By the way, what do people think of "Gross National Schadenfreude" as a counterweight to the nauseatingly coy Gross National Happiness panacea with their fairytale Bhutanese king? Where could OUR Bhutan be? Iceland?
On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 8:09 AM, Tom Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > Just to be absolutely unambiguous, I'm as cynical as anyone about the > sincerity of the greenwashing industry -- "if you can fake sincerity, > you've got it made". My stuck-in-the-head quote these days is Orwell's "All > left-wing parties in the highly industrialized countries are at bottom a > sham, because they make it their business to fight against something which > they do not really wish to destroy." But it doesn't follow that all > right-wing parties are therefore NOT a sham. > > I think one of the functions of schadenfreude is to reward and reinforce > cognitive dissonance. The ironic chuckle of "Being green then and now" is > at bottom a schadenfreude experience, which, in true cognitive dissonance > style, "absolves" the chuckler of his or her peccadilloes. > > On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 7:54 AM, Tom Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Would you have in mind something along the lines of the aptly-named >> "Titanic Eco-Spa"? Green buildings, spring water and towels and a "spa >> traveler award". I kid you not. >> >> >> On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 7:39 AM, Arthur Cordell <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> Would also add to the cute message that oh so many greenies are recycling >>> this and that and then without a thought jump on a jet to go off to this >>> or >>> that conference or vacation spot without a thought as to what these and a >>> host of other personal activities are doing that run counter to the >>> religion >>> of being green. >>> >>> arthur >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: [email protected] >>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer >>> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 10:49 PM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: [Futurework] Re: Being Green Then and Now >>> >>> >>> Tom Walker wrote: >>> >>> > Cute but false and misleading. >>> > [snip] >>> > "Cute" bullshit is still bullshit. >>> >>> Well, yeah. But not any greater or more tedious bullshit than many of >>> the >>> putatively "green" odds & sods that we're expected (or forced) to embrace >>> today, many of which (IMHO) are ways of externalizing some large entity's >>> cost onto the consumer or create a profit ex novo. >>> >>> Yes, the vast volumes of toxics and particulates fired up smokestacks, >>> down >>> drains and off tailings dumps before regulation outweigh, in global >>> effect, >>> plastic bags or gas lawn mowers. The point of the "cute" piece was to >>> ridicule self-righteous Greenness among those who adopt and evangelize >>> the >>> Green Consumer Catechism without critical thought or meaningful >>> knowledge. >>> >>> Or so I understood it. >>> >>> >>> - Mike >>> >>> -- >>> Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~. >>> /V\ >>> [email protected] /( )\ >>> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^ >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Futurework mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Futurework mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Cheers, >> >> Tom Walker (Sandwichman) >> > > > > -- > Cheers, > > Tom Walker (Sandwichman) > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman)
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
