(no subject)

[solitary_summer]

After only forever talking about it last summer, I actually dug out & took along my sport shoes today. YES! And after a fifty minutes brisk walk with the injured horse of doom, I. did. actually. run. It would be exaggerating to say I was running for three quarters of an hour, because it was more like, run for a few minutes, *gaspwheezebreathcatch*, run for a few minutes & so on. But hey, first time. Now it's only the question of keeping it up...


Hm. Die Wirtschaft braucht die Spassgesellschaft.

The argument, as far as it goes, is of course perfectly valid. However, is the author not frightened at all (because I certainly am), that our society is effectively built on, what to me seem to be dangerously weak and rather irrational foundations?

Maybe I'm too much of a gloomy pessimist, or just one of the losers, but when I look at the insanity of chocolate being advertised by anorexic models, a food industry living off the increasing number of overweight people, and the double standards of it all driving women (and apparently recently men, too) to spend money on cosmetic products, diet products, and ultimately, cosmetic surgery... Economy may profit, but frankly I think it's madness that it's effectively our civic duty to consume more and more stuff we don't actually need.

Instead of, you know, learning to see beauty in difference, in individuality. But no one would make any money from that.

Is it really playing devil's advocate to note that not only is our standard of living is based on the exploitation of cheap work-force in other countries, but that we can only enjoy it, because others don't, by a long way? We live on credit. The Kyoto protocol isn't worth the paper it is written on, but even as it is it only allows us to use as much energy as we do, because poorer countries for the moment at least use less. No wonder they complain of the hypocrisy. Is it that much of an exaggeration to say that if everyone lived on the standards the western world currently permits itself, the eco-system would collapse very fast indeed?

I don't know what way out there is, except radically rethinking our priorities and values, but greed will prevent that. And I don't think we have all that much time... Again, perhaps I'm being too pessimistic, but I rather think it's a dangerous illusion to believe things might not explode yet. Well, worse.

But of course I can't even exempt myself from the accusation of hypocrisy. I'm as much part of it as everyone else, complaining doesn't make me any better, as long as I keep shopping at H&M. Which is why I delete most of those rants before even posting them...


Iraq? *shrug* What is there to say, except that it deepens my distrust of all things military. Has ever anything good come from putting people in situations that discourage thinking, individuality, conscience, responsibility etc.?

The only thing I find kind of positive about the whole mess is that it seems to have come to light rather fast. Maybe there's hope for change yet.

Comments

[czaria.livejournal.com]

Has ever anything good come from putting people in situations that discourage thinking, individuality, conscience, responsibility etc.?


Exactly. Not to mention, they are trained to kill, not keep the peace or perform humanitarian work. I'm only surprised- though I guess I shouldn't be- that they were dumb (or cocky) enough to take photos of the events.

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

Nothing new under the sun, as the saying goes... there are similar pictures of German soldiers from WW2. I guess it's got something to do with the fact that either implicitly or explicitly you're made to believe that the enemy is somehow less human than you are... if nothing else, to retain your sanity, because how else could you justify even in your own mind killing those people?

It's really insane, and a responsibility that isn't handled properly at all, IMO, to teach people to over-come whatever inner blocks they have against killing and then leave them alone to deal with the psychological fallout.

[un-crayon-rouge.livejournal.com]

Rethinking values, yes, yes

And *I* shop at H&M, too.

Blah.

Not too pessimistic, though, for once. It's just where we're going

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

It's kind of hard to find a balance sometimes.... my inner historian argues that people at all ages have bemoaned the state of things and how the world was coming to an end. But sometimes I can't quite suppress the urge to switch into Kassandra mode & metaphorically at least wave around the Repent! The end is near! sign.

*sigh*