The futility of the Prius and the end of the world as we know it

My solution- turn off the TV. Everything else will begin to fall into place after that.

 

I should have gleaned as much.

People who are plugged in to the matrix don't "ruminate on these kinds of issues". They simply continue to consume ag-chem, big-pharma and big-energy products with the fiat currency that enables it all while wondering why they can never seem to get enough...or ahead.

You are not alone.

 

No matter how much I've done to reduce, I constantly find ways to reduce further. It's a journey. More people are becoming aware and more people will take the journey. This is not for naught.

Becoming active in an environmental cause can be very helpful. It gets people involved with other like minded people where there is a sense of community and forward movement towards a common benefit for the environment. It's also good medicine for the ills of despair.

 

More lyrics, this time from Red Hot Chili Peppers:

"Throw away your television, take the noose off your ambition, reinvent your intuition..."

(I tend to use music to blow out the cobwebs and improve my mood.)

Gardening is also therapeutic. Aside from giving you something to do, something to care for, and something to hope for, bacteria in the soil has a positive effect on brain chemistry.

 

Yeah, and all that arsenic, asbestos, etc., in the soil keep you loopy enough not to care anymore.
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Oh, is that what happened?

 

aren't recreational drugs great?

 

In today's Washington Post. Got the link from my wife. Pretty much sums it up for me. May strike a chord with you.

A climate-change activist prepares for the worst

Best quote: "I've expanded my definition of how best to plan for his future."

I can't tell you how much that resonates with me.

And consistent with my many postings here:

"How will we feed ourselves adequately if our breadbasket is a desert? Answer: We won't, and there will be social unrest as a result."

 

" ... end of the world as we know it"

"Beatnicks"
I'm not old enough to remember, but from listening to 'The Doors' music & watching Dobie Gillis re-runs ... the OP gives me a deja vu.
Beatnik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IMO, Soloman said it best. "There's nothing new under the sun". Even beatnik philosophy comes & goes. End of the world as we know it? At a maximum, "the end of the world as we know it" happens every few thousand years ... at a minimum, every few decades. Like the beatniks ... we either strive to deal w/ it ... or not. It aint easy but I choose to be a try'er.

 

hill - and there are always those who have preached the end of the world, since the world began (modern history - about the last 4 or 5 thousand years.) Here is another one.

I think a more positive stance is to do something about it, in any small way, rather than withdraw into a bunker and wait it out. It is those with the bunker mentality who usually get tired waiting for the end that will justify their epiphanies, and go out and try to start the end - usually acting out in negative or dangerous ways.

I notice our apocalyptic poet still has internet service and a computer or smart phone... (how else the avalanche of posts?) Try turning those off first.

 

Makes for fascinating reading, keep up this type of rumination. As for the more practical side: Should one be so lucky to have a gas line in the fireplace, you can throw the wood out, clean out the ashes and debris and buy a ventless, gas fired space heater on Ebay. I have had one installed now for 5 years and my energy use is 1/5 or less than previously. Works great, fast and efficient AND much cleaner environmentally!

 

My son did that, for about the last 5 years now. He still keeps up with the news and issues on line tho. I conversely sit around on the PC with noise blocking headsets on to eliminate the garbage the TV is spouting. My wife listens...................what can a man do? :cheer2:

 

I don't use our fireplace (wood fire pollution is a serious problem in urban areas in the winter - I'm surprised they aren't restricted more) - but have toyed with the idea of either a gas or wood pellet insert - have any details such as cost on yours?

 

+1000000000000
Too many Prius owners seem to think they are saving the environment, when rather they are simply damaging it (marginally) less.

 

I'm aware of criticism for hydrogen powered vehicles - well to wheels efficiency less than gas cars.

Top Gear has good things to say about Honda Clarity. They sure don't like BEV and hybrids, but, hey, it's Top Gear.

Honda Clarity - BBC Top Gear

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

 

I just got a recent PG&E bill for the last monthit was $39.00 which is still cheap compared to the flunky forced air, central heat and air system installed in the house. If you have one of these and use it continuously I would be interested in your monthly heating bill. Back to subject, to be fair I must tell you that we only heat the family room and kitchen ( all one enclosed space) Upstairs is not heated at all, we like sleeping under feather comforters with flannel like sheets, Instantly warm! We have been doing this for about 45 years now, so it WORKS. Also of course California is pretty mild. :cheer2: PS: My son does have a pellet stove and it works fantastic, heats the whole house and he does run his Central system on fan when he wants circulation, his cost is $5.00/ day. I can also do the same with my space heater to heat the whole house ( on special occasions ).

 

Sorry I cannot accept the futility of the Prius, or the inevitable end of the world. The Prius is a miniaccomplishment to a cleaner environment. And what we need is this concept multiplied by 6 Billion. Or, somethng better than the Hybrid Synergy Drive. It will come, it's inevitable. To be anything but an optimist is depressing and suicidal. Sometimes there is a very good reason for futility, like Auschwitz or Pol Pot or life under Stalin. That period of time seems to last forever, whether it's 2, 4 or 60 years under Stalin. For those that suffered, it seemed forever. And it was. But just a dustfleck in the infinity of time. Incredible progress has been made in the millenia, but it is painfully slow and often not apparent to the inhabitants of Mother Earth. We all live, contribute and die. I don't find this futile, all of our actions contribute something to progress. Be happy to think that even your dead body may produce a beautiful flower. :cheer2:

 

Hmm, not much cheaper compared to my 95% efficient gas furnace - my biggest gas bill had 24 therms of usage for for less than $30. But it's a lot warmer down here, too. How much did the fireplace insert cost? Obviously it would be more for having a nice "fire" but without the pollution of burning wood.

Choosing to Indulge in such luxuries are probably the point of this thread, though.