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Oct. 6th, 2006
Don't Get Too Comfortable
Oct. 6th, 2006 10:16 pmI started The Greatest Story Ever Sold on audio today. I've made it into the second disk, which is about one disk further than I tend to get when I try to listen to books about the current president/administration. Pretty good if you (like I) have felt like you've been hitting your head against a brick wall for the past five years. You weren't alone!
One of the themes is a comparison between the generations who fought in WWII and those who came after, specifically concerning the sacrifices the typical American had to make during wartime. We have not been asked to sacrifice ANYTHING in this conflict (well, aside from our right to Habeus corpus and various other Constitutional rights). Think about it - no rationing of staples food and materials/textiles, no call for reduction in energy usage, no draft. We are, Rich asserts, spoiled brats.
Unpopular opinion #43725729615: If we are going to "stay the course" in Iraq, the only way we can win is by reinstituting the draft. Or, you know, pulling out and letting the country split along ethnic lines, like we did in Yugoslavia.
A good point was made in An Inconvenient Truth (and I SWEAR I'll quit talking about this book, someday) that we are now to the point where we cannot continue moving on the path of waste and environmental destruction, and it's going to be relatively painful for some people when they HAVE to give up some of the creature comforts (hell, SUVs? Minivans? Gourmet coffee? C'mon!) simply to maintain public health and day to day viability of the ecosystem. OH WAIT, we're THERE NOW.
I've started recycling hardcore, cutting back on how many chemicals I use/dispose of, and trying to live a little more simply. It's not been that tough, but getting used to a new routine. I really want to get a hybrid/cell/water-powered car when I get my Saturn paid off. Gotta do my part, I guess. Not doing anything else but wasting oxygen.
One of the themes is a comparison between the generations who fought in WWII and those who came after, specifically concerning the sacrifices the typical American had to make during wartime. We have not been asked to sacrifice ANYTHING in this conflict (well, aside from our right to Habeus corpus and various other Constitutional rights). Think about it - no rationing of staples food and materials/textiles, no call for reduction in energy usage, no draft. We are, Rich asserts, spoiled brats.
Unpopular opinion #43725729615: If we are going to "stay the course" in Iraq, the only way we can win is by reinstituting the draft. Or, you know, pulling out and letting the country split along ethnic lines, like we did in Yugoslavia.
A good point was made in An Inconvenient Truth (and I SWEAR I'll quit talking about this book, someday) that we are now to the point where we cannot continue moving on the path of waste and environmental destruction, and it's going to be relatively painful for some people when they HAVE to give up some of the creature comforts (hell, SUVs? Minivans? Gourmet coffee? C'mon!) simply to maintain public health and day to day viability of the ecosystem. OH WAIT, we're THERE NOW.
I've started recycling hardcore, cutting back on how many chemicals I use/dispose of, and trying to live a little more simply. It's not been that tough, but getting used to a new routine. I really want to get a hybrid/cell/water-powered car when I get my Saturn paid off. Gotta do my part, I guess. Not doing anything else but wasting oxygen.