Don't Get Too Comfortable

[quidditchgrrl]

I 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.

Comments

[avidbeader.livejournal.com]

It's crossed my mind many a time that the majority of the US population has forgotten what it means to actually sacrifice for the greater good. I'm guilty of the mindset myself on occasion. But yeah, I'd like to see them try to put in a gas rationing system like there was in WWII...THAT would stir up revolt, unlike anything else this sick administration has done so far.

I also strive to cut driving, recycle, use less and throw away less. And I definitely want to look into a vehicle with alternate fuel usage when we can finally afford to get rid of the Behemoth (if we haven't managed to move somewhere with a good public transportation system by then).

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

The administration has taken heroic measures to ensure that the average Amurrican remains untouched by this war...but the facade is becoming harder and harder to maintain.

I can't wait to see what gas prices are like after the election.

[instantramen]

I like to think that my walking to and from work most days is better than if I were to actually get around to getting my license and a car and driving. It's only a mile and a half one way, so why should I waste money when I don't need to?

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'd say! I bike to work (about 4 miles) and walk as much as possible. I'd take the bus everywhere, if there was actually bus service around this place.

[instantramen]

My mom takes the local bus system to and from work during the week, on top of being cheaper than driving she apparently loves all the extra reading time it affords her. I'm sooo jealous with all the books I've got backed up.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, even on my short trips from my gym to work, I could get through 20 or so pages of a book. Le awesome.

You don't have books downloaded/burned? Get on that, woman!

[instantramen]

You'd think I would have filled my iPod several times over, but no! Even if I weren't addicted to the feel of bound paper in my hands, I absorb things better by looking at them than by hearing them, so audiobooks have never really gone over as well as the real thing with me. Kind of disappointing, really. :(

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

Dayum, that sucks! I get a lot of the drier material out of the way via audio.

[instantramen]

Haha, then I'd REALLY not absorb anything, it would be little more than background noise to me if it's too dry.

[kirixchi.livejournal.com]

I don't disagree with your unpoplar opinions at all, but to add my two cents (Again, as an Econ major), the SUV driving Gourmet Coffee drinkers aren't going to feel the pinch for a long time, IMHO. Class stratification is just going to get worse and worse. Subsaharan African countries are already paying for our fucking around with the environment with droughts and floods. Here at home, the underclass is getting edged out of driving to work by the price of gas. Now, don't get me wrong, the lower-strata of gourmet coffee drinkers is going to get bumped down to poverty, but I'm sure some asshat will drive to Armageddon itself in an H1 swilling Starbucks.

P.S. My dad drives a Hummer, and I have a Jeep, so me=not one to talk, really :$

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

What I'm hoping for (read: will never EVER happen) is that we start taxing things that use more energy than average, and use the money for environmental cleanup/conservation. Then we phase those items out of existence.

[modestyrabnott.livejournal.com]

Because all I ever have to say to your posts, is "yeah, what you said," let me instead share a fun story.

My six year old recently pointed to a Hummer as we passed it and said "Look, Mum, an EKV"

"An EKV?" I asked.

Him: "Yeah, an Earth Killing Vehicle" And then he proceeds to crack himself up.

*pets him on the head* That's my boy.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

Very clever kid you have, there! :)