edit: link fixed!
http://www.nrdc.org/living/stuff/real-materialism-virtue.asp
Early Retirement Extreme Forums » Lifestyle Questions
Real Materialism is a Virtue--link fixed
(10 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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Well put... and I agree. I am, however, crotchety and feel that far too many liberal just talk the talk rather than walk the walk, as described. Between ignorance and trends/fashion, it's an unfortunate subset that meets the description in that article.
I was passed (literally) by a prius today on the highway approaching 80 with a license plate 'savingas'. Maybe it should have been 'savinglessgasthanat60mph'. Tough to call with that example... are they simply ignorant about automobile efficiency? Possibly. The license plate points towards the fashion aspect more... why does someone feel inclined to get that license plate? Is the car itself insufficient to satisfy his sanctimonious streak? On the bright side... he could have been driving an Escalade though... so in the end... a net positive.
The only negatives I can see are cases where ignorance enforces policies that are actually of net negative. Arguably some recycling can be more detrimental than simply discarding. Buying a new car for increased mileage, rather than driving your old car - but your old car hits the landfill.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Was the driver the owner of the car?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Definitely.
Posted 1 year ago # -
This is the problem with the whole 'green' movement, its become a consumer brand which people buy into, rendering it counter productive. Its like 'sustainability', the word is so bounded about now as to become meaningless. We have 'sustainable investment' 'sustainable transport' 'sustainable development' Put that prefix before anything and it automatically becomes a nice sounding, positive thing...
Posted 1 year ago # -
I hate those people, but I also hate people that listen to Fox News and NPR. And come to think of it, any group that self-identifies to the exclusion of everybody else.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yes, part of the consumerist mentality is that you can "buy" something that will make you more like how you want others to view you. In most cases, you'd be better off (and save more of the environment) simply by using what you have until it wears out. Or buying the used widget instead of a new one, even if it doesn't have a greenish pedigree.
In the past (like before most of us were born), people separated what they consumed from their values, which might be expressed in their preferred charities or volunteer activities. Its only recently that people have been induced to "buy" values through product placement.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Chilly, how can you be so sure? Are you a psychic cyborg with direct intra-cranial access to DMV records? If so, tell us what car chilly drives, and how its MPG compares to biking.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Better for a person to drive fast in a Prius than most other cars that get lower mpg?
Posted 1 year ago # -
@dragoncar, I was just kidding. My car only get's 25mpg, but I don't have a sanctimonious license plate or try to use it, as @Dragline says.. to "'buy' something that will make you more like how you want others to view you."
I just saw an ad for an Infiniti (Lexus?) that was a hybrid sportscar that got 32mpg and put out 360hp. So should I tip my hat to owners of that car as environmentally conscious?
@jzt83... true, although a 10 year old civic that gets 35mpg could arguably be better since the world didn't have to create another car.
Ed Begley's a big (actual) environmentalist, and at least he can poke fun at himself on the Simpsons - "I prefer a vehicle that doesn't hurt Mother Earth. It's a go-cart, powered by my own sense of self-satisfaction."
Posted 1 year ago #
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