Page 10 RAIN January 1977 the same: you can strive to create a counterweight, a counterforce, namely, efficient small-scale technology for the little people. What are you in fact doing for the little people?" "Nothing." I talked to him about what I call the 'Law of the Disappearing Middle.' In technological development, wh~n it is drifting along, outside conscious control, all ambition and creative talent goes to the frontier, the only place considered prestigious and exciting. Development proceeds from Stage 1 to Stage 2, and when it moves on to Stage 3, Stage 2 drops out; when it moves on to Stage 4, Stage' 3 drops out, and so on. Better becomes enemy of good It is not difficult to observe the process. The 'better' is the enemy of the good and makes the good disappear even if most people cannot afford the better, for reasons of Money, Market, Management, or whatever it might be. Those who cannot afford to keep pace drop out and are left with nothing but Stage 1 technology. If, as a farmer, you cannot afford a tractor and a combine harvester, where can you get efficient animal-drawn equipment for these jobs-the kind of equipment I myself used thirty-five years ago? Hardly anywhere. So you cannot stay in farming. The hoe and the sickle remain readily available; the latest and the best-for those who can afford it- is also readily available. But the middle, the inter-' mediate technology, disappears. Where it does not disappear altogether it suffers from total neglect-no improvements, no benefits from any new knowledge, antiquated, unattractive, etc. The result of all this is a loss of freedom. The power of the rich and powerful becomes ever more all-embracing and systematic. The free and independent 'middle class,' capable of challenging the monopolistic power of the rich, disappears in step with the 'disappearing middle' of technology. (There remains a middle class of managerial and .professional servants of the rich organisations; they cannot challenge anything.) Production and incomes become concentrated in fewer and 1 fewer hands, or organisa~ions, or bureaucracies-;~. tendency which redistributive taxation plus ever-increasing welfare payments frantically try to counteract-and the rest of mankind have to hawk th~mselves around to find a 'slot' provided by the rich, into which_they might fit. The First Commandment is: Thou shalt adapt thyself. To what? To the available 'slots'. And if there are not enough of them available, you are left unemployed. Never previously having done your own thing, it is unlikely that you will have the ability to do it now, and in any case the technology that c0uld help you to do your own thing efficientlY. cannot be found. I Intermediate technology What is the answer? The 'Law of the Disappearing Middle' in technology has to be counteracted by conscious work, namely, by the development of 'intermediate technologies' striving for -smallness -simplicity -capital-cheapness -non-violence. The fourth criterion, being somewhat different in kind from the first three, may require some further elucidation. To cite an extreme example, consider the political implications of the most violent technology ever developed, nuclear energy- 'peaceful' nuclear energy. Consider .the security measures required when plutonium and other radioactive material becomes ubiquitous, as it will if present plans for nuclear expansion are implemented. These terrible substances must never leak into the environment; must never get out of control in any way; and must never fall into the wrong hands-of blackmailers, terrorists, political desperados, or suicidal maniacs. There will be a continuous fl'ow of traffic criss-crossing the country, taking these materials through.their various stages of processing and use-and nothing must ever go seriously wrong. The connection between technology and freedom is obvious, and it is not difficult to see that the price of freedom, or at least an important part of it~ is the avoidance of violent technologies. WATERLESS TOILET PERFORMANCE Dry toilets have now been installed and 1 used in enough far-flung places that the bugs in different processes are showing up and attempts ma.de to correct them. We've ·seen two recent reports on testing in cold climate conditions: ·Clivus almost floated away ... use your toilet for a lifeboat!). The small, electrically-assisted Mull-Toa was found to be of little·practical value in the extreme Manitoba conditions-being particularly sensitive to overloading from beer parties. The Clivus was felt to have a great deal of promise in such northern areas into the bathrooms-all the nightmares you could dream of. ,In sum, it looks like things will shake down okay with the whole composting toilet picture.(TB) Experiences with the Clivus-Multrum and Mull-Toa Toilets in Northern Manitoba, by J. M. J cKernan and D. S. Morgan, 1976; inquire for price and availability from: Sym/bios 16-74 Carlton Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 1N9 · Canada An interim report on testing in extremely cold conditions where normal sewage systems have been found prohibitively expensive or impossible. Installation and operating problems and costs are described (including one case where the ba.sement flooded and the in spite of the lack of kitchen vegetable wastes inhibiting rapid composting . action. (TB) "Waterless Toilets," Maine Times, Nov. 19, 1976, 30¢/issue, $12/year from: 41 Main Street ' Topsham, ME.04086 This fine paper keeps coming up with excellent reports ... it's really worth -subscribing to. This six-page report on problems with waterless toilets gives a good, detailed review of operating problems found with various designs, efforts to correct them, and a comparative evaluation of different products. Flies, brick-like solidification of wastes, ventilation, heating problems, energy costs of house air evacuated through the units, and the effects of bathroom exhaust fans sucking air from the units 'Pedestal Lion' Closet
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