The achievement society's ideal and its concept of the enemyThe GEMINI inhabitable solar power station, ideal for a stable, sustainable society, is the worst bogeyman of the achievement society.
In 1992 these ideals were defined in the book "Aufstieg zum Solarzeitalter" (Advance to the Solar Age): The GEMINI house, a unique investment in one's own housing requirements and in the energy supply of the region as a whole. It provides the electricity supply of the house, warmth through a heat pump, power for the family's electric vehicles and also adequately contributes to the region's energy supply. Even just this contribution to the energy supply is enough to finance a modest living. In 2010 the longing for a stable society without the neverending pressure to achieve in order to sustain one's standard of living was expressed thus: "If typical citizens of 2050 charge the electric car they bought in 2030 with the photovoltaics they bought in 2020, then we will have achieved a stable society"
What will happen to economic growth if in the year 2050 people charge the electric car they bought in 2030 with the photovoltaics they bought in 2020? For the achievement society such citizens are regarded as anti-consumerists. What means would an achievement society have to goad these citizens to ever more achievement? Someone who has been energetically self-sufficient for 30 years through solar energy. Someone who hasn't bought any petrol or diesel for the last 20 years? An anti-consumerist who drives a 20-year-old car? Our ideal is the achievement society's worst nightmare. |