tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post6341338355811407286..comments2024-01-10T11:19:56.456-08:00Comments on What Is Sustainable: Black GoldWhat Is Sustainablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-26087388014371682772016-07-08T16:04:45.052-07:002016-07-08T16:04:45.052-07:00Hi Thom!
My evil plan is not to educate the herd...Hi Thom!<br /> <br />My evil plan is not to educate the herd. I agree that the masses will continue on their merry way, disregarding inconvenient truths. “If a plan is not working, stick to it.”<br /> <br />There are some brighter lights who are interested in learning about the reality they have inherited. My plan is to offer them some info that may be useful to them. Who knows if there will still be two legs in a hundred years. If there are, it would be great if at least a few of them understood the sequence of blunders that resulted in our embarrassing predicament.<br /> <br />You and I are doing what our hearts tell us to do. And that is exactly what we should be doing.What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-4244919802097324502016-07-08T15:52:16.243-07:002016-07-08T15:52:16.243-07:00Hi Amarnath,
I read Bradshaw’s letter to his dau...Hi Amarnath, <br /><br />I read <a href="http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11667254" rel="nofollow">Bradshaw’s letter</a> to his daughter. <br /><br />He apologized for sharing an overwhelming truth with her when she was just five, and it seriously upset her. He felt she would have been more ready to handle the truth when she was nine, when he wrote the letter to explain his choice. <br /><br />“I will, however, defend my lecture to you because the urgency of action is so great we cannot afford to coddle the next generation in ignorance, for this is the generation that will begin to cop some of the worst ravages of our environmental neglect,” he wrote.<br /><br />It is indeed painful when a pet dies, or a grandmother. It’s painful to hear that your future will be a time of big juju.<br /><br />Black Gold is recommended for ages 12 and up. As I wrote, I’m sorry that he wasn’t able to reveal more in his book.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing the letter.What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-21069266019603870892016-07-08T07:58:23.568-07:002016-07-08T07:58:23.568-07:00Even if you educate the herd, Rick, most will cont...Even if you educate the herd, Rick, most will continue to believe that the laws of nature do not apply to them. They will keep sliding through the stop signs and running red lights when they don't see a cop. That's human nature.<br /><br />However,that's probably a moot point, because we never have and probably never will truly and fully educate the herd, despite the staunch efforts of a few undeterred teachers like yourself.<br /><br />What keeps you and me and others like ourselves going is our conviction that if the herd ever does get educated about sustainability, it will become possible for humans to live in harmony with the natural world. That's why I like to hang out with the EcoVillage/Permaculture/Simple Living crowd--living proof we can do better.Thom Hawkinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-77634749236080534192016-07-07T17:51:48.666-07:002016-07-07T17:51:48.666-07:00You ask whether we can scare children about the po...You ask whether we can scare children about the possible future. <br />Please read Prof Corey Bradshaw's open letter to his daughter. In his web sight he describes how his five year old daughter cried after learning about global warming from her dear father. Amarnathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10045911629669056107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-83160420925693313312016-07-07T10:46:05.605-07:002016-07-07T10:46:05.605-07:00Hi Thom! I fully agree that denial exists. I als...Hi Thom! I fully agree that denial exists. I also believe that most of the herd is different from you and I, and they truly are ignorant about the Earth Crisis. They may be extremely well informed about pickup trucks or pop music.<br /><br />I was once talking to a doctor at a party. I explained that the current way of life is temporary. He asked if we were going back to horse and buggy. Yes, I replied. He gasped, spun around, and disappeared. Ha!What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-58647363894750530472016-07-07T08:07:07.003-07:002016-07-07T08:07:07.003-07:00Just speaking from my personal experience with peo...Just speaking from my personal experience with people, Rick, I see folks who are informed but refuse to change. They seem to take a sort of perverse pride in continuing to do things they absolutely know are not in their best interest, either short term or long term. <br />It's hard to believe that with all the information floating around, there are still those who don't know they are poisoning themselves and the earth. One grossly obese friend came to me and asked me to help him stop killing himself with food and chemicals. He knew what he needed to do, but wouldn't do it. He said, "What I'm doing to myself is unsustainable!" I said, "What do you want me to do? You already know what to do." He said, "Make me stop!" I replied, "How can I do for you what you refuse to do for yourself?"<br />Another common answer I get is, "This is what I grew up with. I can't change now." So, Rick, there seems to be a cultural feedback mechanism that reinforces people's comfort level with self-destructive behavior. That mechanism goes something like, "Leave me alone. Everyone else is doing the same destructive shit." We are faced with a nearly global culture of nihilism, and precious few have the fortitude to step out of line. Who knows, maybe they're right. Maybe evolution has doomed us all anyway, so why not party hardy?<br />This is not to say that there isn't a lot of misleading and inadequate information in circulation. I have no problem giving you your point, but I think it is trumped by nihilism. We are either a deeply flawed species or a prime expression of the Medea Hypothesis. In the aggregate, we probably are incapable of doing much better than we are doing now. In the specific, a few will take better care of themselves and the planet, but that will always be a drop in the bucket of our rush to oblivion. Thom Hawkinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-57677944230235933762016-07-06T16:08:36.489-07:002016-07-06T16:08:36.489-07:00Hi Thom! I wonder how much of the problem is deni...Hi Thom! I wonder how much of the problem is denial, and how much is just simple ignorance. Our mass media and education systems do a super-poor job of thoroughly discussing the Earth Crisis. If you live like a normal consumer, I think that eco-ignorance is the default. What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-34911847605877857332016-07-06T12:15:11.584-07:002016-07-06T12:15:11.584-07:00Many important points, Rick. A big topic. To nar...Many important points, Rick. A big topic. To narrow it down a bit, let me say that parents are already rehearsing their children in how to to deal with their grisly inheritance. The children will deal with it the same way their parents are dealing with it: Extreme Chronic Denial. I see it all around me--a morbid reality.<br /><br />In Lucre We Trust, ThomThom Hawkinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-11367644502368595932016-07-05T12:19:30.129-07:002016-07-05T12:19:30.129-07:00Hi Riversong,
I plead guilty. A primary concern ...Hi Riversong,<br /><br />I plead guilty. A primary concern of mine is to present information that can be understood by a broad spectrum of readers. I think that far more will understand “calorie” to be a measurement of energy than “BTU.” Obscure techno-jargon can scare away some who are still in the early sections on the path of learning.<br /><br />I checked my dictionary, and calorie has three definitions. The first two describe measuring heat (energy). Only the third mentions food. Whatever. I can hear the approaching sirens of the Vocabulary Police. It was nice knowing you. Have a good life!<br /><br />What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-81527962012736968112016-07-04T14:15:44.276-07:002016-07-04T14:15:44.276-07:00FYI: The energy quantum "calorie" (or, m...FYI: The energy quantum "calorie" (or, more precisely, the kilocalorie) is used primarily as a measure of the energy value of food.<br /><br />The energy value of fuels is typically measured in BTUs (British Thermal Units).<br /><br />The EROEI of fuels is BTUs in per BTUs out.Riversonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05413657075902226702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-71887002247766283332016-07-03T22:37:54.727-07:002016-07-03T22:37:54.727-07:00Yes I just bought b.p. and made a profit, oil runs...Yes I just bought b.p. and made a profit, oil runs the world , al most a moronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06536948429987140486noreply@blogger.com