Comments | futurebird: war and conservation

futurebird

war and conservation

Jun 11, 2005 23:46

We are at war! Moreover, this war is closely tied to our concerns about the oil supply, but, in any case, it is a war and there is something I simply don't understand about the war effort: Why isn't the government urging citizens to conserve energy? To save bacon drippings for gun powder... or to conserve heating oil and reduce the number of car ( Read more... )

politics, environment

Comments 20

hephaestos June 12 2005, 05:36:13 UTC

Might be that folks are busy hanging posters like this.

synapse June 12 2005, 05:49:07 UTC

but do you think people today would actually buy it? that they actually would have rubber drives and whatnot?

futurebird June 12 2005, 11:35:15 UTC

I would. If I *really* thought it was going to help us find/ the terroists and keep our money from going to terroist countries.

I don't understnd why we didn't have and embargo and rations from day one...

synapse June 12 2005, 12:22:16 UTC

i mean the general public, though. i just don't think people would do it. i don't think they'd be easily convinced that a small thing like collecting scrap metal would help this war. hell, it's hard enough to get people to recycle. as for gas conservation or rationing, more people have cars, more people are dependent on cars, and people drive longer distances than they used to; again, i don't think people would buy into it.

though i wish they would. not for the war, but for conservation's own sake.

wigglymelon June 12 2005, 16:24:07 UTC

Well, with the war on terror, we're barely flexing America's muscles ( ... )

futurebird June 12 2005, 19:31:12 UTC

Saudi Arabia is certainly at the top of the list, but bombing them isn't really an option right now, given that their oil isn't merely a luxury for us, but as vital as air

This is why we should reduce our consumption. I want an embargo against that country-- but we can't do it if we don't change the way we live.

As long as we buy in to that market we're going to be a target. And there is nothing we can do to stop them.

wigglymelon June 13 2005, 06:11:38 UTC

Well that's sort of what I was getting at. In the long term we need to get rid of the dependence on oil, though that will take some doing... look around the room your in - almost everything in it requires oil to produce, in someway or another. That said, new technology will come around to replace the requirement for oil. Hybrid or alternate fuel cars haven't caught on yet, but they will once they are completely on par with combustion cars in terms of performance and reliability. I guarantee it that when the only difference between an electric car and a gas car is what makes it run, nothing else, those kinds of cars will take over the market. They aren't overly popular yet because they still have a poor reputation in perfmormance and reliability, not because of big bad oil companies ( ... )

yes_justice June 16 2005, 13:02:52 UTC

Strait up oil junkie.

Thread 6

Because the Joneses Don't Have One anonymous June 12 2005, 19:04:52 UTC

I think we've become a society in which appearances overrule everything else. It's not fashionable to sacrifice.

We don't want to share cars, we want to sport our own. We don't want to use public transportation because that's "for poor people". We don't want to spend our money wisely, we want to spend it on spinning rims and daily detailed cars, because then people will watch us drive by and boy won't they be impressed! We want to lease a car, which provides absolutely no equity/asset and results in a higher expenditure, rather than buy a car, because leasing allows us to be seen in a fancy new ride every 2 years! We want to use 4000 pound vehicles to tote our 200 pound (and growing) asses three blocks to the supermarket because walking is for people who can't afford cars. etc. etc. etc.

It's no longer a race for the almighty dollar (we keep less in our savings accounts than ever before) but rather a race for the *appearance* of having the almighty dollar, even if you're near pennyless trying to make ends meet.

Re: Because the Joneses Don't Have One wigglymelon June 13 2005, 06:12:48 UTC

Welcome to the most efficient civilization in human history :)

Re: Because the Joneses Don't Have One futurebird June 13 2005, 11:35:04 UTC

Well put!

Re: Because the Joneses Don't Have One yes_justice June 17 2005, 01:30:49 UTC

"I have cancer of the bling" - scottbateman

There's no profit in saving gas. kooljmackd June 12 2005, 23:03:47 UTC

Great WWII poster. And to answer your question about why this kind of poster and sentiment isn't being supported today, three words from General Eisenhower of the same era: military industrial complex.

I don't think it's just about oil or terrorism or nationalism or revenge or religion. It's about all those things, but mostly it's about profit. Some very rich people are getting much richer.