Hi Brad, glad you're back on FW! Brad McCormick wrote: > I do not think one needs to view "the earth" in any kind of benevolent > and quasi-personal sense > to "take good care of it". To take good care of the earth can also be > enlightened (not the guru kind) selfishness. Analogy: As the > Rockefellers say: you have to treat the workers well today to be > able to make profits from them 50 years from now.
These days, predators use a different motto... workers as throwaway items... thanks to globalization, there are enough slaves waiting in line to replace the worn-out slave as he falls down... > Remember, Darwinean evolution > don't give a sh-t about anybody or anything -- it's the natural analog of > what persons create in the form of "free enterprise" Ah, but evolution is about long-term sustainability whereas "free enterprise" is pretty much about the opposite... > We need to take good care of the earth > because we are at its mercy. We are under extortion from the > mindless bringer of oncogenes and orgasms and everything else. > Sort of like, if we were taken hostage by > terrorists, we might find it wise to look out for their well being to > try to minimize the damage they do to us. "Environmental Stockholm Syndrome", huh... The problem is that "we" aren't "we"... i.e. the worst polluters are not nearly exactly those who have to bear the worst results of climate change. > As to the other part about civilization being energy intensive, that's > just not true. It's large populations, wasteful social arrangements, > the craving for ever more trinkets, etc. that are the energy hogs. Exactly. If the USA reduces its energy consumption _by_ 65% (6 times Kyoto) it arrives at the civilization level of....... Switzerland! Btw, Lovelock is a hopeless quack, at the latest since he demanded nuclear powerplants... ---- M.Blackmore wrote: > Perhaps its time for the Gaians to start building up databases of the major > earth-killers and commencing to do some Gaia-enhancing assasinations? Wasn't this the Unabomber's approach? Didn't get very far. Anyway, if Gaia is a living being, why can't she get rid of those guys herself?? Acts like Katrina aren't well-targeted by far, but perhaps she could "develop" some viruses that target SUV drivers or something? Instead of allowing the _reversion_ of the "causality principle" -- that cyclists get gassed by SUVs but not the other way around... Cheers, Chris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
