ENERGY: I thought my aversion to coal-produced energy would be obvious and not need to be stated...so with nuclear power out of the question (in my mind), coal being environmentally unfriendly, and solar so far quite unrealized but also being very energy-intensive to initiate, the answer is use less. Do with less. Many do. We can, too. Of course, I am aware that such a statement would be political suicide for any candidate except in a nation populated by Roz and Roz clones! ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Ok, so after some thought I realize having "less energy waste" is not a political platform. It IS an issue in our world, but needs to be chosen, not forced. Kind of like democracy. You have to want it and you have to
choose to do it. But I maintain my position that our current political leaders - almost exclusively - do NOT promote efficiency in either lip service or their actual lives. However, it seems the vast majority of our populace also either doesn't think being frugal or thrifty with energy usage (or anything else, for that matter) is desirable or sexy. Or even worth considering. I'm not sure how that mindset evolved. It must take generations to shift from one end to the other. Developed nations, and in particular ours, seem to find profligate consumption a badge of pride. I can't help but wonder if this is the end result of decades of insidious marketing. How else would citizens acquire such drastically different views in the span of roughly 60 years? I quite sure waste of any kind was not tolerated or especially encouraged during the years following the great depression.... So in answer to William's comment from the last post, no, that kind of thing can't be enforced. I guess a lot of people currently are wasteful because they want to be. A sad statement of our citizenry. Not very smart, either. A more prudent mindset would be conservation....not gonzo energy expenditure! SECULAR GOVERNMENT: Yes, the Christian Right does whine louder than the rest of us...and apathy OR a charismatic leader may put us all under the reign of a religious dictator. Let us pray that won't be the case! I LOVE the shorter term limits idea. Agreed, the sheeple are contributing to the problem. I'm starting to see a thread of similarity running through these issues here.... EMPATHY: I don't think everybody is entirely self-absorbed. We might not all empathize about the same things, but I like to think (i.e., I don't want to live in a world where this isn't true!) all of us have the capacity for different aspects of empathy, given our priorities. It's the priority part that I think we are missing the boat on. That being said, we ARE spending too much time handing out the fish instead of teaching to fish. Also, some don't WANT to learn how to fish. That would be too much like work! And also, unfortunately, there are always those who just aren't any good at fishing, no matter how hard they try. Certainly, I want to live in a world where their IS something these people are good at...but finding that thing is definitely a challenge, and cost and labor intensive. But wouldn't that be worth it, in the end? Surely, if even some of us are concerned about future generations, that means we care about people who AREN'T EVEN BORN YET! That demonstrates a capacity for empathy...I think it's a part of human nature. Just not a particularly nurtured or rewarded one. That's what makes it special, maybe? OVERPOPULATION: Of course it will inevitably correct. But the sadness involved...well, that's part of the motivation of my previous post, few readers though it had. I don't have any illusions that it will be heard by many or understood by any or accepted by the majority...far from it! But at least I made my position clear. Now, I'll work on my skills so that if I'm around, I can help clean up the mess. But again, we all choose how many children to have...at least, in my experience. But I realize my life doesn't encompass all situations. For some, having children is a way to guarantee survival later in life. I can't really argue with that desire! But I do despise the situation that makes that the only apparent answer. So let me amend that - in the USA, in my socioeconomic bracket, we choose how many children to have. And even this number, to me, seems over-optimistically large, of late. Unfortunately, it's starting to seem that the problem isn't so much with our government (although I'm not saying there aren't problems there) but is with the general populace at least as much. There seems to be a similarity running through these issues...that of denial of a problem, or maybe a refusal to face fact. Or maybe, everybody just thinks that everybody ELSE should do the dirty conserving deeds...but not themselves. Or conversely, the thinking that if everybody else is living the high life, well fuck it! So will I.... I certainly can't deny the suggestion of this line of thinking appearing in my mindset occasionally, as well. It's depressing as hell. Seriously, though - the emphasis these days seems to be on consuming, convenient, cheap, disposable, dumbing down, getting more than the next guy in line, mindless distractions, loss of the concept of honor, loss of a work ethic (or even ethics in your personal life, too, but I'm no saint there), technology overload or at least over-reliance (again, guilty myself!), and I'm sure I'll add more to that list once I sleep on it. In other words, all the wrong things. Obviously, this whole post, and really the previous post, is really just a pipe dream, no one in their right mind could run with this kind of platform. Does that mean I'm a seriously small minority? I really kinda doubt that. Or that politics are insane and increasingly out of touch with the reality of day to day living for those of us non-elites? Or both...??
Who would have thought hail could demolish tiny baby tomato plants....? I just never thought about it before. Some had so many leaves severed I couldn't even find the little sproutlings. I hope they still have some for sale at the garden store.
The beets suffered but I'm eating 'em this weekend, anyway. Just maybe not the leaves. 
The swiss chard and spinach are trying to recover. 
The artichoke plant looks pretty devastated. It HAD tons of long, huge leaves. Sniff.
