But I'm not hurting anyone but myself....

I came across this article, thanks to a link on Marry’s blog, and it’s stayed with me ever since so I decided to share an excerpt with you. Viewing our consumer-based culture through the lens of addiction hits the nail right on the head. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to boil our environmental situation down to its root cause.

Industrial civilization -- and its end product, consumerism -- has disconnected us from nature, the cycle of life, our communities, our families and, ultimately, ourselves. This unnatural, inorganic, materialistic way of living, coupled with a marked decline in society's moral and ethical standards -- what the French call anomie -- has created a kind of pathology that produces pain and emptiness, for which addictive behavior becomes the primary symptom and consumption the preferred drug of choice.
What most of us experience when it comes to addiction," says Erickson, "is a pattern of continually seeking more of what it is we don't really want and, therefore, never being fully satisfied. And as long as we are never satisfied, we continue to seek more, while our real needs are never being met."
“Addiction in one form or another characterizes every aspect of industrial society,” wrote the social philosopher Morris Berman, and dependence on substances or corporeal pleasures is no different from dependence on "prestige, career achievement, world influence, wealth, the need to build more ingenious bombs or the need to exercise control over everything."
“The patterns of behavior endemic to consumer society are so much more dangerous than substance abuse, because they are perpetuating a culture that is literally eating itself out of house and home.”

We can all go out and buy hybrid cars and take re-usable bags to the grocery store and I applaud every green effort. Yet even the "greening" of products and practices all around the world is coming close to propaganda in itself. To truly solve environmental problems, we must stage a cultural intervention, get to the root of the issues, and recognize that virtually everything must change. Overwhelming is an understatement. But we won't care for the Earth until we learn to care for ourselves and each other.

So here's where you start. Spend your daily energies connecting with yourself, your family, your community, and the place you live. If you’re a parent, it is absolutely paramount that you take your kids outside to play. Teach them how to connect with who they are and how great it is to truly connect with another person. I promise that they will show you how to embrace the beauty in your own backyard.

Earth Day Purism-ism

Having a few moments before the day began, I wandered the web reading as much Earth-Day related material as possible. I have come to the conclusion that ultimately, I believe many more people are catching on and starting to celebrate environmentalism in their own ways. Which is great. Overall, at this point, I think that as long as more people understand that ecological activism is much more than a radical, "Tree-hugger" movement, practiced only by dread-locked hippies, we all win.

Practicing good stewardship over our natural resources, in order to protect the environment for our children is the ultimate in utilitarian ethics. Anyone, who loves to experience the serene beauty nature has to provide, is by definition, an environmentalist. If you love watching wild animals in Yellowstone, or recreating in Grand Teton National Park, and even enjoy a simple day in the nearest forest, you are environmentalist. If you advocate open or park space in your neighborhood, you are an environmentalist. If, in the city where you live, your favorite street just happens to be richly tree-lined, you have an innate connection with our natural world, and therefore, I believe we all have an innate connection with the land and should take part in trying to protect it.

What is most interesting, is to question why are more and more people taking a part in greening their lives. Ultimately, it may be due to mainstream media tracking the current trends of pop-culture. I never pursue pop-culture news, but have noticed a rise in reports of stars who are greening their lives in some way or another. Even Paris Hilton drives a hybrid although its a Yukon that gets only 20 or so miles per gallon. Leonardo Dicaprio, after producing the movie "The 11th Hour" is getting more publicity for his environmental efforts. Overall, since we as Americans are more intune with mainstream media, this Eco-Pop movement, however minimal their actions may be, is being noticed as socially acceptable form of lifestyle.

But, no matter the lifestyle, whether it be of the dirty, desert-rat hippie who will never deviate from his purist environmetal ideal, or the multi-million dollar pop-star who is trying to assert themselves by publicly deviating from current unsustainable trends, any attempt to change our current reliance on unsustainable means will ultimately save the earth.

P.S. Turn off your lights!

EARTH DAY!!

Earth Day is April 22nd! Celebrate and go buy a CFL light bulb, ride the bus instead of driving, use no lighting during the daylight hours and visit these sites!

www.18seconds.org

www.rustletheleaf.com

www.globalcool.org

www.energystar.gov

Power of Election

Working in city hall, I had the great opportunity to witness first hand civic duty in all its glory. En masse, citizens flocked to the poll, seemingly coming out of the woodwork! And during this time many of the good citizens rediscovered how vital their role is in our free society. After voting, many took the time to walk around city hall. Some reviewed the massive redevelopment plans, others grabbed some literature and left, but there were a few who stopped to discuss the direction of the city and to voice their concerns as to how this or that should or should not happen.

But what really moved me was one man in particular. He strolled through the front doors dressed in dirty, tattered clothes with huge fro-like unkempt hair and a massive, greasy beard. The type you may see panhandling on the street or passed out under an overpass. The people standing around him made the usual gestures you may expect. One woman in particular was covering her mouth as she whispered what I'm sure weren't exactly complimentary remarks the person next to her.

I approached the man and he told me he was there to vote. I don't know why I was a bit surprised at this. Since donning the rank of public servant, I have been astonished and sometimes even flabbergasted at some of the personalities I have encountered, but nonetheless, I was quite proud of Bert, as he introduced himself. He went on to describe in great detail the aspects of each ballot measure and just how he was going to vote on them. Many of his points were very enlightening. So much, in fact, that they altered some of my perspectives on some of the issues this election. It just proves that no matter your background or whether or not you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw at a particular referendum, it all comes down to the point of view of even the lowliest of citizens, who, as I have witnessed, are very informed and extremely alert when it comes exercising our power of election.

Proof of people out there as dumb as I'd feared

As you may already know, Utah Clean Energy and Governor Huntsman recently called for a one-hour “lights out” to take place on the evening of September 19th. Residents were asked to turn off all the lights in their homes between 9 and 10 p.m. Apparently, the goal was to raise awareness for wise energy use and to demonstrate the potential power (no pun intended) of collective energy conservation.

Well, Rocky Mountain Power was “unable to measure any reduction in energy use” that night. I’m sure that many people (including me, embarrassingly) simply weren’t aware of the request. (More likely, no change was detected because energy for lighting only accounts for 14 percent of Utah’s urban energy use and appliances, especially air conditioners and refrigerators, suck up the bulk of the rest.) But some people must have tried to “make a difference” and dimmed their lights on the 19th as a few darker pockets around the Salt Lake valley were noticed around 9 p.m. While these people genuinely want to help make a difference in their community, I think most people try to exude an image of conformity and political correctness when it comes to environmental issues, especially now that green ideas are becoming more mainstream. While some may actually have a basic understanding of global warming and energy crises, I believe that many people speak to environmental concerns to preserve their “trendy” image while inwardly balking at personal lifestyle changes, suspecting that these issues are all just a passing fad and climate change is some far-away abstract condition. It’s all about image, right? But I’m kind of digressing…

Then there’s people way out at the other end of the social spectrum actually working against the greater good. It appears that some people live in the world of fourth grade defiance and, to my great amusement and triumph, lay themselves bare while publicly bragging about their idiocy to the Salt Lake Tribune. Maybe the scales at Rocky Mountain Power were tipped partly because of this turd. Thank you, Mr. Christensen of Taylorsville, for validating my suspicions as to the ability of this community to think beyond its own front door.

…My son and I turned on all our outside lights around the house [on Sept. 19],
including all the headlights on the four gas-guzzling cars we have parked in our
driveway. We also turned on every light in the house, along with all the radios
and TVs.
I hope this will send a message to the governor and the rest of the
world – and to some of our liberal neighbors – that my family is not going to
believe nonsense and become a family of global-warming zealots….
…My family
is more than happy to unscrew any lights not working and screw in new ones
ourselves, then keep them all burning ‘till hell freezes over.

Um, nice pun. I’m so glad that he’s teaching his son these life lessons. I’m sure he’s also the type of father who blows cigarette smoke daily in his kids’ faces and then rants to the paper that HIS family has no need for silly healthcare.