Paula --

> Let me know what do you think about it. I have still questions... maybe it
> is an isolated case.

It is not isolated -- I have a friend who started a consulting company that
brings micro-finance 'solutions' together with 'sustainable' technological
'solutions' for the developing world -- this is a typical developed-world
philosophical position.

From what I understand of your post -- this is a crucial issue of technological
dependency (although I am not sure this is what you were wanting to point out).
The introduction of 'solutions' -- solar panels -- and anything that is not a
fully local solution creates wide dependencies that link a local situation to
the more global. This dependency is, literally, the inverse of autonomy. This is
the core problem with the global deployment of more and more complex 'personal'
technologies (that claim to bring freedom to the 'user'). They immediately, upon
use, bind the user into the global hyper-industrial infrastructure.

An example a bit different than yours would be the increasing complexity of an
automobile, where 50 years ago it was possible to locally fabricate 'fixes' for
a broken part because the part was made with a simpler and more available
technology. Now-a-days a car is so complex with specialized and precise devices
necessary to fabricate it (high-tech robotics, exotic materials), it is much
more difficult to effect a 'local' repair -- people are much more dependent on
the network of dealerships who have computers built to diagnose and suggest
repairs.

Higher technology (as defined by more 'precise' devices) requires a wider social
hierarchy to support. So bringing in the solar lamps immediately ties one into a
much wider (possibly global) system -- it's practically impossible to repair a
solar panel (except for the external wiring), and storage batteries have to be
replaced as do the light-bulbs. Sure, it changes the conditions under which
people live, but it also creates dependencies. Not only that but as we move up
the scale from simpler to more complex technologies, they become more energy
consumptive, by nature, even though, at the point of deployment, those greater
energy needs are not visible.

Again, I'm not sure if this was what you were pointing out, but this is what I
took away from your story about Olga. External 'solutions' are often not at all
helpful!

Cheers,
John

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Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD
Watching the Tao rather than watching the Dow!
http://neoscenes.net/
http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
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