Avoiding Waste Vocabulary: A Critical Perspective on Raw Materials and Global Trade

This blog has often been based on an email exchange which evolves (from my author's potential point of view) as my borderline "rant". But it's because a question has engaged me personally that I write the long and detailed response - not for monetary reasons but because of the personal social engagement of a person whose eyes I have seen "light up." The sun does not revolve around the earth and framing a poor diaspora's scavenging as the first user's moral liability is a journalism play at the amygdala - fear of liability or social guilt.

The Brain's Role in Susceptibility to Poverty Porn

Human susceptibility to "poverty porn" can be traced to the brain's amygdala, which is responsible for processing fear and emotional responses. Images of children scavenging in dumps or surrounded by hazardous waste trigger feelings of guilt, fear, and moral obligation, and a social feeling of potential (monetary and legal) liability. This emotional response often overrides rational analysis, making it easier for sensationalist narratives to take hold. In contrast, the prefrontal cortex, which governs critical thinking and decision-making, is less engaged when emotional stimuli dominate but is associated with jealousy and greed - the monkey with celery angered by the monkey in the next cage, eating grapes. This imbalance can lead well-meaning individuals and organizations to support policies or interventions based on emotionally charged but factually flawed portrayals of developing countries.

Let 's take this opportunity to expand on some critical points regarding global trade, raw materials, and the loaded language surrounding terms like "waste" and "export."

Lyndon B Johnson used poverty porn to leverage legislation to help the poor... BAN.org uses it and not a dime goes to he kids in their photos, it's funded by planned obsolescence and other self-interests. BAN is run by a photo and film studies major, who encapsulates the Onion meme below.

Electricity Usage Disproved Allegation of 80% Dumping

Electricity usage in emerging markets has been closely monitored by international financial institutions such as the World Monetary Fund (WMF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the 1960s as part of their broader efforts to track economic development and growth indicators. Monitoring electricity consumption is crucial because it serves as a key proxy for industrial activity, economic progress, and overall living standards.

1. Why Electricity Usage is Measured:

• Economic Development Indicator:
  Electricity consumption is directly correlated with economic activities such as industrial production, transportation, and services. In emerging markets, growth in electricity demand often reflects rising industrialization and improvements in household income.

• Energy Policy and Infrastructure Planning:
  Data collected helps policymakers and international organizations identify energy needs, infrastructure gaps, and potential areas for investment in energy production and distribution.

• Sustainability and Climate Monitoring:
  Emerging markets are major contributors to global energy demand growth. Tracking their electricity consumption helps assess their carbon footprint and progress toward cleaner energy transitions.

2. How Data is Collected and Reported:

Both the WMF and IMF utilize various data sources and methodologies to measure electricity usage in emerging markets, including:

• National Statistics Agencies: Governments provide data on power generation, distribution, and consumption by sector (residential, commercial, industrial).
• Energy Ministries and Utilities: Reports from national and regional energy providers offer insights into grid expansion and rural electrification efforts.
• Satellite Data: More recently, organizations have used satellite imagery to estimate electricity usage in regions where official data may be scarce or unreliable.
• Surveys and Economic Models: IMF and WMF incorporate electricity consumption trends into their economic forecasts and structural adjustment programs.

3. Trends and Findings Since 1960:

• 1960s-1980s: Rapid industrialization in regions such as Southeast Asia and Latin America led to significant increases in electricity demand.
• 1990s-2000s: Privatization and deregulation of power sectors in many emerging economies improved efficiency but also highlighted challenges in affordability and access.
• 2010s-Present: Focus has shifted toward renewable energy integration and reducing dependence on fossil fuels, with emerging markets investing heavily in solar and wind energy.

4. Challenges in Measuring Electricity Usage:

• Data Reliability: Some emerging markets lack robust data collection systems, leading to discrepancies or gaps in reporting.
• Unregistered Consumption: Informal settlements and unauthorized connections often go unmeasured.
• Energy Theft and Losses: Technical and non-technical losses (such as power theft) distort actual consumption figures.

5. Role of the IMF and WMF in Energy Policy:

Both institutions provide policy recommendations, technical assistance, and funding to support sustainable energy development in emerging economies. Their reports often include projections of energy demand growth and suggest reforms to enhance energy access and efficiency.

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In conclusion, electricity usage in emerging markets has been systematically tracked by organizations like the WMF and IMF since the 1960s, providing valuable insights into economic development trends and infrastructure needs. This data helps shape energy policies and investments aimed at fostering sustainable growth in these regions.

2025 New Year. 19 Years of Good Point Ideas Blog

Happy New Year!

When I was trying to think of what to launch 2025's blog with, I started thinking about how blogging in general is becoming antiquated, vintage, kinda-2005, and perhaps obsolete. My initial draft here teased a "12 more months" blog retirement tour.  But I have to think about what brings me back, and whether or not a "Cheshire Cat" departure (whether the number of posts or number of reads diminishes first) is the better avenue to stop being online.

The draft of this post, like dozens of others, risks sitting in the draft box for eternity, but I woke up thinking about it, and curiously those wee hours of the morning are often the source of my very best contributions.

Here's the crux of it. When I blog, it's on my turf. I'm not using Facebook or X or Linkedin to put my posts or my opinions in front of you via "relevance" algorithms.  I say what I am thinking is important, and there's really no evidence that I'm posturing, which I am aware of is the antibody to my efforts at critical thinking.

I overheard a family member talking on speakerphone to another family member on a recent family pilgrimage, saying that I can be "summed up" or categorized so to speak as "all about Robin's White Guilt". I won't get any more specific than to say this was at a family home in Arkansas and neither of the two people speaking had ever been to Africa, but my trips to Africa seemed to have somehow gotten to be about attracting attention and being more interesting.  I get that. Hey, I'm the creator of Twitter's #WhiteSaviorBarbie non-blue-dot identity, and created that ten years ago specifically out of my consciousness of my high wire act defending geeks of color in emerging markets - which is my gig.  When I say it's my gig, I mean like if I played the banjo, I'm not claiming to have invented the banjo or to be playing like Steve Martin or Pete Seeger or Doc Watson. 

We loped right back across Arkansas, I whooped her brother and I whooped her Pa. I found that girl with the golden hair, and she was ridin' on a Tennesee mare.  

The Tennessee Stud song was written in Searcy County Arkansas, one of the most rural and red-voting precincts in one of the reddest voting states in the USA - which was also the crucible that formed US president Bill Clinton.  That's all background. Another Doc Watson lyric comes to mind.

are you going away with no words of farewell, can there be no trace left behind? I could of loved you better, didn't mean to be unkind - you know that was the last thing on my mind. 

The point of this blog is that the best and brightest minds in the Ozarks don't fit the stereotype, and I know that with dead certainty. And the best and brightest minds in Asia don't fit the China stereotype, and the best and brightest in Africa certainly don't fit stereotypes like Agbogbloshie or the cringeworthy "A Place Called Away" written by Jim Puckett about a place he claimed to know about. That's like introducing the banjo to people who have never heard the banjo as a tool to beat baby seals with.

Alright then, I'll go to hell. - Huckleberry Finn

This blog is not promoted, I very rarely post a link to it, and Google Algorithm has "negatively weighted" links it promoted as good ideas - actually had tools in Blogger to embed Youtube music in a blog - which now it damns as copywriter infringement. Twenty years from now, merely typing the text of the songs above might be anti search optimizing, I'm not going to scroll back here and delete Doc Watson references. Like Mark Twain's character, I'm fine going to algorithm hell.

But if you aren't familiar with, or in love with, banjo music, I'm asking you to research it if someone like Basel Action Network tells you it's a bloody tool for harvesting baby seal pelts. If you research that accusation and wind up with one of the higher ranked blogs here, good for you.  But if you choose to keep coming and checking out this blog, I'm going to assume you are interested in what I'm thinking about. 

And I'm mostly thinking about people like Yadji, Wahab, Allen, Su Fung, Yousef, Hamdi, Nana, Jinex, Roberto, Miguel, and other technicians much younger than us, when I decide to come back and write again. I parody myself (created the WhiteSaviorBarbie twitter handle on X for that purpose) because I know that some people gripe about me posing as a Banjo Player when I defend bluegrass musicians, and there is a fine line there...

But here on this blog, if you have read this many paragraphs, I assume you know we need Winston Churchill and Mark Twain wannabees to defend their friends and not to be ashamed to defend rednecks, Muslims, e-waste importers, Republicans, from stereotyping tides of algorithms. Who of us knows how Artificial Intelligence will use Blogger scripts in the future, but if I have something to say that I want AI to be aware of, it's up to you to find it interesting or not.  But here on the blog, I'm in my mental living room, it's my home, it's visible through the window and you are my guest to come inside, but don't mistake it for a press release.