The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Good reasons for not wanting to be sustainable > Comments

Good reasons for not wanting to be sustainable : Comments

By Eric Claus, published 9/6/2009

Sooner or later we have to live sustainably but to do so we may have to fight our basic instincts.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All
Good point Country Girl. I am a writer and editor and produce a magazine for the Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society www.anzses.org
I have contributed articles on Australia's outback and renewable energy to international magazines.

As well as that, I have built and lived in a low energy house with both a solar hot water system and a PV system.

Whilst I agree with you about the steps we take, I also know from experience that there is nearly always another agenda underneath the politics that does not get talked about. The experience in Australia of setting the policy for renewable energy development right is nothing short of sloppy. The real expertise in this area has been sidelined for decades. But against that, consider one of the drivers for Germany to adopt a feed in tariff. Reliance on Russian gas.
Posted by renew, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 9:05:13 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
mikk: Don't worry, humans have always relied on a very small fraction of people throughout history. The majority ride of the efforts of a few.
I liked the article, but the ones who need to learn from it will probably reject it. The religious position is that God made the world for us and the only thing we have to worry about is Judgement Day. This sort of attitude is akin to "Flight" from reality but it also involves "fight"ing any contrary world view regardless of evidence.
The answer is proper governance, but politicians are clearly corrupted by lobby groups and "special interests". The two major parties clearly need some competition. They are more alike than different.
Just as Howard made racism acceptable, so we now need leadership to make environmental sustainability acceptable to the ignorant, who seem to hold the powerful in high esteem whatever their ethics or intelligence.
First city to mandate all houses be solar/wind equipped and setup a modern grid and local micro-farming: I'm there.
Posted by Ozandy, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 10:56:55 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Let me live on my hundred acres in peace, tell the councils, the government and the developers to f... off out of my life and I'll happily live 100% self sustainable, even my carbon footprint will be zero. But Until such time as I'm allowed to do so, I'll rape the planet like everyone else does!

It's all a pipe dream anyway, they'll stack us like pancakes till we rot and then tax us for the stench!
Posted by RawMustard, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 4:23:53 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
RawMustard, where do you think people are going to head when the going gets really tough? When they don’t have jobs, when money becomes valueless, when the supermarkets are empty, a lot of people will head straight for the nearest regions or properties that are growing food. They’ll kill, expel or just overwhelm the owners.

Those who are withdrawing and trying to live a self-sufficient lifestyle aren’t going to escape when our unsustainable lifestyle catches up with us.

So what is the best thing to do? Be reasonably frugal but not to the extent that you become disadvantaged within the society that you live….and put a whole lot of energy into trying to gear our government and society towards a sustainable existence.

Don’t drop out. Become politically active!
Posted by Ludwig, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 10:35:50 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I agree with most of your thoughts Ludwig, but unfortunately, no amount of trying is going to change the ingrown greed present in this society. People will not change their way of life and the PTB won't change because it's of no benefit to them. People that think we can save the human race from near collapse are living in a pipe dream, the cancer is too far gone. The next war will sort everyone out, it's not too far off and if we're lucky, there might just be enough survivors with a good enough head to get us going again in the right direction, only just though!

So while you still can, have fun and enjoy life. You only get one chance at it. If you stuff it up, you can't just ask for a new one, the taxes 'll kill you :)
Posted by RawMustard, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 11:57:41 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy