Heaven isn't too far away

Now if you religiously read my blog (ha-ha...see it's funny because you don't) you'd think that all I do is bitch and moan. Well that is true and false. I only bitch and moan on THIS blog, what else would I do on here. No one likes reading about happy things (eg. The news). You might also say that I complain about things that are seemingly harmless, nay, even good for society and general life. Such as the pope visitation. But, the fact of the matter, as it often turns out to be, is that behind any good deed in society usually lies a trail of deceit and personal agendas.

Call me negative but I seem to notice that change, positive change, only occurs in society when the situation is dire. The corporations and the conglomerates strive for good cause only when it follows their bottom line or when market value and reputation is on the line. This is why this whole eco-friendly movement bothers me.

"Eco-friendly movement bothers you, you say...but why?"

I'll tell you why...because it's totally spearheaded in the wrong direction. Now don't get me wrong, any help to this planet is appreciated (it's the only one we have) and now that Al Gore has told us global warming is bad (all those un-sexy scientists warning us for decades didn't have the same celebrity oomph) everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. This is exactly what bothers me. Where was the general public's conscious in all of this? or their common sense? Rather than promoting social change, which many would argue is the prominent way of curbing our carbon footprint, the major businesses made it a change of buying habits. Rather than face the carelessness of our industrialist and capitalist system which got us here in the first place, we are choosing to solve this problem with capitalism...by buying more things.

The whole solution seems to come down to this: Buy Green. Buy shit you already have but this one is eco-friendly. Eco-friendly car, food, toys, bulbs, clothes, furniture, TV, PC, shoes etc etc etc. Yes, that's what will help Earth, buying more things which are marginally less pollutant. No where is personal discretion advertised...no way, god forbid a business of consumer goods actually point the glutinous attitude of the common American. No where is this more prevalent than in the automobile business. It's downright laughable that hybrid luxury SUVs are advertised as alternatives to regular SUVs, because getting a 23mpg instead of 20mpg is an exercise in conservation. The notion that you can drive 3 miles further per gallon and be more of a nuisance to this planet is heartwarming. The fact that Hummers exist is testament to the arrogance we display as a nation.

No where is personal responsibility accounted for, nope, let's keep buying overblown monstrosities and overly priced goods in order to feel good about our selves. We want to have our cake and eat it too.

Simple things that, simple life changing habits that can be a positive force over time have been long ignored...like using grocery store bags as garbage bags, turning off water while putting soap on your self, turning off water while brushing your teeth, recycling (remember that one before Al Gore got all uppity about it), reusing newspapers for cabinet liners etc etc....something pretty much every other nation does (Japan has a 60% recycling rate due to it's limited size as a country and limited resources) But lord knows when George Clooney buys an all electric vehicle, the rest of elite follow suit.

This is why the whole eco-friendly movement bothers me. It's not about personal change, it's about buying more expensive stuff. We're still getting pedaled the same crap, now it has a green sticker on it. You can't help the planet and manage to keep the shareholders happy at the same time. But I digress, change of this kind is glacial...the situation hasn't gotten REALLY dire yet.

But it will...and you won't be able to buy yourself out of that problem.