[Biofuel] How Looking Poor Became The New Status Symbol

[Keith Addison]

"There will always be consumerism as a form of rebellion against consumerism."

---



How Looking Poor Became The New Status Symbol
They dress like hoboes but spend like millionaires. Meet the poorgeoisie
By Steve Kandell; Photographs by Mia Baxter

When thousands of angry protesters stormed April's G-20 summit in 
London, vandalizing the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland 
and decrying the unfairness of capitalism, they took up the angry 
chant "No more money!" This palpable populist rage is understandable 
- the gears of the global economy have ground to a halt; no one has 
any disposable income; at home, conspicuous consumption is an offense 
punishable by stoning, or at least a stern reprimand from Congress.

One problem, though: Those things aren't entirely true. Despite the 
downturn, a moneyed class of people are still buying luxury goods - 
and they're doing it by the mini Cooper-load. While Wall Street's 
hedge-funders have become whipping boys, those who have mastered the 
art of inconspicuous consumption are living as large as ever. But 
they're not easy to spot, resembling, as they do, Trotskyite grad 
students - a look that doesn't come cheap: $300 Acne jeans, $175 
hand-stitched guayabera shirt, $150 mussed haircut with beard trim 
(not too short, please). This brand of consumerism escapes 
condemnation - it's okay to be a capitalist pig as long as you're the 
sort who roots around in your organic garden for truffles.

As their ranks have swollen, these small-batch big spenders and 
upscale, down-market aesthetes have come to constitute a 
scruffy-yet-well-off social stratum best described as the 
poorgeoisie. And while their sure-but-stealthy ascendance has neatly 
coincided with the fall of the ruling asshole class, the poorgeois 
habit of disguising old-fashioned "Ooh I want that" retail therapy in 
artfully rumpled, stick-it-to-the-Man clothes is as conventional as 
the Man himself.

"If people find the culture loathsome, they solve the problem by just 
buying different stuff. Even in the sixties, products were sold as a 
way of dealing with the anomie of consumer society - things like 
Volkswagens that were seen as nonconformist," says Thomas Frank, 
who's written about alternative marketing in The Conquest of Cool and 
about modern conservatism in The Wrecking Crew. "There will always be 
consumerism as a form of rebellion against consumerism."

Loosely translated: Just because the cultural moment is dominated by 
bloodlust for the heads of AIG executives doesn't mean public 
sentiment has turned against the accumulation of material possessions 
- it's just that the material in question is likely to be 
double-brushed flannel. And that's the advantage guys who look like 
Devendra Banhart have over guys who look like Patrick Bateman: The 
poorgeois are in cultural camouflage, blending in perfectly with a 
landscape full of genuine privation. The fact that their 
accoutrements may cost more than many suits is their secret pride.

Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli both wear black shirts and 
jeans - as well as brown beards - and carry BlackBerry Bolds. They 
opened Frankies 457 Spuntino, their first down-home, rustic Italian 
restaurant, in Brooklyn in 2004; five years and three outposts later, 
they are surveying what will soon be the kitchen of their newest 
eatery. Dishing out locally raised, grass-fed pork brasciole and 
hand-rolled spaetzle is their business, and business is good.

"People are against flash and gaudiness, not luxury," Falcinelli, who 
refers to his clientele as "appreciatives," says from under a fedora. 
As Castronovo puts it, "Our customers generally are more artistlike - 
they're still doing what they do. The people crying the blues over 
lost money never deserved to have it to begin with."

Yet for the poorgeoisie, every cushy expenditure is justified. 
According to Jennifer O'Brien, a luxury-branding consultant who's 
worked with Gucci and Donna Karan, among others, some high-end 
companies have successfully tailored their products to the shifting 
times and tastes (e.g., De Beers' "Fewer, better things" campaign). 
"A product needs to have a story that intrigues people about how it 
was made or what's gone into it," she says. And that's particularly 
true for the under-the-radar rich, who tend to practice what Thomas 
Frank calls "virtuous consumption" of pricey handmade clothes and 
locally farmed foods. "This shadow class of wealthy aren't working in 
silly jobs downtown," O'Brien says. "Bankers are the most visible and 
homogenous, so it's easy to lump them together, but these other guys 
have been there spending too." And though $250 designer-casual 
dinners will never be confused with expense-account binges at Per Se, 
the arguments that underpin the poorgeois lifestyle in Brooklyn, in 
Silver Lake, in Portland, are almost indistinguishable from the 
justifications of an I-banker

[Biofuel] 10 Minute Charge for Student-Built Electric Car

[Kirk McLoren]

 ‘ten minute’ charge will give you a mileage of about 200 miles.



MIT students are trying to produce an alternative to fossil fuel driven cars. 
They are trying to build up a car that is clean and green but provides good 
competition to recent automobiles. They claim that their electric cars can be 
charged fully within ten minutes. Read more at http://www.earthalternate.co.cc/




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[Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Kirk McLoren]

you need to view this page before you spend your money

http://ecdfan.blogspot.com/2009/06/marketing-of-solar-tile.html
Kirk
 
 

"Never pretend to be a unicorn by sticking a plunger on your head."

Martín Espada
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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Zeke Yewdall]

We've installed well over 200 grid tie PV systems in Colorado -- and no
solar tile systems, despite the fact that we do offer them (crystalline
silicon ones that interlock with standard concrete tile, not amorphous
silicon like these).  A good flush mount installation of regular panels
looks pretty nice already, and the last little bit of aesthetics isn't worth
an extra 50% in the installed cost for most people.

Z

On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 1:27 PM, Kirk McLoren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> you need to view this page before you spend your money
>
> http://ecdfan.blogspot.com/2009/06/marketing-of-solar-tile.html
> Kirk
>
>
>
> "Never pretend to be a unicorn by sticking a plunger on your head."
>
> Martín Espada
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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Chris Burck]

why not forego tiling the roof completely?  just put the panels
directly onto the plywood.  obviously, retrofitting an already
existing roof is one thing, but if you're building new. . .surely this
must be possible.

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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Zeke Yewdall]

As long as you put a water proof layer down underneath them (tarpaper or
iceshield or such, yeah... the typical roof surface is not really needed.
Except that technically solar panels are not class A fire rated without
something underneath them.

Z

On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 6:04 PM, Chris Burck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> why not forego tiling the roof completely?  just put the panels
> directly onto the plywood.  obviously, retrofitting an already
> existing roof is one thing, but if you're building new. . .surely this
> must be possible.
>
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[Biofuel] energy and the future

[Kirk McLoren]

http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/5627
 
great website to explore
Kirk


A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul.
-George Bernard Shaw
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[Biofuel] funniest thing Ive read in ages

[Kirk McLoren]

"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not" - 
Jefferson
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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Ivan Menchero]

That is right!

I always thought that should be the way to go, and how come NO GOVERNMENT, 
has pass a "code" saying if you build a Building you MUST, the increase on 
the prize of a building would be minimal.

Ivan

--
From: "Chris Burck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 8:04 AM
To: 
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

> why not forego tiling the roof completely?  just put the panels
> directly onto the plywood.  obviously, retrofitting an already
> existing roof is one thing, but if you're building new. . .surely this
> must be possible.
>
> ___
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> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
>
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> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
>
> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 
> messages):
> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
> 

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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Zeke Yewdall]

Actually some are going that direction.  In rural Boulder county if you want
to build a house over 3600 square feet, you need to get 25% of the energy it
will use from on site sources (solar, wind).  If over 5000 square feet, you
have to get 50% from on site sources.  People are raising hell about it.
for the 5000 square foot house, if well designed, it might add another $100k
to a  $800k+ house which if you can afford a starter castle like that to
begin with, I don't think being asked to not completely kill the planet to
power your castle is unreasonable.

Z

On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 6:10 PM, Ivan Menchero <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> That is right!
>
> I always thought that should be the way to go, and how come NO GOVERNMENT,
> has pass a "code" saying if you build a Building you MUST, the increase on
> the prize of a building would be minimal.
>
> Ivan
>
> --
> From: "Chris Burck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 8:04 AM
> To: 
> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles
>
> > why not forego tiling the roof completely?  just put the panels
> > directly onto the plywood.  obviously, retrofitting an already
> > existing roof is one thing, but if you're building new. . .surely this
> > must be possible.
> >
> > ___
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> > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
> > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
> >
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> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
> >
> > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000
> > messages):
> > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
> >
>
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Re: [Biofuel] before you buy solar tiles

[Oskar Bartenstein]

The use of solar thermal energy is now mandatory in Spain for residential
and public buildings
http://www.solarge.org/index.php?id=1657&no_cache=1

The city governments of Tokyo and Yokohama "encourage"
use of renewable energies in larger new commercial structures,
meaning this is a requirement for the building permit.

Solar roofs, solar facades are of course the
way to go, both for solar thermal and solar electric.
Add-ons are interim solutions.

Oskar Bartenstein
http://www.ecolifelab.com

On 8/3/2009, "Ivan Menchero" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>I always thought that should be the way to go, and how come NO GOVERNMENT,
>has pass a "code" saying if you build a Building you MUST, the increase on
>the prize of a building would be minimal.




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