I remember when AT&T made arguments against splitting up Ma Bell because the new system wouldn't have "five 9s" reliability.

It turns out the optimal reliability/cost tradeoff, from the consumers' points of view, isn't necessarily what the entrenched incumbent producers want to provide.

Note that telephone service today sucks compared to the gold-plated Ma Bell network. It’s nearly unusable, especially VoIP.

As a vegetarian from the west, I have sometimes encountered similar incredulity from people in developing countries about my dietary choice.

Development is a ratchet, but there's diminishing returns. Eventually costs can seem to outweigh benefits in specific areas.

I was assuming that hydro, nuclear and such would keep the led lights on while people sat under a blanket and read a good book in their well insulated homes until they could turn industry back up and start charging their cars again. Living in harmony with nature would not really be that different from heating your water at night with offpeak electricity. If it gave us cheap clean power bills I think people would like it. Not turning the planet uninhabitable might be considered a perk too.