppards'”

Next day some lads had just begun,
To tak’ their whippets for a run,
When dogs got scratching in the snow,
And found flag with this ‘ere motto…
‘Uppards’

That set them digging all around,
And ’twasn’t long before they found,
A lad whose name they never learned,
Whose face was white, whose toes had turned…
‘Uppards’

‘Twas very plain for to behold,
The lad had ta’en his death o’ cold,
He’d got his feet wet early on,
And from his feet the cold had gone…
‘Uppards’

This story only goes to show,
That when the fields is white wi’ snow,
It’s inadvisable to go…
‘Uppards’

With or without apologies to H. W. Longfellow’s “Excelsior!” 😉

[Aeronaut]

Rezwan wrote: Just got a comment that putting the peace sign upside down is like flying a flag upside down – it’s a signal of distress or the opposite of peace.

However, looking at this site – http://www.teachpeace.com/peacesymbolhistory.htm

Who can claim rightful ownership of said “flag”? Forest Gump perhaps? I’d hazard a guess that most people won’t think twice about the resemblance.

[Brian H]

It occurs to me, tho’, that the image is physically false; the alphas don’t spray out at 30° angles. They chase each other in a tight beam! Fortunately for the purposes of electrical generation.

So I’m afraid the logo will have to be redesigned with the 3 Helium nuclei all in a row. :cheese:

[Ivy Matt]

I’m not sure I’m a fan of the Unilateral Disarmament symbol. 😉

(Or the Nazi “life” rune; although in the Elder Futhark, the only meaning it had was the letter “z” [later r], and possibly “elk”. In the Younger Futhark it meant the letter “m” and “man”, which may be where the Nazis got the “life” meaning. In the Younger Futhark the “peace-symbol” rune meant “yew”. I’m not sure what that has to do with death; probably the Nazis chose it only because it was the “man”–>”life” rune upside down.)

Anyway, I decided to try my hand at a design that ought to appeal to an audience complementary to those who find the peace symbol design appealing. I’m not sure exactly what it’s saying, though: perhaps that the right of communities, families, and individuals to own a focus fusion device shall not be infringed. It may also be a gesture of defiance against corporate or government entities that feel threatened by the development of DPF fusion technology. Of course, it’s also somewhat ironic, because the DPF can’t be used as a weapon…can it?

Attached files

[zapkitty]

Actually, “CQME AND GET IT” would be more appropriate to spreading the word about FF… an overt act of sharing.

[Rezwan]

Brian H wrote: It occurs to me, tho’, that the image is physically false; the alphas don’t spray out at 30° angles. They chase each other in a tight beam! Fortunately for the purposes of electrical generation.

So I’m afraid the logo will have to be redesigned with the 3 Helium nuclei all in a row. :cheese:

It’s also not to scale.

This is a representation of aneutronic fusion of pB11 in a generic sense, not tied to a specific method.

[Rezwan]

Ivy Matt wrote:
Anyway, I decided to try my hand at a design that ought to appeal to an audience complementary to those who find the peace symbol design appealing. I’m not sure exactly what it’s saying, though: perhaps that the right of communities, families, and individuals to own a focus fusion device shall not be infringed. It may also be a gesture of defiance against corporate or government entities that feel threatened by the development of DPF fusion technology. Of course, it’s also somewhat ironic, because the DPF can’t be used as a weapon…can it?

As to the symbol you have here – in conjunction with your text (including words like “defiance” “threatened” and “weapon”) suddenly makes it look to me like a gatling gun, under a star – which makes it look like a stylized crescent and star. And “Come and take it” sounds like a threat/dare.

I’m thinking expansion is the way to go. Perhaps it’s best to have lots of symbols (“symbol proliferation, not nuclear pro…”), the way Absolut Vodka does it, or google. Let it be personalized. Saturate the spheres with multiple images and ideas.

[Author]

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