IMHO, there's a lot of 'not getting it' going on here.
RE enthusiasts 'get' conservation. We often don't 'get' why people go into debt to buy a shiny gas-guzzler to pick up the kids when a 15-year-old, third-hand Corolla, the bus, or the kid's own legs will do the same thing much cheaper and more efficiently. but, in order to convert someone to your way of thinking, first you have to get them to LISTEN to you. and "More, Cheaper" is as good a headline as any. (look how many people posted questions here about grid tie at the hieght of the recent petroleum panic. . .)
I think what Mountain Man is trying to say is that, if we wish to be missionary about RE, we need to start with a different tack than "change your lifestyle." SUV drivers don't get 'change your lifestyle,' they 'get' 'more, cheaper.'
We (the RE community) aren't immune to "more, cheaper--" look how many times we refer to getting golf-cart batteries at walmart or CostCo or the boneyard.
THIS IS THE WAY I 'GET' IT:
We can't help it if 'more, cheaper' colors our way of thinking. It is quite literally in our genes! 'More, Cheaper' motivates a preditor to take down prey that can't run as fast as the herd. . . food more convienient and simpler than the herd patriarch. 'More, cheaper' appeals to the part of our brain that still lives on the savannah, armed only with our wits and maybe a stone knife; come to that, 'More, Cheaper'
motivated the first guy (gal?) who took up flaking flint. . . cutting meat with a knife allows you to process more, with less effort than tearing into it with hands and teeth. Lazyness is a survival trait that has served us well by keeping our ancestors from expending more energy than they could afford. The American Indian 'got' 'more, cheaper'- look how fast they dropped bows and arrows for firearms. . . Guns make hunting 'cheaper' in personal effort, giving 'more' time to do other things (like make war on the paleface). Agriculture is easier and more consistant than hunting and gathering. . . .People who don't operate on 'more, cheaper' don't need RE; they don't exist.
'More, Cheaper' brought us distributed electrical power, standards, interchangeable parts, (indeed, the very industrial revolution) telephones, personal computers, railroads, cars, and farm tractors. 'More, Cheaper' has enabled this forum and the projects we undertake; Forcefield was formed on 'more, cheaper' because the founders (paraphrasing) couldn't find a good, cheap source for magnets and wire. We use PMAs in place of auto alternators, because we get more power for less maintenence. More, Cheaper.
Pick a human activity (with the possible exception of reproduction) and 'More, Cheaper' is somewhere in the mix of motivations. (sex comes from a different set of hardwired imperitives. . .)
granted, when it comes to adopting RE after living on the grid, lifestyle changes are often cheaper and easier than the 'more, cheaper' approach; and further, lifestyle changes are inevitable when you start looking at generating your own power. . . but still, 'more, cheaper' is operating. Windmills and solar are (long term) cheaper, easier and more dependable than fossil fuel gensets or pedalling an exercise bike. but conservation is still "more, cheaper"-- if I use less power in each activity, I can do more activities with less need for expensive generating capacity. 'More, cheaper,' indeed.
And for people who have lived without electricity and who are now putting in a RE system, 'more, cheaper' operates in a slightly different form; flipping a switch to get light is more convienient and cheaper than fumbling for a match and lantern. . .
and for people who want to go off-grid as a political statement or a less intense way of life, doing so is still a form of 'more, cheaper' but in terms of personal values and personal angst over what we are costing our [planet, society, self, pick one or many]. . . MORE, CHEAPER.
Until those that wish to explain RE to the thundering herd 'get' "more, cheaper" as a motivation, there will not be more demand, making the equipment cheaper.
So, Sing it, Mountain Man! Some of us 'Get it' the same way you do.
i'll get off my soap box. . .
-Dan