Spill baby spill, slippery politics

@spendius,

spendius wrote:

Quote:
'profits before safety' attitude are responsible for the problem.

Obviously. The alternative in unthinkable. You're just squeamish Cyclo while you consume your share without giving it a second thought. It's too late now to be squealing over this one.

I don't believe I consume as much oil as the next person, though there are some consumptions which are unavoidable as a member of modern society. I cannot force the grocer from whom I purchase my food from to not use a gasoline-powered car, and I use plastics like other modern people.

But I have long argued that these products are artificially cheap, and that their true value is unappreciated by modern society; and true costs. So I do try and use less.

I don't own a car so I use far less oil than the average person. I try and buy a bunch of food grown locally so it doesn't have to be shipped too far. I grow peppers and carrots at home (trying to grow carrots at least) and garlic. I recycle. We don't use air conditioning. We don't buy a lot of consumer goods. I buy things from a local blacksmith and a woodworker who I know even though they are more expensive than stuff we could get from a department store.

None of this stuff will save the world, but it certainly doesn't hurt, and I certainly make an effort. My life would be affected by $4 gas not one whit.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

I don't believe I consume as much oil as the next person

Which "next person"?

Quote:

My life would be affected by $4 gas not one whit.

I think it would be.

But you do seem to be making an effort Cyclo and I approve of that. But see New York by night. It blots out the stars I'm told. Out dazzles might be a better way of putting it.

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@plainoldme,

Quote:

Yet, when regulations are mentioned, think of who demures. When it is pointed out the lobbyists damage the environment, business (through undue influence which limits competition) and democracy (by outyelling the people), the right stands up in arms.

This is America....everything is for sale..

Quote:

Republican incumbents are far more likely than their colleagues in Congress to receive oil company money, RAW STORY has found.

Eighty four percent of the $8.6 million oil and gas companies have contributed to the 2006 elections has gone to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

According to data compiled by the Center, the top 20 recipients of oil money in Congress are all Republicans.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Republicans_incumbents_receive_large_majority_of_0524.html

Until SCOTUS comes off of this nonsense that money is free speech we are kinda stuck,,

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@spendius,

Quote:

Quote:

My life would be affected by $4 gas not one whit.

I think it would be.

Gas was almost $4 a gallon here in CA a few years back; my life proceeded apace.

Besides; you guys pay more like 7 or 8 a gallon, right? Hasn't stopped you from tipping back beers at the pub.

Cycloptichorn

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I thought it was particularly telling when Bush's first SEC chairman, Harvey Pitts, said he intended to make the SEC kinder and gentler. I am sure Madoff just loved hearing that.

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@Cycloptichorn,

They are artificially cheap: Americans have always paid less for oil than Europeans.

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@Cycloptichorn,

Europeans have put much more resources into mass transit that the US has. People walk and ride bikes much more than Americans do, as well. There is also much more wind and solar power being used in Europe than the US. We chose to put our resources into the interstate highway system. Our economy is based on cars and trucks. We need to admit our short-sightedness and get with it.

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Of course, BP is responsible but Salazar's agency was complicit. Read up on your law. If and when some of the BP cases go to trial, BP will not be charged with the entire responsibility. President Obama is treading water. His Job Approval drops almost daily. Gallup logged him in at 48% disapproval Friday as compared to 44% Approval. Obama is desperate for any issue which will commend him to the voters but he will find that after November, any of his proposals that are not truly bipartisan will be DOA.

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@plainoldme,

If plain old me is envious of European life as stated below, she should immediately buy a home there. I have worked hard for my life style and will not cut back. Only students like Cyclopitchorn can suffer for the greater good as long as he is a student. When he grows up, he will try to give his children some advantages.
************************************
But even as an American, if you go live in a nice apartment in Rome, as I did a few years back, your carbon footprint effortlessly plummets. It’s not that the Italians care more about the environment; I’d say they don’t. But
Europe’s environmental consciousness certainly has its own blind spots. the normal posh apartment in Rome doesn’t have a clothes dryer or an air conditioner or microwave or limitless hot water. The heat doesn’t turn on each fall until you’ve spent a couple of chilly weeks living in sweaters. The fridge is tiny. The average car is small. The Fiat 500 gets twice as much gas mileage as any hybrid SUV. And it’s not considered suffering. It’s living the dolce vita.

My point is that the low-carbon footprints depend on the infrastructure of life, and in that sense Europeans have an immediate advantage. To live without a clothes dryer or AC in the United States is considered tough and feels like a sacrifice. To do so in Rome — where apartments all include a clothes-drying balcony or indoor rack, and where buildings have thick walls and shutters to help you cope with the heat — is the norm.

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@morell,

morell wrote:

I have worked hard for my life style and will not cut back.

So you deserve to be wasteful? Your parents didn't have the same view, I would venture to guess. Since when did we become so selfish?

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

Besides; you guys pay more like 7 or 8 a gallon, right? Hasn't stopped you from tipping back beers at the pub.

We don't actually. We pay the same for oil as you do. $70 about. We pay for our NHS at the gas pumps and much else. I daresay our's is cheaper because we are "neat".

I can afford my beers because I gave up most expenditure on waste long ago after reading Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class which turned most of my companions into gumps overnight. I gave up psychological pleasure. That freed up money to engage in carnal pleasures which are cheap if you are not too fussy and so long as you watch your weight you can't come to much harm.

I've never been able to spend what I earned after Veblen. I've hardly stopped laughing either. I don't do fine wines for example. I do % alcohol on a bangs for bucks basis. I can't imagine spending £30 grand on a car when Tesco shares were cheap. Cars are tools.

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@morell,

Yawn.

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It's pretty obvious that morell doesn't understand what western civilization is based upon . . . sacrifice . . . and that he (?) never heard of the Enlightenment.

It is the selfish . . . the world owes me a living people . . . like morell that are responsible for the image of the ugly American.

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@Swimpy,

Which is part of the reason why Europeans are less likely to be overweight than Americans. My daughter worked in tourism while an undergrad. When she gave directions to Europeans, they happily walked while Americans immediately asked for a bus or a cab. This was in Boston where so much is accessible on foot!

1 Reply

@morell,

Quote:

Only students like Cyclopitchorn can suffer for the greater good as long as he is a student. When he grows up, he will try to give his children some advantages.

who told you I was a student? I graduated from college 6 years ago and work full-time as a financial analyst. Don't make silly assumptions about people on the internet.

Quote:

I have worked hard for my life style and will not cut back.

Ah, this is more the crux of the matter. A sense of entitlement on the part of some.

Quote:

And it’s not considered suffering. It’s living the dolce vita.

Itis the dolce vita! And you don't have to go to Europe to get it. Just make smart decisions here in America.

Cycloptichorn

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@morell,

morell wrote:

And it’s not considered suffering. It’s living the dolce vita.

Yup.

I try to keep reminding myself how rich I am.

I can get potable water by simply turning a faucet. From multiple points in my house (seven points inside, two outside). I even flush my waste using potable water. (This is stupid, IMO.)

I bathe daily. In hot water.

I work in air-conditioned comfort, from my home. The hardest work I do is to unpack the occasional piece of computer equipment (while still in air-conditioned comfort).

I have a variety of food available to me that would have been unimaginable through most of human history. Fresh food, too.

I can travel across the continent at 70 miles per hour. And not have to worry about whether is will be food, water, or lodging along the trip.

Or dysentery. Or polio. Or smallpox. Or a host of less-deadly diseases.

If I do get sick or injured, there are professionals who are obligated to assist me, regardless of my ability to pay.

I can get antibiotics (another miracle) for a pittance.

I can communicate instantly with people on six continents.

I'm rich.

Helping Americans understand just how rich we are

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@DrewDad,

I agree with you DD; although this took some time for me to comprehend. Actually it took a few trips out of the country to realize really how lucky we are.

People in the USA aren't 'happy' with the things you mentioned because they've never lived without them. Before my travels, I thought I was poor because I had to have a roomate, couldn't afford a DVD player (this was 6-7 years ago), and wasn't driving a 'newer' car.

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@DrewDad,

I don't think you should have mentioned your "waste" DD. It lowered the whole tone of the Aladdin's Cave you describe so solipsistically. I know you flushed it but nevertheless it wasn't very nice.

And when we are sat here at our computers we don't care to be reminded of our "waste" and of our flushing it away out of sight out of mind.

Are you sure it is "potable" water? There have been a couple of scandals here about that stuff.

I too have a hot soak everynight. It tunes up my thirst for when I get to the pub so that the first swig of a foamy pint of John Smith's Extra Smooth doesn't require a 100 mile trudge through a hot desert to be appreciated properly.

But I agree- we are rich beyond the wildest expectations. Too rich really because it makes our obsession with novelty hard work. I once saw a young girl burst into tears because she couldn't decide which ice-cream to have. My humble pub has a five page menu. We're agitating for automatic doors.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

DrewDad wrote:

I bathe daily. In hot water.

I used to have a 'rinse fetish'. I'd rinse dishes or laundry or just about anything probably more than was actually needed (including my hair when shampooing). I even bought a washer specifically because it had a 'second rinse' cycle. After seeing a video of a woman in Africa hauling water on her head for $.25/hour (so her kids could go to school), I've managed to break myself of the habit.

Turning on the spigot for clean, pristine water is a luxury we take for granted and I sometimes feel guilty. I did find three reputable charities that address the problem by building water wells, and learned that the U.S. military is also involved in this endeavor. I'm hopeful we'll see vast improvement in this area in my lifetime.

It might have been $.25/mile now that I think of it. (I still bathe daily, too).

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@spendius,

Our ability to be delicate about our **** is a luxury, too.

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Spill baby spill, slippery politics

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