What's Next?

Well, we got a smoke-free law, but how many people know about it, are the ones that know about it obeying it, and has it made any change to our lives?

My specific issue was second-hand cigarette smoke in condos. I feel for us it's made a huge difference. It put the issue front and center, and changed the balance of power in the discussion.

Our smokers are now aware that their habit causes the rest of us issues. Some have subtly changed their habit, the others are brazen and in denial. However their game is up on Jan. 1, 2013 when the full force of the law comes into effect and there is no more smoking allowed anywhere in condos. his will be one New Year that I stay up and celebrate.

On to a different topic ...

I have started to believe that we are in the middle of a revolution that will have as profound effect on the world as did the Industrial Revolution. This revolution is about going from a society founded on the movement, trade, sale and exchange of tangible "stuff" or atoms, to the movement of information - namely bits.

Our response to it has been the modern-day equivalent to the Luddites and it's not surprising really, because it is really scary. It's scary because many of us have, or will lose our jobs and find it impossible to find a place in a differently structured world that requires different and unlearn-able skills.

It'll mean the destruction of familiar institutions and enterprises that no longer have a place in a different future. I doubt for example that either schools or universities will exist in the forms we now know them, nor will health care (whatever happens in the Supreme Court). Both are failing to deliver their promises and we can't afford them the way they are. It's really only a matter of time until they are disrupted and replaced with information-based collaborations with different rules, and structures.

The "revolution" we are faced with is not only driven by information technology and the Internet, but by changing demographics here and abroad, and the price of gasoline (driven by an inevitable decline in supply) and the destruction we are causing to the environment by continuing to recklessly burn fossil (carbon-based fuels). We are pouring carbon back into the atmosphere and as a consequence experiencing global climate change. If we continue we will wipe ourselves out starting with the poor anywhere in the world because they are least equipped to compete for declining resources. The rest of us are just experiencing a slow decline in our standard of living.

What will have to emerge if there is to be a thriving human race left on the planet will have to be a society that measures everything based on energy consumption and carbon production, first - not last, as an afterthought.

I don't see any leadership arising at any levels of government who want to address these changes - let alone understand that this is happening, although some very bright minds are telling them this (I am not claiming these ideas are new - only new to me). I despair at our president and his lot and have completely written off the other loonies.

However I do feel that there is an opportunity to stimulate the discussion closer to home and hopefully get our local leadership thinking how within a changed context they can solve some of the more pressing local issues.

So for example - how can the City of Alameda solve its current financial difficulties by starting with the principles and a vision to become green, energy efficient, and information-based?

Since our biggest expense is "security" and "safety" - namely the resourcing and provisioning of the police and fire departments - these could be the model institutions for pioneering change.

So, to flippantly (and it really requires a lot more thought) illustrate some ideas - make the police ride bikes; put some CCTV cameras around the place; offer a service to wire home fire alarms and home cameras to the fire/police dept. over the Inet; monitor twitter for crime and fire reports; pay the police and fire dept bonuses based on the gas they don't use in their vehicles; provision inexpensive disposable firefighting equipment all over the island and don't truck it to the scene of a fire - just send the people; pass a carbon tax - not a sales tax; congestion-charge cars that come into Alameda. You get the picture ...

I was not at the city council meeting at which the sales tax ballot measure was discussion - however, I understand that it was suggested (as above) that the police ride bikes. It must have gone down like a lead balloon - however I am sure that this is the only sort of solution that is going to get us out of the predicament we are in and headed off in a new direction that has some hope for the future.

So, I'd like to hear other comments along these lines about how we could take a green, information-based approach our community's issues to lead us to a prosperous, happy and livable future.