Just had to say.

[oldwheels]

I remember when I was a child in the 60s, French tv kept saying that nuclear energy was the way to go as it will produce cheap electricity.
Now we have solar and wind power which are also supposed to also produce cheap and clean electricity.
I think we are constantly being taken for a ride and conned by all politicians and big private companies.
Money and profits will always come first.

A lot of solar and wind power comes from Scotland where we actually export energy to England.
Transmission charges tho’ are punitive here compared to south England.
This chart gives some indication of the unequality.

 

[si_c]

A lot of solar and wind power comes from Scotland where we actually export energy to England.
Transmission charges tho’ are punitive here compared to south England.
This chart gives some indication of the unequality. View attachment 629498

Definitely time for a rethink.

 

[gbb]

its been headed this way for decades, but its really hitting hard now.
I look at food price increases and do wonder, just how much if this is profiteering by the supermarkets, hiding behind everyone's realisation prices are rising for fuel, wages etc etc, but supermarkets are taking advantage ? Nearly 30 % on roasting beef I read....i know its gone stupid expensive, it seems more like 50% in Asda.
I said in another post, I feel for those struggling, we're lucky, we can ride it out but it must be really really hurting some folk.
Decades ? Working folk have been squeezed for years, rising housing costs, impossible for many to even think about buying, Gavs right, this seems a sh1tty time to be going into adult life.

I think back to the 80s, 90s, it was all so much better, so much more positive, so much simpler, but now there's so much money needed for what seem like essentials, expensive phones, TV/ media contracts, look at the proliferation of luxuries that many see as essential, coffee outlets, takeaways, gambling, adverts for the above and more are swamping tv and media...Live simple, stop indulging in carp, it seems to me many people are overindulging in expensive but fleeting self gratification. Dope is another one, energy drinks, wtf happened when people can't even get through the day without this kind of stuff

 

[Brandane]

What I would like to know is this.
If people are struggling to pay bills for gas, electric, and food; why are there such a high number of Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover etc. on our roads?

Why is there so much demand for weekends away when every hotel room I see on booking websites is double the price of 2 years ago? And most people will drive there, burning petrol at nearly £7 per gallon?

It seems to me a lot of people have their priorities all wrong. Stop buying stuff and the prices will soon come down again! That includes gas and lecky. The Russians will soon have a rethink on prices if they cannot sell their gas. And look what happened to petrol prices at the start of covid, because they couldn't sell it.

However, as long as people insist on heating their homes to the extent required so that their little darlings can wander about in shorts and T- shirt in January, we're fecked.

 

[gavroche]

What I would like to know is this.
If people are struggling to pay bills for gas, electric, and food; why are there such a high number of Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover etc. on our roads?

Why is there so much demand for weekends away when every hotel room I see on booking websites is double the price of 2 years ago? And most people will drive there, burning petrol at nearly £7 per gallon?

It seems to me a lot of people have their priorities all wrong. Stop buying stuff and the prices will soon come down again! That includes gas and lecky. The Russians will soon have a rethink on prices if they cannot sell their gas. And look what happened to petrol prices at the start of covid, because they couldn't sell it.

However, as long as people insist on heating their homes to the extent required so that their little darlings can wander about in shorts and T- shirt in January, we're fecked.

You have some good points there and I think a lot of it is on credit: PCP for cars, credit cards for week end away and holidays and buy now pay later for many other things. All of it doesn't help of course but people see it as an easy escape, which it isn't of course as it will all have to be repaid eventually.
This is the way society has gone now and personally, I am not a fan of it. Many people have lost all sense of reality until reality hits back , as it is now and the storm is only beginning.
Very worrying times ahead indeed.

 

[gbb]

As an example of priorities, i remember during one of the recessions, late 80s, maybe the 90s, i was in a phone shop. I quiety watched the amount of people , many young, taking out whacking great contracts , assumedly to get the latest mobile. I said to the salesman...'i thought people had less disposable money nowadays (given the recession at that time), but it seems they have got the money, they just spend it on different stuff now'

The salesman didnt disagree.

 

[postman]

I can tell you when the crap hit the fan,June 1986,i seperated from my missus then November 1987 came the decree nisi,our house was sold for just short of forty grand sixteen months later the old lady died,her relatives sold it for eighty eight grand,my wage did not rise at the same time.

 

[gbb]

You have some good points there and I think a lot of it is on credit: PCP for cars, credit cards for week end away and holidays and buy now pay later for many other things. All of it doesn't help of course but people see it as an easy escape, which it isn't of course as it will all have to be repaid eventually.
This is the way society has gone now and personally, I am not a fan of it. Many people have lost all sense of reality until reality hits back , as it is now and the storm is only beginning.
Very worrying times ahead indeed.

I watched a program a good many years ago that delved into what was becoming our modern financial system, based on debt. Create the right circumstances for private landlords to thrive, create instability of jobs, strangle wages, zero hour contracts etc, create the right circumstances to allow mega companies to thrive and take over, work toward a cashless society where individuals lose sight of what real money is or means. Institutions get mega rich based on debt. None of this is simple evolution or driven by customer demand....you could be forgiven for thinking its been a deliberate and concerted strategy by institutions, governments and the mega rich.

 

[slowmotion]

A lot of solar and wind power comes from Scotland where we actually export energy to England.
Transmission charges tho’ are punitive here compared to south England.
This chart gives some indication of the unequality. View attachment 629498

Transmission charges relate to the distance from the source of primary generation to the infrastructure of the local distributor. If, as in Scotland, nobody wants the energy in the middle of the North Sea/ on a lonesome hill top in the middle of nowhere, of course transmission costs are going to be large.

 

[oldwheels]

Transmission charges relate to the distance from the source of primary generation to the infrastructure of the local distributor. If, as in Scotland, nobody wants the energy in the middle of the North Sea/ on a lonesome hill top in the middle of nowhere, of course transmission costs are going to be large.

But we are all one country and while transmission charges are higher the amount charged is open to argument. Cannot get into politics here tho'.

 

[si_c]

Transmission charges relate to the distance from the source of primary generation to the infrastructure of the local distributor. If, as in Scotland, nobody wants the energy in the middle of the North Sea/ on a lonesome hill top in the middle of nowhere, of course transmission costs are going to be large.

The problem with that measure is that it's the distance from baseline generators - the big coal/gas/nuclear power stations, where Wind generation is distributed and I would imagine probably not factored in.

 

[si_c]

What I would like to know is this.
If people are struggling to pay bills for gas, electric, and food; why are there such a high number of Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover etc. on our roads?

Why is there so much demand for weekends away when every hotel room I see on booking websites is double the price of 2 years ago? And most people will drive there, burning petrol at nearly £7 per gallon?

It seems to me a lot of people have their priorities all wrong. Stop buying stuff and the prices will soon come down again! That includes gas and lecky. The Russians will soon have a rethink on prices if they cannot sell their gas. And look what happened to petrol prices at the start of covid, because they couldn't sell it.

However, as long as people insist on heating their homes to the extent required so that their little darlings can wander about in shorts and T- shirt in January, we're fecked.

A lot of people do have money, I have more money in my pocket now than at any point in my life to date. I'm 41, and looking forward to buying my first house this year, but I know a lot of people who's income is linked to minimum wage, and for whom a 50% rise in food prices means a total loss of any "spare" income. This is before any increase in the cost of heating/lighting their homes or a rise in rents - a lot of my friends still rent homes in their 40s.

Gas and Electricity prices are inextricably linked to the cost of power generation, I mentioned upthread that gas is increasingly used as a generating fuel for electricity, so increased demand, and thus increased price. It's a false equivalence to compare to petrol prices at the start of the pandemic, in that case there was massively decreased demand and stockpiling of the fuel, so reduced prices. Simply telling people to turn off their heating in winter or not turn lights on isn't going to work as a strategy, but that's exactly what people will do when prices go high enough.

 

[Sterlo]

I watched a program a good many years ago that delved into what was becoming our modern financial system, based on debt. Create the right circumstances for private landlords to thrive, create instability of jobs, strangle wages, zero hour contracts etc, create the right circumstances to allow mega companies to thrive and take over, work toward a cashless society where individuals lose sight of what real money is or means. Institutions get mega rich based on debt. None of this is simple evolution or driven by customer demand....you could be forgiven for thinking its been a deliberate and concerted strategy by institutions, governments and the mega rich.

I have a poorish credit rating, for the simple reason I don't have anything on credit and haven't for years, probably about 8 or so years ago when I paid off the mortgage. I was always brought up on the premise that if you want something, you save up for it.

 

[mustang1]

I remember when I was a child in the 60s, French tv kept saying that nuclear energy was the way to go as it will produce cheap electricity.
Now we have solar and wind power which are also supposed to also produce cheap and clean electricity.
I think we are constantly being taken for a ride and conned by all politicians and big private companies.
Money and profits will always come first.

This reminds me of the "computers and robots will allow us to work shorter hours" mantra. Like heck it will.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The easy availability of credit and relaxation of mortgage rules has created a lot of problems. Allowing many to live beyond their means , which only works when times are good.