[submitted] Wet Circles

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Name:

Wet Circles

Description:

Water management has become a hot topic, with the hydrological wastage of the nation, having knock-on effects in unexpected farming droughts, city subsidence from the falling water table, and rising utility costs for homes and businesses.

Validity:

Valid for all

Options:

[option]"Because of the one-pointed water awareness in which the conventional mind remains immersed, businesses tend to think of everything in a sequential, usage-oriented framework. This mental trap produces very short-term concepts of effectiveness and consequences, a condition of constant, unplanned response to crises," reports Lita Kynes, desert ecologist, in full explanation-and-exposition mode. "If we are to protect society and our survival we must embrace a new closed-loop model of circular processing, with black water turned grey or white and water turned back into the system. Government investment will be required to set up the logistics, water movement infrastructure and chemical-free water processing, instead harnessing biological and ultraviolet cleansing. Both taxation and reallocation of government funds will be needed, but what could be more vital to society than water?"
[effect]most homes have urine storage tanks in the corner of the living room

[option]"Uh... sorry, I stopped listening after 'one-pointed water awareness'" yawns Vladimir Baron, an industrialist. "Look, I'm not going to go all science-textbook on you. Just three words instead: Free Market Solutions."
[effect]a policy of laissez-faire environmentalism doesn't seem to be reducing industrial waste levels

[option]"Don't listen to either of them! A profit-motivated approach is always going to be aimed at short term benefits, and complete restructuring of our water systems will break the bank," says Neil o'Paull, a Treasury Minister. "Look, we just need to secure our supply lines. Nations have gone to war for oil before, and with similarly manufactured casus belli we can also secure our national water supplies. You know it makes sense."
[effect]the international community is challenging the legal basis of @@NAME@@'s aggressive peacekeeping interventions

[Trotterdam]

the hydrological wastage of the nation, having knock-on effects

Delete that comma. It confused me.

[option]"Because of the one-pointed water awareness in which the conventional mind remains immersed, businesses tend to think of everything in a sequential, usage-oriented framework. This mental trap produces very short-term concepts of effectiveness and consequences, a condition of constant, unplanned response to crises," reports Lita Kynes, desert ecologist, in full explanation-and-exposition mode. "If we are to protect society and our survival we must embrace a new closed-loop model of circular processing, with black water turned grey or white and water turned back into the system. Government investment will be required to set up the logistics, water movement infrastructure and chemical-free water processing, instead harnessing biological and ultraviolet cleansing. Both taxation and reallocation of government funds will be needed, but what could be more vital to society than water?"

Am I supposed to understand a word of this?

(Except for "chemical-free water processing", I guess, which I understand well enough to debunk. You can't process water without dihydrogen monoxide, a chemical known to eventually lead to the deaths of 100% of people who consume it.)

[option]"Look, we just need to secure our supply lines. Nations have gone to war for oil before, and with similarly manufactured casus belli we can also secure our national water supplies. You know it makes sense."

Going to war over oil makes sense because some nations have significantly more oil than others. Water... can be found anywhere there's a coastline.

---

We already have two issues about drought (#096, #264). Is water really that hard to come by? It's water.

[Chan Island]

We already have two issues about drought (#096, #264). Is water really that hard to come by? It's water.

1 in 8 Americans are Californians, a state which is currently has been suffering a severe draught for about 4 years. Water is kinda on their minds a fair bit.

In all honesty though, in many places water is fairly hard to come by. Deserts take up a vast (and growing) swathe of the Earth's landmass. Desalination is expensive and produces a lot of salt, something we're already in a bit of oversupply for. Growing cities everywhere means a huge, never ending demand for water that often gets wasted and yet still costs a fortune to purify. While some locations are seeing far more rainfall than ever (looking at Louisiana), many others are seeing less and less rainfall due to Climate Change.

I'd keep going on, but I think you get the idea.

[Trotterdam]

1 in 8 Americans are Californians, a state which is currently has been suffering a severe draught for about 4 years. Water is kinda on their minds a fair bit.

I've heard of that. But then, the source I've heard of it from is rather biased.

C'mon, the technology exists. Water shortage is an issue for third-world nations, and nations whose politicians are trying to drive them back into the third world.

Even if you disagree, how come it's not even an option on any of the three issues-and-draft?

Desalination is expensive

More expensive than war?

Nevermind the costs of fighting, even - assuming that you win, just piping the water from that distance can cost as much or more as desalination.

[Australian rePublic]

Option 1 has a bit too much jargon

[Candlewhisper Archive]

No Dune fans in the house then?

Option 1 is a blathery piece of narrative exposition written in the style of Liet Kynes, who provides the blathery exposition in Dune.

Because of the one-pointed Time awareness in which the conventional mind remains immersed, humans tend to think of everything in a sequential, word-oriented framework. This mental trap produces very short-term concepts of effectiveness and consequences, a condition of constant, unplanned response to crises.
Liet-Kynes The Arrakis Workbook

[Islamic Republic e Jariri]

No Dune fans in the house then?

Option 1 is a blathery piece of narrative exposition written in the style of Liet Kynes, who provides the blathery exposition in Dune.

Because of the one-pointed Time awareness in which the conventional mind remains immersed, humans tend to think of everything in a sequential, word-oriented framework. This mental trap produces very short-term concepts of effectiveness and consequences, a condition of constant, unplanned response to crises.
Liet-Kynes The Arrakis Workbook

I kind of like Dune - its really weird - but it was never well adapted so its only known among a niche sci-fi crowd.

[Annihilators of Chan Island]

No Dune fans in the house then?

Option 1 is a blathery piece of narrative exposition written in the style of Liet Kynes, who provides the blathery exposition in Dune.

Because of the one-pointed Time awareness in which the conventional mind remains immersed, humans tend to think of everything in a sequential, word-oriented framework. This mental trap produces very short-term concepts of effectiveness and consequences, a condition of constant, unplanned response to crises.
Liet-Kynes The Arrakis Workbook

I noticed you were basically describing the Still-suit, but I decided to ignore it to discuss things with Trotterdam.

1 in 8 Americans are Californians, a state which is currently has been suffering a severe draught for about 4 years. Water is kinda on their minds a fair bit.

I've heard of that. But then, the source I've heard of it from is rather biased.

C'mon, the technology exists. Water shortage is an issue for third-world nations, and nations whose politicians are trying to drive them back into the third world.

Even if you disagree, how come it's not even an option on any of the three issues-and-draft?

Desalination is expensive

More expensive than war?

Nevermind the costs of fighting, even - assuming that you win, just piping the water from that distance can cost as much or more as desalination.

Oh war is ruinously expensive, make no mistake. But so is desalination.

When I looked further into California, I found some controversies around the desalination plant in Santa Barbara. Lots of corruption in the construction I've been told. Plenty of controversy still now that they want to expand it. Just something to look into.