This x1000. Yes- you can do “your part” to cut down waste. Much is just to make the individual feel better- but most matters if enough people do it consistently. However- while we tighten air pollution standards on automobiles and make individual consumers pay for the inspection and maintenance of emissions systems- legislation was repealed which would put catalytic converters and other emissions standards on industry and airlines as it was deemed cost prohibitive. This despite the fact that such industries put out more emissions than the combined automobiles of America per year. That’s just emissions- without looking at waste and pollution in material form created by materials sourcing, transport, refining, and disposal.....
The consumer is being pushed to adopt “green” technologies at a higher cost and “green” practices at the expense of their time and money- by corporations and legislators who are not themselves acting in the best interest of the environment but operating on a vague theory of “trickle down” economics by which they reason that when they are their country club buddies get richer, everyone else enjoys a modest increase in wealth as well. In other words- JFK once said “ask not what your country can do for you- but ask what you can do for your country.” We can leave the words as “country” or change it to “planet” or “environment if we like- but people making policy in law and through business are not looking at what they can actually do to help. They are again applying a trickle down theory in which they get richer selling you “green” solutions and the byproduct is a hope that somehow improves the environment, but profit is still the primary concern. Personal profit. So make no mistake...
.... that the same corner cutting applied in traditional business ventures isn’t applied by those asking you to sacrifice for their benefit. The mantra of leadership cutting costs and resources or finding lowest bid vendors who fail at the task but earn them a bonus in procurement costs has long been: “Do more with less.” So then let us ask them the same. Provide more service and quality for less waste. And let us do the same. The simple solution isn’t a magic black box of technology that somehow allows us to live exactly the same but “greener.” It’s buying less junk and gettin back to a focus on quality over quantity. Less junk is less pollution from use and manufacturing, less waste and thrown out old junk. We make junk no one need some or inherently wants and then pay marketers huge salaries to make you want it so they can employ people to make junk who can then afford to buy more junk- and then we throw it all away when there is new junk. We can do our part- but the government...
... needs to divest itself from being a corporatocracy and stop thinking that if the government serves the companies that supply the people, they are vicariously serving the people. We are headed in a direction where corporations hold dangerous amounts of power and are increasingly taking on the responsibilities of governments. I’m doing so humans are being reduced to commodities by entities who’s only legal and actual responsibility is to ensure their shareholders receive maximum profit on their investments. That’s a broken system. Those with money and power like to have those without focusing everywhere except on them because until technology evolves further, sheer numbers still can overcome wealth. Keeping masses placated or fighting each other is a key to control through history. Rant done.
Truth. But not whole truth. There generally aren’t conspiracies, and generally corporations aren’t plotting simply the best ways to make messes- it’s money. They are plotting the most profitable way. Why spend all day to maybe catch 3 fish to sell? Toss some dynamite in the water and pluck up all the fish you want. Sure- you’ll destroy a bunch of fish but there will be enough good ones for you. Sure you’ll harm the habitat and kill things besides fish- but your goal is get fish make money. You succeeded. So corporations generally don’t do things just to wreak havoc like super villains- but when given a choice between fishing with a rod or dynamite they tend towards the dynamite- or use a net and call it “greener” even if it effectively isn’t too far off from dynamite....
.... but consumers bear responsibility too. You are right. And most people can’t reconcile that. They think technology is magic and changes the nature of the world. They can’t grasp that to enjoy the life they have requires others to suffer, requires impact to environment. You can’t have billions of people living in luxury and with disposable pleasures all for cheap- without someone to supply it. It’s cyclical. Populations boom and things get scare or expensive. Industry finds ways to supply the masses and bring down costs. Because things are cheap and plentiful people multiply more. Things then get short and the cycle repeats. When you give someone an impossible task- for instance supplying billions of consumers every want for cheap, it’s like saying “build me a replica great pyramid in a week.” It’s either going to be insanely expensive, or you’re going to cut corners. Unethical and polluting business practices are the byproduct of a demand for massive amounts of cheap consumer goods
let’s say all the clothes a person owns cost $1,000 to pick a number, and they have 10 outfits and 3 jackets with 4 pairs of shoes, and will replace them every 1-2 years. Now say it’s $1,000 for 2 outfits and 2 pairs of shoes and you must keep them for 5-10 years. That’s an example. There is no actual need to have such extravagance in fashion as we do. It’s a byproduct of industrialization. Royalty of antiquity didn’t have the wardrobes some people have. The only practical purpose served is that the consumer doesn’t have to take care of their things as much. Business supplies what consumers demand and law allows. Most people aren’t keen on laws rationing what you can own, and do not exercise self control in this regard, but expect companies to be the ones who have self control with profit. But companies are made of people, they aren’t sentient entities of their own rights. It’s a mirror of us, of society. So yes- there is individual responsibility, but it isn’t so simple.
Consumer dosent really have much of a choice though, unless they are willing to sacrafice time and money that they really dont have.
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· 5 years ago
Then at least they should accept their part of responsability. Everyone does bad things, the idea of an original sin didn't come out of nowhere, but we need to accept them and be aware. That's called "growing up"
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Edited 5 years ago
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· 5 years ago
First of all, if you ignore your own personal responsibility you abandon your right to criticize those said companies. Also you could consider ending your own personal business relations to those companies. Or not, for that matter. The "I'm not a part of this problem" attitude is a _huge_ part of the problem.
funny thing is, i've known this for years, but as i'm an individual with no formal training, i'm just ranting. Same with solar panels on houses, i stated that the more solar panels there are, the electricity companies will start losing profit, so will start to raise prices. They actually did a fking study to determine this is true!
Well, it's just about common knowledge that cnn has absolutely zero journalistic integrity, so this isn't surprising.
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· 5 years ago
It's common knowledge in the Trumposphere maybe. In the real existing world they're a news outlet like most others: not perfect but not the type of hateful fairytale mongers like the National Enquirer or Fox "News"or who else is spreading that "zero journalistic integrity" agenda. These parallel universe outlets are always accusing the rest of the world for exactly what they do.
One word. Covington.
Them fuckers will pay up 250+ million dollars for defamation. And the publicity that came and will keep going from this, is gonna get to them eventually.
So apparently the words "not perfect" kind of overburdened your ability to process what you read there. Maybe you'd have more fun playing beer pong...
Oh, and "them fuckers" will pay exactly what a judge will make them pay. Which may be nothing at all when this obnoxious little douchebag and his moronic egotistical parents get bitchslapped by the law.
Hi there! I'm actually not part of the "Trumposphere", I just call bullshit where I see it. I think there is a huge problem with journalistic integrity in the media everywhere, especially since it seems that companies want controversial headlines and hit pieces instead of the truth. CNN just seems to be the worst at it lately. They literally blackmailed a man for posting a MEME of all things, and there is a legitimate case for slander with the Covington kids, especially since it has since been proven over and over by actual video evidence that they did nothing wrong. Fox has it's problems too, but CNN seems to suffer from Trump derangement syndrome the worst, and it shows.
I can support this. The fact that one “side” or the other more closely advocates for what a person believes in is irrelevant if the only thing separating trash from trash is their agenda and not how they accomplish it. “Left” or “Right” is irrelevant if you’re using fear, intimidation, misinformation and coercion to reach a goal. People confuse noble intent with nobility, but the world has few “villains.” Some of the most wretched people genuinely believed they were doing what was “right” or “best” even if theirs is a philosophy of self interest. The modern media is just that- media. Journalism is all but dead, bought and sold in a world where the most entertaining story is the one that people flock to over the most accurate and unbiased. What’s more- “unbiased” journalism has itself become and editorial because personalities sell, not news. People want to be told how to contextualize and form conclusions, not just be given information they must parse. People want validation not news.
They produce cars, oil for that cars, meat...
Them fuckers will pay up 250+ million dollars for defamation. And the publicity that came and will keep going from this, is gonna get to them eventually.
Oh, and "them fuckers" will pay exactly what a judge will make them pay. Which may be nothing at all when this obnoxious little douchebag and his moronic egotistical parents get bitchslapped by the law.