3 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Words of wisdom (imo) from Shirley MacLaine-

"I think we don't know or have any comprehension of what we're doing to nature.
Those who are scientists and the Al Gore's of the world, yes of course.

But what's happened to the rest of us?  We're so materialistic.
That's our religion; materialism.
We have become addicted to the materialism and have no sensibility of what that
is doing to the sustenance of our lives which is nature.

And everybody knows we've got to fix it and yet, we're leaving it up to somebody
else to fix it."
http://www.oprah.com...-MacLaine-Video


(I wonder if oprah was really listening to that part. She's the queen of consumerism.
She's had numerous "my favorite things" episodes on her shows.
Buy. Buy. Buy. That's her motto.)

[Tom Butler]

ShotPoet, the sentiment is okay, but humankind is all about living, learning and improving.

It is hard to discuss this without getting philosophical. In my view, we balance beliefs with understanding, and to gain the understanding, we have to try what we believe. While our environment may suffer, it is part of that dynamic that allows us to progress. We will do what we can for the environment as we convert those beliefs to understanding. A messy process, but it is all we have.

My problem with the quote is "Those who are scientists and the Al Gore's of the world, yes of course." That blind trust of scientists is part of what got us into this environmental problem in the first place. I have been reading warnings from rational, but not necessarily scientific people since the fifties that there was a global warming coming. Those warnings were based on good reason, but were ignored by the majority of the academic community.

Looking closer, I see special interests are really the problem. It is as if good scientists are conveniently ignoring the evidence in order to support economic or ideological objectives. I expect MacLaine was talking about the scientists who say there is a global warming underway. A lot of people listen to her, so it would be better if she were less poetic and more specific. Some of those scientists have abdicated their role as leaders in favor of special interests--religious and economic.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

I understand that it's what keeps the economy moving; the movement of goods/services. I'm just putting
it out there that we buy too many things; often never considering the true cost of that purchase.

Diamonds and other fine gems come to mind, and of course coal but all of our everyday purchases
were made from something, that bit from something else, that group of things to complete the thing from something
else again. Not to mention shipping.
Products use multiple resources, energy, water................ Just look at a home and the thousands
of products that went into it's construction, even before anyone moves in one piece of their own stuff.

What I took from Shirley was that she was saying, of course the scientists are in agreement over global
warming/climate change-whichever term you want to use but
"what's happened to the rest of us?" was the line that I understood her point to be.
We speak to green but we still consume; often over-consume.

I'm guilty of it; we all are. But knowing may help lead us to reduce our consumption.

Thanks for the post.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

My piece on this is totally insignificant-
durable goods sales rose.
http://www.usatoday....bruary/6902979/