As with my other visits the amount of renewable energy production in Europe is growing rapidly. The use of wind farms and solar collection is amazing. In Denmark and Germany I saw huge number of wind generators. Denmark and I think Germany have a program that farmers who have relatively consistent and adequate wind can get financial assistance to erect one or more wind generators that then hook into the power grid. The farmer earns money from selling the electricity to the grid and part of that profit pays for the wind generator and the rest in his/her pocket. This has encouraged the expansion of wind turbine power generation.
During this last trip I noticed that many farmers had several acres of land with large panels of photoelectric cells that produce power for the grid. Also there was more homes and businesses that had some form of solar collection system, be it hot water or photocells. Since most building in Europe still use hot water radiant heat for heating, it make good sense to use solar collectors to heat the water when the sun is available.
The other striking thing that Europeans do that we don't is preserve our historic buildings. We are so quick to tear down a building that does not suit us at the time. I know we don't have the incredible history that Europe does, but still we don't preserve what we have for future generations. I do also understand that most of what we built in the west in the expansion period was made of wood and not well made, thus they easily fall apart if not well maintained, which many have not been.
I also see stronger sense of community in most cities in Europe. The people are very happy to have a conversation with you. There is still person to person communications, though that is slowly changing with each new generation. The digital age is also impacting their culture as well, but not as rapidly as here.
One of the biggest social element that is very obvious is their maturity toward alcoholic beverage consumption and nudity. Again, every grocery store or convenience store sold alcoholic beverages and adult entertainment material, such as magazines and DVDs. Not hidden under the counter, but in full display and available for purchase.
You see both in advertising be it broadcast, billboards, or print. Sexuality is not a big deal either, as it is normal human behavior, so don't get upset when it happens, consensually that is.
It just shows me how up-tight Americans are and especially Utahns. Take for example the crusade by several parents near Ogden to have a "Doctor John" billboard taken down. The story in the Standard Examiner states:
WEST HAVEN -- A Plain City woman says a lingerie billboard between the 12th and 21st street exits on Interstate 15 is inappropriate for public viewing and should be changed.
The billboard, which features a woman lying in a seductive pose and wearing a skimpy outfit, advertises for Dr. John's Lingerie, a sexually oriented business with stores across the country, including one in Roy.
Plain City resident Martha Bodily thinks the sign is inappropriate and is trying to rally support to get the billboard removed.
Because the billboard is within West Haven city limits, Bodily attended a recent West Haven City Council meeting to express her concerns.Here is the billboard they are talking about:
Now here is a billboard that I shot in Split Croatia:
I also think that since there are large quantities of art in the public square that contain nudity and suggestive poses, they are not as stimulated by nudity as Americans are. It is much more natural, even in the very religious Italy. In fact you can see lots of boobs and penises in the giant cathedrals and even the small church hidden in a side street. Believe me, there are churches every few meters (feet) in the old towns in both Italy and Croatia. One particular one had a painting of Mary breast feeding Jesus as he holds his penis.
We really need to grow up regard such things. One has to enjoy life and acknowledge reality rather than trying to hide from it.
One other thing that is very noticeable is the concern about global warming and the events of climate change. In Venice for example is experiencing daily flooding of many of their piazzas as the ancient drainage system that is suppose to drain the rain water off the hard surfaces of the buildings and piazzas are now backing up with the rising sea level and higher tides as a result. Many building are being flooding almost daily on their first floor. In many of the other coastal towns both in Italy and Croatia they are concerned about what is happening as it threatens their cities and way of life. The farmers are very aware as the rains are not as frequent. In Croatia they had not had rain since January and it was hotter than normal. Finally they got a few showers just as we were leaving Dubrovnik around the 20th of September. The forests were very dry and they have had many forest fires. Crops have died and they are now in need of importing more food. Italy was reporting the same events.
Now the conservatives in the USA have their heads in the sand, well actually they have their pockets full of money from the big polluters so they will put their heads in the sand and say nothings is happening, its just natural. I did notice that the air was much cleaner this time in Italy than when we were last there several decades ago. Yes they still use a lot of diesel for transportation, but the new cars and big trucks use it much cleaner and they have more vehicle that use natural gas for fuel. I also saw a lot more all electric cars there. They were small, much like the Smart Car we see here, but battery only. It makes sense since they only travel short distances most of the time in the car and us mass transit for longer trips.
I do think some of the reasons the Europeans do have a bit more healthy lifestyle is that they of course walk more, as you have to in the narrow streets of the old cities and the use of public mass transit. Also they purchase their perishables nearly daily. They eat a lot more fruit and vegetables than we do. And a lot less red meat, since it is so expensive. Farming practices over there use less pesticides and more organic type farming, so much of the vegetables are fresh from the nearby farmers fields. But that is changing also as more and more multinational corporations are renting farms and turning them into food factories as they have here in the USA. Archer Midland Daniels and ConAgra are two of the biggest here in the USA. I don't know about in Europe, but I would assume as such.
With that said, they do smoke a lot more than we do now. Especially the kids. I was rather taken aback by the number of very young kids smoking openly, so I assume they don't have age restrictions of smoking. That is going to be a big problem for them and the country in the future. Also the influx of American fast food companies is growing. I didn't see as many as I've seen in Germany and Denmark, but there were McDonald's signs along the road. Some health minister of the EU blames these companies for the "enlarging" of the population and causing higher health care costs to their socialized systems. Germany recently released a study that said that many young people are not frequenting the nude beaches as much because they don't want to be seen with the extra pounds they have acquired from the fast food they eat. They do reappear at the nude beaches when they get older and let all the fat hang out. I can say that is true from personal experience there.
So the world has gotten much smaller and we as a globe need to work toward making the earth healthier and the people living on it healthier. We do need to overhaul our political systems to better deal with the critical issues that are facing all nations on earth.
That's my thoughts for today...
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