Blog Post 4 - Politics, Law, Policy, and Cultural Phenomena vis-a-vis Electrifying the Masses

Politics. Policy. Law. Cultural phenomena. These aspects of life are fundamental flashpoints in issues relating to electrification. Let's look at each of them in an attempt to better understand not just the current situation of trying to provide access to electricity for the people of the world who do not have it, but more importantly, the trends we're seeing for the future. Identifying these trends and any potential roadblocks is key toward developing better ways to achieve the objective of providing electricity to those who lack it or lack it in regularity.

Politics. Of course, any issue that involves substantial social change is going to be a political lightning rod. This is especially true for issues of providing access to electricity for those who do not have it, because it challenges dominant forms of energy production bycompeting for market space. Fortunately, much of the political red tape in this regard is reserved for issues of transitioning from unsustainable, fossil fuel energy sources to sustainable, green energy sources. Therefore there is not as serious a political calumny associated with providing energy where there is no access. Yet, these issues remain due to interest of existing dominant power providing corporations. Fortunately, there are profitability reasons associated with why much of the world does not have electricity today. This means that profit-oriented businesses are not necessarily clamoring for work in those areas, leaving opportunities for those interested in providing access to electricity for more noble reasons than profit.

Likewise, policy and laws are having a big impact on future trends in providing electricity for those who do not have it, but not in terms of quantity. Some places have outlined and stated official government support for such efforts that include incentives to bring sustainable, green energy to those who do not have it. But it seems that policy usually ignores this segment of the population, which is reflective of their general isolation.

Perhaps the most important arena vis-a-vis providing electricity access to those who do not have it today is cultural phenomena. Business is done in a new way in the 21^st century. Small-scaleentrepreneurs, not major firms, are the movers and shakers of the energy field. This is because there is not financial gain in providing sustainable, renewable access to electricity for those who do not have it. Accordingly, due to the fact that major energy firms are for-profit across the globe, there is little interest in finding ways to essentially set up these populations for self-sustaining energy production. Rather, their focus is on exploiting existing systems while they can. Of course there are exceptions, but this is the general trend. Therefore the most important players in this cause today tend to be small-scale, local entrepreneurs who are driven by their love for invention and belief that one should play a moral and constructive role in the world.

Thankfully, this cultural trend is something shared globally. Most excitingly, it is strongly associated with the global youth and middle-aged. In other words—in contrast to the profit-driven development that typified the past two centuries, nowadays entrepreneurs are looking for collaborative, sustainable, healthy sources of electricity for the sake of sharing this technology among all humans rather than just those who can make good customers. These forwards trends are good signs that the world's population who does not have access to electricity will get it in coming years due to the alignment of technology, desire, and capability that is embodied in today's global cultural phenomena.