Why's the Urban-Rural split so enduring?

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I live about 2 miles outside of a small city, which is about 1 hr from three major cities. It's a good mix of convenience and tranquility.

in the United States the proportion of the population living in Rural Splendor and Quiet is diminishing very rapidly. The cities and suburbs are sucking in the population. And even out in the Sticks, people were being wired to computer networks so they are no long isolated.

Eventually the human world will become one large integrated computer network. At which point the distinction between Rural and non-Rural becomes meaningless.

ruveyn

Not if one enjoys breathing semi-clean air.

Get rid of gasoline and petroleum burning cars, and hydrocarbon burning power plants and you can have all the clean air you can breath.

Go nuclear fission. Carbon free.

ruveyn

Might you also entertain a hydrogen solution ?

Think about this. 60 years ago controlled nuclear fusion was thirty years in the future. It is still thirty years in the future. I have no doubt that a hundred years from now it will be thirty years in the future.

But fission reactors using modern safe designs exist NOT and can be put to work. Especially thorium reactors. They can't make plutonium for fanatic Jihadis to steal and make dirty bombs with.

ruveyn

ruveyn -- here's one to think about. Harnessing gravity so that each home/business has its own power unit.

Not to derail the thread, but gravity/kinetic energy have a lot of potential. I was thinking about a micro-hydro unit, hooked up to the water line running into my house. Wonder if this would work, or if it's even legal?

Well, you likely can't legally tap the main until you are on the interior plumbing. And you probably can't legally connect your internal power source to the mains. You might be perfectly legally setting up parallel circuitry so that main power fed, say, your appliances and that your micro/hydro power fed your lights.

But the greatest problem would be that you don't have steady flow through your plumbing--you only generate power when the water is moving in the pipes. So unless you have your taps open all day (and you pay for your water, accordingly) you probably don't harness enough energy to power anything.

You are right, steady flow might be a problem. I am just throwing some crazy ideas out there. I'll let you know if I come up with anything else.

How would we covert gravitational potential into mechanical energy. The only way I can think of is waterwheels and high head dams. But there are very few places where this can be done. For most places gravitation is useless for producing electricity. The water flow can only be built off of rivers and impounds.

ruveyn

I think it's really simple. People in urban areas get used to living around and working with people of all different types. People in the country get used to living around and working with fewer people, of a much more uniform type. The former therefore don't have a problem with accepting different sorts of people. The latter fear them because they have poor exposure to different sorts, and humans always fear and hate the unknown.

That kind of provincialism would go away as soon as everyone is wired to a common net and spends six hours a did pecking away at a computer or Ipod.

ruveyn

To a degree, but I think you overestimate. Everyone is just words on a page, online.

Also ... http://www.pcworld.com/article/136441/r ... ialup.html

The government needs to provide free air travel to rural folks, in the interest of world peace. The resulting exposure to other cultures would allow us to become more cosmopolitan and accepting in our thinking.

Or maybe I'd just like a free vacation.
Anyway, I'm not sure the government (U.S.) desires such a society. I think they like us better insulated, minimally educated, and irrationally patriotic.

ruveyn -- gravity might be used to generate electricity if the proper mechanical device using leverage were developed. Look what Wall Street does with leverage.