Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Power to the People
Theres a quote that says "Civilisation is only twenty-four hours and two meals away from barbarism". There's definitely some sense in that, but I wonder if there's something else modern civilization could survive even less time without; namely electricity.
The other day we had a power cut on our street, and rather ironically it caused the old metaphorical lightbulb to light up above my head. That is to say, it got me thinking.
The fact that it happened in daytime reduced the effects of course, but it still surprised me just how quickly I ran into problems doing all the normal things one does of a day. Admittedly, I was about halfway through shaving using my mains-powered electric razor, and since I tend to shave one side of my face first, before moving on to the other, I was left looking thoroughly ridiculous (even more so than normal).
Within about a minute of clumsily hacking my face to pieces with an old hand razor I had, the inner barbarian was already beginning to show through the thin crust of civilization. There was a lot of blood all over my face, and this combined with the occasional howls of frustration might have convinced a casual passer-by that I was in fact participating in some sort of berserker ritual, which seems pretty barbarian-like to me. Luckily there were no casual passers-by going through my bathroom at the time, but there could have been.
And that was just what happened in the first few minutes. Fortunately I was going out for the evening anyway, but if I hadn't been, I would have been unable to do a lot really. Basically the house just died. All the normal amenities just disappered; lights, heating, hot water (the heating is gas-powered, but without electricity you can't switch it on or off), cooking facilites, alarm, TV, stereos, fridges and freezers, computers etc.
Now imagine if the power-cut had lasted twenty-four hours. I'd not have been able to cook, and would have had to throw a lot of my food away that was in the frige or freezer. For recreation I'd have been reduced to reading and writing by candle-light, had we been able to find any candles. I'd have had to take an ice-cold shower in the dark (not fun!). All in all, technology would have leapt back to more-or-less Victorian times, which isn't quite barbarism, but that's without the consideration of what would happen if the entire country lost its power for the same period.
It's interesting that we call such occurences 'power cuts' rather than just 'electricity cuts'. It's really as if we are literally robbed of our power to operate, in a much more severe way than if for example we lost our gas supply (except that it would shut down all our gas-powered power stations!). In 1937 George Orwell wrote an essay called "Down the Mine" (you can read it here), in which he explains how the civilization of his time was founded on coal. I believe if he'd written it today he'd have written about electricity. He goes on to explain the often horrific conditions coal miners had to live with every day so that the country kept on running, and how he believed that far worse conditions would be imposed on workers if necesary to ensure the supply of coal. So perhaps we should spare a thought, next time we turn on a light or watch TV, for those often unregarded people who keep electricity flowing into our homes every day. Actually you guys had better remember to do it as knowing me i'm likely to forget about it and start taking it for granted again almost straight away.
The other day we had a power cut on our street, and rather ironically it caused the old metaphorical lightbulb to light up above my head. That is to say, it got me thinking.
The fact that it happened in daytime reduced the effects of course, but it still surprised me just how quickly I ran into problems doing all the normal things one does of a day. Admittedly, I was about halfway through shaving using my mains-powered electric razor, and since I tend to shave one side of my face first, before moving on to the other, I was left looking thoroughly ridiculous (even more so than normal).
Within about a minute of clumsily hacking my face to pieces with an old hand razor I had, the inner barbarian was already beginning to show through the thin crust of civilization. There was a lot of blood all over my face, and this combined with the occasional howls of frustration might have convinced a casual passer-by that I was in fact participating in some sort of berserker ritual, which seems pretty barbarian-like to me. Luckily there were no casual passers-by going through my bathroom at the time, but there could have been.
And that was just what happened in the first few minutes. Fortunately I was going out for the evening anyway, but if I hadn't been, I would have been unable to do a lot really. Basically the house just died. All the normal amenities just disappered; lights, heating, hot water (the heating is gas-powered, but without electricity you can't switch it on or off), cooking facilites, alarm, TV, stereos, fridges and freezers, computers etc.
Now imagine if the power-cut had lasted twenty-four hours. I'd not have been able to cook, and would have had to throw a lot of my food away that was in the frige or freezer. For recreation I'd have been reduced to reading and writing by candle-light, had we been able to find any candles. I'd have had to take an ice-cold shower in the dark (not fun!). All in all, technology would have leapt back to more-or-less Victorian times, which isn't quite barbarism, but that's without the consideration of what would happen if the entire country lost its power for the same period.
It's interesting that we call such occurences 'power cuts' rather than just 'electricity cuts'. It's really as if we are literally robbed of our power to operate, in a much more severe way than if for example we lost our gas supply (except that it would shut down all our gas-powered power stations!). In 1937 George Orwell wrote an essay called "Down the Mine" (you can read it here), in which he explains how the civilization of his time was founded on coal. I believe if he'd written it today he'd have written about electricity. He goes on to explain the often horrific conditions coal miners had to live with every day so that the country kept on running, and how he believed that far worse conditions would be imposed on workers if necesary to ensure the supply of coal. So perhaps we should spare a thought, next time we turn on a light or watch TV, for those often unregarded people who keep electricity flowing into our homes every day. Actually you guys had better remember to do it as knowing me i'm likely to forget about it and start taking it for granted again almost straight away.
