Drummed Out of The Oil Drum ... Out of The Oil ... Drummed
Whether you are a Baby Boomer (BB'er) or
a member of a latter day generation,
you sense by now that the George Jetson
Future-topia is just not going to happen.
We're not going to all have our own
levitated jet car
or a cushy one-button to push job
(if any job at all)
or a jobless wife who can
shop (consume) all day
So if that's what it takes
Go ahead
Do blame my generation
Creating a (weak) joke was not the intent when starting
the "But I have Rights!" post
(one below this post).
In the writing of it though,
it occurred to me that quick humor might be necessary because
on the Internet, we are all ADHD.
How long can any one post
hold your attention?
Each must include a provocative image
or an emotion eliciting statement.
Or a joke.
to investigate the
"Property rights trump Nature"
mentality of Libertarians and associated Right Wing Thinkers.
This came about from trying to understand the logic
of a Libertarian named Alex Epstein
in his so-called "debate" with Bill McKibben regarding Climate Change and continued burning of fossil fuels:
(Warning the below video is over 90 minutes long)
In the words of Mr. Epstein:
"McKibben is dead wrong about fossil fuels and our environment. If we take an objective, scientific look at how fossil fuels have impacted the human environment, including our climate, the overall result is amazing--we live in the [economically] greatest environment in human history. The countries with the worst environments--with the most filth, disease, crop failures, low life expectancies--are the ones that use the least fossil fuels."
[Bracketed text added]
There is nothing "scientific" about Mr. Epstein's notion of "But I (and my fellow Libertarians) have property rights", in other words, "economics" trumps the "eco-sphere".
Mother Nature is blind to "property rights".
"her" fisheries,"Money" will not undo the damage.
Money ($$$) is no more than a government sanctioned "claim" on assumed future production by those who are willing (and able) to keep playing the game.
In a recent video talk, Nate Hagen (PhD Eco-systems & finance)
explains this and much more
Some of Nate's points:
(1) Growth can't be forever ....
(2) What goes up usually comes down ....
(3) Oil is finite ....
(4) Post Carbon Institute (300 seconds)
(5) URR convolved with EROEI
(6) Communication skills for delivering negative factoids
Can we live with our own "progress"?
A conservative dies,
and arrives at Heaven's Gate.
Saint Peter is not there to greet him.
Instead, it's Mother Nature.
Her name tag says, "Call me Gaia".
Mustering up all of his right wing ingenuity,
the Conservative frantically sweeps though
all the "talking points"
he has amassed in his studied life.
What to say in his defense?
That he was totally wrong?
That he was duped
by a Great Right Wing HOAX?
No.
Now, more than ever,
is the time to double down.
"Men," he argues,
"are born with unalienable rights! Among them is the right to do with one's property as one pleases and to pursue happiness for oneself by maximizing profits."
"Seriously?" quips Mother.
Conservative nods assuredly in the affirmative.
"Let's test that hypothesis."
Mother presses one of her Laws of Nature buttons.
Poof! He is gone.
It is as if he never existed. As if all his thoughts had been mere illusions. None of what he had conjured in his mind was part of a serious "reality".
"Next?" she says to a camel waiting on line.
Dear friend,
Look here.
In one hand there is
nothing but hot air.
In the other,
warm and fuzzy fantasy.
The mouth is, however
faster than the mind's eye.
Hocus Pocus and Behold.
Hands' holdings are clapped together to form tangible substance.
Fiscal Cliff.
Here, for your consumption my friend, are images
of cliffs, of avalanches and
of going over the "edge".
Here also for your intellectual intake is
the adjective "FISCAL".
Ask NOT what that modifier might mean.
For if you do, you might look foolish
and disloyal to our faith.
You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?
Someone who creates your "job" for you might suspect the truth (that you really don't know what "fiscal" means) and then "THEY" might take away that "job", take away your way of life, take away your freedoms from you.
Observe that "FISCAL" has a Freakin' F in it.
How eFF'in cool is that?
"cliFF" has a lot of Freakin' F's in it two.
Put 'em together and ... magic happens.
The freaked-out fear center in your brain is already abuzz
worrying itself to death about
the implications of going "over"
the Fiscal cliFF.
Lions, tigers and Bears.
Oh my!
But now comes the eFF'in Freakin'
Fiscal Avalanche.
How good and scary
is that?
Don't even think about it.
Don't even think about anything.
Money is Fantasy & Hence Can Grow to Infinity and Beyond
Imagine a Giant (but finite) computer with a storage capacity of G bits (where G< infinity).
That computer could store one Giant number that is G bits long.
Or that computer could store a Giant number, G of one bit values.
Neither distribution comports with that of Gaussian distribution found in Nature.
Instead, in a finite and bound Universe,
the number line holds only a finite set of number points,
with vast voids in between,
not an infinite set with no voids as we were taught in math class.
Our Visions of Infinity are an Illusion
Mirrors are made of finite numbers of atoms
There is absolutely only one possible way to think.
My way or the highway.
Isn't that how some people approach any conversation?
But why?
Maybe they are looking to determine if you are part of their flock?
Birds of a feather flock together.
We avoid conversation with "the stranger".
You might be a Republican tool if ...
You Might Just Be A Republican (Hawaiian Style)
Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax
You might be a Liberal If ....
Their eyes glaze over.
Their ears clog full of wax.
Why even bother?
We've all been there,
trying to talk sanity to a stuck-in-the-cement climate denier.
Here are some recent links,
Not that they will help.
Deniers have picked their story and they are going to stick with it no matter what. Any of dozens of denialist talking points will do.
Turncoat Skeptic Richard Muller
Another Climate Skeptic Turned Into a Believer
Bonus Video (Now I'm a Believer)
More on Talk'n to Deny Baby Deny kinds
Finding Points of Commonality
Love (/Hate) of Warming, American Style
