Solar Energy for Everyone!

Yesterday we talked about the amazing Barefoot College created by Bunker Roy, that is creating a solar power revolution on the Indian and African continents.

Here are some bits from the transcript of the discussion:
-What is the basic understanding of Bunker Roy about how to effectively empower people to improve their lives and eradicate poverty?

-Decentralization. Because now their in a lot of countries, why there is such a gap between rich and poor is because of centralization, and under-the-table activity/dealings. And so the gov’t is in charge of the water the oil and so on, and the poor people don't get electricity, don't get water, and so, this school teaches the local people to build it themeselves, locally.

-He says listen to people! You know, and it's not easy, really. But listen to the people in the actual situation, they have the solutions.
-He says don't listen to World Bank.

-He says, don't listen to people in ivory towers, listen to the poeple on the ground.

-Most of the people in government are in ivory towers.

-Because the gov’t comes from people from the ivy league.
-The ivy-covered ivory towers!

Roy: Any technology that brings in dependency, is not a technology that will work."
-Dependency? 
-Like the gov’t builds the electricity system and we depend on them for that.
-Whoa!
-And if they build a kind of energy source we don't want, we still can't do anything about it. Like they're building the nuclear plant even though we don't want it.
-Because the gov’t is in an ivory tower, so if we depend on gov’t, the technology will not work.

-But we chose them!
-We're not really choosing them. It's not like we looked around the community and said, ok, who's the best person for the job. A couple of people are selected by those in power for us to choose from, and it's like who do you want more, Dumbass A or Dumbass B? We're not really choosing someone who's the best for the job!

-So maybe such policy is not so difficult, but the gov’t thinks it is difficult, so it's difficult!


-What did you have an emotional reaction from this video? What amazed you? Shocked you? Made you joyful?
-The solar energy made me very happy. Because I feel like, there is somebody doing this, and this is, because I think, in my opinion, it's the best energy.

-There's no explosive stuff sitting around your house, no smoke, there's nothing that will run out! You don't have to keep buying fuel.

-There's no waste! With oil, there's waste, with nuclear, there's waste.