The Man in the White Suit

There's a timeless quality to Alexander Mackendrick's The Man in the White Suit(1951).

Its examination of capital and labour faced with the advance of progress has transferrable applications for any historical epoch.

It's fun to watch too.

A scientist within, Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness), takes constant risks to develop an indestructible cloth that can't be stained, thereby revolutionizing the textile industry.

The owner of the company he works for is initially impressed, until his competitors note that Stratton's breakthrough will put them out of business, costing the British economy thousands of jobs.

It's a control issue.

Labour hears the news as well and recognizes their precarious position within the new marketable leap forward.

Heads contentiously clash until labour and capital realize they seek the same ends, proceeding thereafter to suppress Mr. Stratton as he tries to move forward with his discovery.

He doesn't realize the impacts of what he's doing until he accidentally bumps into an elderly person in the street, as he's on the run, laundry, the subject of conversation.

It's a compelling study of beginnings, of panic, in this instance, mixed with diverse voices from multiple stakeholders, and several unexpected serendipitous scintillations, the naive and the nepotists, the powerful, and the hungry.

Made me think of the Who Killed the Electric Car? film.

And baby steps.

I always thought that if you were making trillions of dollars from a non-renewable resource, you would spend some of that money on creating independent infrastructures to sustain local economies, if the resource happened to run out.

Future minded thinking.

You see this in the ways infrastructures are developing at the métro stations in Laval anyways, which are equipped with spots where you can park and rejuice your electric car.

Perhaps, as sales of electric cars (which are making a comeback), or hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, increase, petrol service stations will begin to proportionally offer a variety of services for them in order to manage profit fluctuations and keep their workforces employed.

Factories which manufacture cars fuelled by gasoline can switch to harnessing the power of electricity.

Slow moving change, linked directly to increased demand.

Rather than exclusively searching for new oil deposits, the focus could partially switch to finding new sources of electric power, in remote regions, while respecting local traditions, to supply the necessary increases in hydro-electric energy.

If the independent infrastructures are in place, the panic is slowly mitigated over time, and if you have 100 years and ample capital and labour to create them, civil unrest could be minimized.

A lot of people will still be mighty pissed-off however.

They may be upset if they find out they have cancer too.

This option could lead to a much cleaner environment.

A much healthier planet, more sustainable, in the fortunes of time.