Haiku — 0049: Progress

A 5–7–5 inspired by a technical policy.

I am writing an opinion about the implications of a Dutch policy decision to continue with net metering and I wondered, why not a Haiku on the overarching theme?

Hard choices unmade,

One step forward, two steps back,

Society fails.

How hard is it to make progress?

I am not talking merely about technological advancements. That is something that will always happen because of, or despite, external aid by governments and societies. That aspect is driven by things like curiosity, deliverability, convenience, and then some.

But I am more focused on the rest of progress, where adapting to these technological advancements comes in.

No society is a monolith, but despite the clash and contradictions of ideologies, some universal truths seem to persist — Like people don’t want to loosen their purse strings if they can avoid it. Or, like how people want the quick solution to their problems and could perhaps not be bothered to take the extra mile. Add in issues like interest convergence, populism, cartelization, institutional bias, and a general sense of apathy, you possibly end up with the greatest recipe for thwarting any advancement.

I should know, given that I come from India, which is perhaps the largest sample of this problem.

Fig Leaves.

Vaccines, heavy equipment, industrialization, climate change, AI — Just about everything that can be advanced into a better position to service humanity and the planet are labeled in many colorful forms, like “hoax” (my favorite one is how climate change never happened), or “propaganda”, or better yet “replacing humanity”.

Emotions are stoked and used as fig leaves to hide God knows what purpose, but aimed at stalling, if not stopping progress.

Valid concerns are always there, and addressing them is exactly what constitutes progress in the first place. But does that incentivize denying something itself? What happens in such a society, where the moment science takes one step forward, policies take one step back?

And while I mention policies, it is the vox populi, because the policies usually bend under the critical mass of peoples’ voices, so ultimately it is the fault of the society.

Shirking Away From Hard Choices.

Let’s face it — Many societies do not want to make hard choices. While I will not run into a large data presentation here, just consider these examples.

The largest per capita carbon emitters expect those at the opposite end to bear the weight of energy transition, not by aiding their acts, but by restricting them. The Government which is slow to modernize hides behind “non-necessity” to keep afoot its exploitable cracks. A society that values things based on appearances complains when the quality is lacking.

We are what we choose, and right now, not many of us are choosing right.