With the ladder of the Higher-Faster-Stronger, you can't go to heaven nor anywhere else, because it's only goal is to go higher, faster, and further.
An endless ladder extends infinitely into the abyss, which means that at some point the two ends meet and form a huge hamster wheel. Those constantly striving to go higher, faster and further will never reach their goal.
Throughout the past 100 years, agriculture in Europe has undergone fundamental changes due to technical and biochemical development, and each year another step of the
Ladder of the Higher-Faster-Stronger
is climbed. Fewer and fewer people are producing ever-increasing amounts of food thanks to agrotechnology ‘advancements’ such as modern seeds, huge amounts of highly effective fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the mechanization of agricultural operations. However, mechanization calls for large investments, which is in turn magnified by the demand for greater machine size due to their greater harvesting capacity, speed, and efficiency, which drives the need for even more investments, which only pay off when everything is running at full capacity. This has led, for example, to the average size of farms in Germany doubling from 30 hectares in 1991 to 62 hectares in 2017.
One motor per car is no longer sufficient, as more and more electric motors are now being added to open and close windows, trunks and even doors at the touch of a button. With every additional engine, driving apparently becomes more enjoyable, especially when more than 1,000 hp are at one's disposal. With this in mind, it may come as no surprise that the simple commuter route in Germany has risen by 21% within the last 15 years, from 8.7 km to 10.5 km. The engineers of this
Ladder of the Higher-Faster-Stronger
commute furthest of all, with the average being about 18.5 km. However, they are hardly cruising blissfully along unoccupied roads; rather, they are stuck in traffic jams with everyone else.
A good 75 % of primary energy consumption in Germany is supplied by fossil fuels, i.e. primarily crude oil and natural gas. The total energy consumption of people with a university degree is about a third higher than that of people with a lower secondary school leaving certificate. In quantitative terms, this compares to about 15,000-20,000 kilowatt hours of energy consumption per year. The difference in energy consumption becomes even clearer when disposable income is taken into account. People earning less than 1,000 Euros per month consume about 10,000 kWh/year, while people earning 3,000 Euros per month consume twice as much energy on a yearly basis, that is, nearly 20,000 kWh/year. In short, the higher we stand on the
Ladder of the Higher-Faster-Stronger
, the higher our energy consumption is - and statistically speaking, the people with the greatest environmental consciousness are also the biggest energy consumers.
A playful display of strength for the sake of fun can still be found on the local football grounds. However, from the club level down to the lowest leagues there is a hard-fought battle about who stands on which step of the
Ladder of the Higher-Faster-Stronger
. Financial support, training intensity, mileage, physio- and psychotherapeutic support (to name a few) are constantly being increased.