Fragile

I've waxed lyrical about this before, but it's well worth repeating - our polity is founded on a very fragile base.

Every time a new technology comes along, whole industries are built around it without adequate risk analysis concerning the problems that could develop should that base technology be unstable and collapse, whether it be from geopolitics or other reasons.

It's as if we're addicted to building our civilization on an inverted pyramid and yet we express deep surprise when the edifice we create tumbles. Just-in-time can easily turn into just-too-late and relying on 'The Market' to sort things out is not a solution, as the market doesn't take people or interconnected reliance into consideration.

Our latest problem is gas, the roots of which are an inadequate amount of UK storage and Putin, who is certainly not an ally, playing geopolitics with a necessary commodity. The knock on effects are electricity prices for gas power stations going astronomic and a dearth of CO2 production for food preservation. We have the worst of the effect in Europe through failure to stockpile due to inadequate storage facilities.

In response, we get some utterly unbelievable bollocks from government that many, who have had their minds successfully hacked, believe wholesale due to the lobotomization of their critical faculties.

Rather than Global Britain, we need to become more resilient and self-sufficient in essentials, limiting imports to what we can't make, and yet need, from close (and geographically near) allies, rather than regimes which don't have our best interests at heart and may be half way round the world, relying on long supply chains. That way we are less reliant on the whim of tin-pot dictators, bottlenecks caused by problems elsewhere -  and help to combat climate change.

The essentials are food and power. Arguably, computer chips are also an essential to keep industry going. Some would add KFC to that list.

Thinking of the HGV driver shortage, driving a lorry is not that difficult. Most of us drive on a daily basis and those who tow caravans tow articulated vehicles without the need for a specialised licence. Agreed, getting round corners in an artic can be difficult, but not insurmountable with a bit of practice. Hay's dad was an HGV driver and didn't believe it difficult, just boring.

While on the issue of driving, rather than manufacturers aiming for the fastest electric vehicle, we should be building cheap, speed-limited vehicles that aren't exactly design classics (although I'm sure that could be done), but get people around at acceptable and safe speeds at low cost. Limiting cars to the actual speed limits would negate the need for heavy crash protection, enabling such cars to go further on less power. Our priorities simply need to change.