Noodling over cures to America’s Cancer
Below is a powerful video describing the horrific events and impacts being felt and see in the gulf. It also points to people like Sarah Palin think the solutions to our looming energy problems will come from more drilling. There is only one solution that will work long term, a culture-wide downsizing to sustainable levels.
I also listened to Kunstler’s podcast on the Deep Water Horizon catastrophe and wasn’t surprised to hear him suggesting that this event may be a wake up call for many Americans. A wake up call that we better kick this fossil fuel addiction quick. He tends to be a bit extreme but in this case I must agree.
There was another interesting post on the Oil Drum on a speech Obama needed to give. I don’t think the folks living in the gulf would disagree that now is the time to give a speech like this, but I suspect most Americans are not ready for a wake up call like this, although, it’s long overdue.
The trouble for most of us is the transition from our hedonistic lifestyle to a sustainable one is incredibly difficult. First we don’t usually think of ourselves as hedonists, living in the moment for pure pleasure. Maybe this disaster in the gulf will wake more people up to the idea that we must start living for the future, and make some strategic sacrifices today so life can continue thrive.
And finally, connected to the hedonist comment above, is an interesting lecture and video from RSA Animate explaining how our perception of time effects our values and more. I tend to always be future thinking, but can see how many of my day-to-day decisions are still driven by a desire to be comfortable in the present at the potential cost of the future. I need to work on that harder.
