Americans Have Become a Bunch of Lazy, Worthless Citizens
Jul 21 at 11:11pm by Jagwire X
Al Gore: Green Energy by 2018
On Thursday July 17th, 2008 Former U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore delivered a speech on America’s future energy needs in Washington, D.C. The gist of the speech is that promises of 40 years to make changes to how we power everything is meaningless and 10 years is something people can focus on.
“Our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges — the economic, environmental and national security crises,” the former Democratic vice president and presidential candidate in 2000 told a meeting in Washington.
“We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet,” Mr. Gore said. “Every bit of that’s got to change.”
“So today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years,”
“A political promise to do something 40 years from now is universally ignored because everyone knows it’s totally meaningless. Ten years is about the maximum time that we as a nation can hold a steady aim and hit our target.”
Needless to say Gore was immediately attacked by big oil and coal businesses. For example the ACCCE (American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity) issued a statement saying the following: “former Vice President Al Gore associated himself with the mainstream by claiming there is scientific certainty that climate change is an issue that must be addressed in a timely fashion.” There is scientific certainty that climate change is an issue the ACCCE is deliberately denying the fact. The ACCCE state also said “we seriously question the feasibility of such a proposal and shudder to consider its costs to the American people, world leaders and key policymakers here in the U.S. do not share Mr. Gore’s notion that such a goal is necessary or achievable.” Going on to say the coal is, of course the solution. Coal is not clean or renewable under any circumstance.
Politicians, never afraid to make asses of themselves made sure to criticize Gore as well. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) had an initial one-word response — “ridiculous.” He went on to say “We could put windmills from the Atlantic to the Pacific and, yes, it will increase the amount of carbon-free energy production, but the fact of the matter is, it’s not going to get the job done. What we need to do is to look at all of the various sources of energy… We’d be much more realistic to realize that it’s going to take all of these things in order for us to meet our energy demands.” Meaning the oil and/or coal businesses that lobby me want you to buy their product and not get your power on the cheap.
So why do I say Americans are lazy, worthless citizens. It’s because we have become so. Can we convert all electricity production to cheap, clean and renewable sources in 10 years. We can if we want to, if we have the courage to do so. We put man on the moon in less than 10 years, we entered World War II and fighting on two fronts, along with out allies, won it in less than 5 years. The proliferation of the World Wide Web as a major form of communication took 10 years, mass adoption of the automobile took roughly ten years during the 1920’s and 1930’s. So don’t tell me we can’t do it. Big business doesn’t want us to do it, it would hurt their profits. Our lazy selves will just go along with whatever is marketed to us, and worthless as citizens because we won’t attend to our duty to make this country better.
What would the advantages of such a program be? For one thing, jobs, many jobs. It would fire up the economy in much the way it was fired up after World War II and during the space race and to a lesser extent the early days of the web. During those time periods the United States underwent a tremendous transformation in terms of individual prosperity as well as prosperity on a regional and national level. Another advantage that would result would be the creation of new technologies, again as with the previously mentioned periods much of the technology we have come to rely on today was developed especially in the areas of aerospace, electronic communications (i.e. computers, the internet, etc.), industrial applications and medicine. These efforts had far reaching implications both technologically and socially and helped define our present society. For the most part all of these advances have improved the standard of living in the United States.
What Gore proposes is ultimately going to have to happen at some point. Non-renewable sources of energy are, well, non-renewable. They are going to run out. But while we still have them we should use that advantage and build our foundation for the future, or if not out future, our children’s. It’s estimated that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth in 40 minutes to meet the world’s energy needs for a year, and that the winds that blow across the Midwest every day could meet the country’s daily electricity needs. Why wouldn’t we tap into that kind of energy resource? If we wait until the oil is running out and the coal is difficult to transport, we will suffer in ways that make the Great Depression seem trivial. We will be thrown back to the early 19th century in a very brutal manner.
Al Gore is not perfect but at least he’s willing to make a stand. What are you willing to do?
Global Warming and American Ambivalence
Jun 23 at 2:02pm by Jagwire X
Without going into too much detail - though I should as I really need to post more - or at least I think I do here’s some of what I’ve been thinking about recently:
Why is it so hard for people to accept that the world might be getting warmer?
Global Warming Predictions
People have a difficult time accepting change. This seems especially true if it upsets their pretty little world view. The data shows the world is warmer now than it has been in the past 400 years, probably in the past thousand and mostly likely for hundreds of millennia. On the one hand it really doesn’t matter why it’s getting warmer - the fact is that the world is getting warmer and it is going to cause huge ecological changes that are unlikely to be beneficial to humanity. We need to do something about it. If it is caused by humans we need to clean up our mess, if not we need to address how to handle it. Either way I don’t see the powers that be doing anything but business as usual. Suffice to say that I live somewhere where 100 degree summer temperatures are common and I sure as hell don’t want them to feel, well, any more hellish.
Which leads me to wondering why Americans are so ambivalent about their government?
Bill of Rights
This one baffles me quite a bit. The irritating thing is that we get scared by one terrorist attack on our country and we just hand over our privacy and our rights, turn over the keys to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and say “Hey, help yourself to whatever you want. Oh, and don’t forget to turn the lights out when you leave.” The state of affairs in the United States, I don’t think, has ever been so bad except perhaps right before the War Between the States. The peoples of any other democratic nation and even a few that aren’t so democratic would be up in arms over they way things have been going. Frankly I think most people now feels like their hands are tied, they don’t trust the voting machines so don’t feel like they can elect better officials, their afraid to speak up for being labeled unpatriotic or sympathetic to terrorists or worse treasonous. Come on people - wake up and smell the ashes of your freedom - it may already be too late. If you don’t do something who will?
If you know me you know I don’t claim to be a leftist, rightist or centrist. To me the issues are too complex, not black and white at all, but you know I hate hypocrisy, stupidity (being defined here as not thinking for yourself - God-of-your-choice forbid you expend the energy), fundamentalism, and unjustness, all of which lead to that ego-centric black and white world view. If you’ve read this blog before you already know how I feel about right winger who have elevated semantic manipulation to an art form that makes any one who disagrees with their close-minded view look bad. I encourage you all to look for hypocrisy surrounding them and call them out on it. Here are some examples:
Direct Hypocrisy - From the Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert
Lynn Westmoreland, a Congressman who’s co-sponsored a bill to require the display of the Ten Commandments in the House of Representatives and the Senate is unable to name the Ten Commandments. Here’s a video of Stephen Colbert interviewing Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland. After a few minute of chit-chat, Colbert says, “What are the Ten Commandments?”
Stephen Colbert: What are the Ten Commandments?
Lynn Westmoreland: What are all of them?
SC: Yes.
LW: You want me to name them all?
SC: Yes.
LW: Unnnnnn.
LW: Unnnn. Don’t murder. Don’t lie. Don’t steal.
LW: Ummm. I can’t name them all.
This is particularly irritating. What a waste of tax dollars. Do his constituents want the Ten Commandments displayed in the House of Representatives and Senate? Do they visit often? Is it a church? That’s not even mentioning the fact that it violates one of the underlying principles of this country: separation of church and state. There’s a reason that was put in place to begin with, specifically, and I’m sure most people have long forgotten, that when our ancestors left Europe to live here they were leaving counties where the rulers claimed divine right for their rule. As soon as there is no more separation of church and state we might has well just have a despotic king.
Un-justice - Found in News of the Weird
News of the Weird
Wheelchair-confined Richard Paey committed almost exactly the same violations of Florida prescription drug laws that radio personality Rush Limbaugh did, with a different result: Limbaugh’s sentence, in May, was addiction treatment, and Paey’s, in 2004, was 25 years in prison. Both illegally possessed large quantities of painkillers for personal use, which Paey defiantly argued was (and will be) necessary to relieve nearly constant pain from unsuccessful spinal surgeries after an auto accident, but which Limbaugh admitted was simply the result of addiction. (In fact, if Limbaugh complies with his plea bargain, his conviction will be erased.) Paey’s sentence now rests with a state Court of Appeal. [Tampa Tribune, 2-8-06]
Now, how the hell is that just? I guess Richard Paey should have claimed to be addicted. Obviously he should have been wealthy enough to afford a better lawyer, but as he’s confined to a wheelchair I guess he just sits around a day long talking… oh wait a minute… maybe we should put him on the radio instead; he’s at least as qualified as Rush.
Anyway, so now I try to post more - this, frankly, barely scratches the surface or the fleeting thoughts that go through my mind.
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