The Dogs were Right all along

It’s been widely known that dogs can sniff out cancer.

Now they have a machine that can basically do something similar.

Cool.

Consumerism

Apparently, it’s bad and the government should help us to be rid of it.

Why is it bad? Because it uses up precious resources and spews out pollutants.
And get this:

“We have been living beyond our means, and the consequences are evident all across the planet,” says Global Footprint Network Executive Director Mathis Wackernagel, the 45-year-old, Swiss-born economist who helped design the group’s consumption metric. “As we move deeper into ecological deficit, the risks are tremendous — prices go up, supplies collapse, conflicts arise and the environment’s ability to recover greatly diminishes.” Wackernagel points to recent food riots in Haiti, Egypt, Bangladesh and elsewhere and ever-rising gas prices in the U.S. as examples of the political and economic disruption that sudden, rising demand can precipitate.

Is that amazing or what? The US is the BIG consumer. The US is a free nation. Haiti, Egypt, Bangladesh all have very, very, very low carbon footprints. Haiti, Egypt, Bangladesh are not what I would call “free democratic societies”. Haiti, Egypt, Bangladesh have food riots caused by consumerism. ???? huh???

I read that paragraph 3 times.

Check this out:

Among his pet peeves, Maniates often tells audiences, are the ubiquitous lists promising “10 Simple Things to Save the Planet.” There are no simple things, he insists, unless you care to consider these: 1) Get rid of your car; 2) consume only locally grown organic foods; and 3) stop buying stuff you don’t need.

Ok – he’s talking about saving “The Planet” here, right. To do that, somehow we are supposed to essentially not invest in the planet. Only buy local or don’t buy at all. That may save your budget. It may save a bit of carbon, but how on earth will that help out “The Planet”?

I’m sure you want to know how Maniates would fix this. Well, lets look to the government, shall we

“When our leaders acknowledge the problem and engage us all in finding a solution, there will be no shortage of ideas and innovation,” Maniates suggests. We must recycle more, invest in alternative energies and commit to public transportation, he says. Also, the government could tax consumption, rather than income — and the list goes on. But Maniates and others believe a lasting solution requires more than simply taxing undesirable choices (like SUVs and luxury goods) and offering incentives for desirable ones (like solar energy and organic farming). Real change — steep declines in per-capita consumption of energy and raw materials — will occur when Americans are allowed to choose lifestyles that initiate low-consumption patterns of behavior. Invariably, those lifestyles are the consequence of trading a degree of work (and pay) for time — a tradeoff that Maniates and others say plenty of Americans are willing to make. The equation is simple: Less work = less money = less consumption.
Maniates says government must make it easier for workers to make those choices: “We need to allow people to do the right thing — policy measures that allow them to follow their noses to happiness and satisfaction.”

I actually like a consumption tax vs income, but who in the government is capable of determining “good behavior” vs “bad behavior” for taxing purposes and why on earth should type A people who want to work more be subsidizing part timers insurance so that they can then go sit on their duffs and not consume? Oh – yeah – to save “The Planet”.

One more bizarre, not well thought out quote from this article:

Keep in mind, our government pays us to go shopping; why would it suddenly encourage parsimony?

Yes, Mr. Maniates thinks that the government giving you back the money that was taken from you by the government is the equivalent of the government paying you to shop.

I actually like to live very very simply. I ride the bike, I walk places, I live in a tiny tiny house and I really hate to shop. I would love to work part time in order to play full time, but I realize that yes, I need health insurance and it’s expensive and I don’t really think you should buy it for me. (Plus who would plug in all those numbers and move them around if I weren’t at work??)
It’s a whole movement that is growing and will probably continue to grow. Naturally. Not by decree.

The government does not exist to keep us in line with what Mr. Maniates believes is the better way to live. (click through to the article so you can follow Mr. Maniates better way to live tricks of the small consumer) The government can’t legislate itself out of a hole in the ground.

Live as you wish. Just don’t ruin public property for me and don’t go trying to start wars with us or disobeying the laws here that exist to keep things fairish. That’s what the govt is there for.

(ht A thinking reed)