it's a life, it's my life i tell ya!
Earth
Sat, June 16, 2007 - 11:12 AM
"Paper or plastic?" the middle-aged clerk asks the guy in front of me.
"Plastic", he says. Then, guiltily, "I suppose I'm supposed to say paper."
"Oh, it doesn't matter," says the clerk, "the Earth's trashed anyway."
Say what???
Another time, a couple of months ago, I was at a party and this vapid enterainment industry girl was asking me what I do. In LA, these conversations usually start with: "so, are you in Production?"
So I was telling her about seeing a couple of Minke whales that week while I was working out in Santa Monica Bay.
"Whales?" she says, "I thought they were all gone now?"
It's like as if people have already given up on the Earth. "It's already trashed anyway."
And this belief is useful to them, because it assuages their guilt over their greedy consumption patterns.
After all, "the Earth's already trashed."
In fact, we're on a sort of cusp. If overconsumption and global capitalism continue as they are, we will create *in our own lifetimes* a dystopian Earth of "pollution and parking lots."
But the Earth is not "already trashed anyway."
It's too soon to give up.
Sat, June 16, 2007 - 11:12 AM -
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11 Comments
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 1:47 PM
Absolutely....
Mother earth is far from "done".....
My instinct is that pretty soon, she will just shrug and shake herself, and all of us , the insignificant little insects messing her around, will be wiped out. Earthquakes, an ice age....or some event like that. And the earth will gently, slowly go back to being healthy. Without us. I think we need the earth far more than it needs us.....so we had better watch out! |
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 2:18 PM
I'd like to defend my industry and say we are not all a bunch of vapid twits who don't know shit..........I really would like to but....
Well, anyway there are a couple of us who know better (we all work in documentaries though). The earth is still beautiful and full of life and anyone who doesn't know by now that it is our job to help make it better is totally clueless! Personally I take my own bags to Trader Joes these days....and my kid wears cloth diapers, and Bruce rides his bike to work and we reuse and recycle like mad around here and I still feel I could do more! |
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 3:52 PM
Hah, funny, Yuni, I heard a little Yuni voice objecting inside my head when I made that characterization. ;[) But I used 'vapid' as an adjective describing that particular girl, not all people who work in the entertainment industry. I could just as easily have said vapid scientist - and there are plenty.
I wouldn't really be able to make any sort of stereotype or generalization of entertainment folks based on my own experience. The people I have met since moving here who are "in the industry" have been pretty damn cool and smart... |
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 4:35 PM
It's a sad situation when people think that way.
I have worked on several promotional pieces for an international conservation group in the past several weeks and the amount of poaching that goes on is mind blowing. Japan and Iceland still hunt whales. And there is a huge market for Ivory. Yeah, all is not lost but when you have people just giving up and saying wtf it's all trashed anyway well that makes it that much worse. What's even more sad is that people and Western countries have the knowledge to do better yet they ignore it. It seems most people's priorities are to focus on the latest SUV and what size flatscreen TV to get. But, what do I know? I live in a modern cave in the countryside right outside of Washington DC. I have given up on the whole deal, yet I still religiously recycle and try to make the world a better place. It's the only thing that keeps me going. Nothing else. |
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 7:23 PM
I agree.......not completely trashed.......although some of the inhabitants are...... personally I'm not ready to give up on Earth or anything else for that matter......
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Sat, June 16, 2007 - 8:40 PM
LOL! No problem, vapid really does describe lots of industry folks. It is funny because going green is really in with so many of them right now but unfortunately it seems to be more lip service and fashion than an actual commitment to heal the world. I hope if it is fashion that it isn't fleeting.
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Mon, June 18, 2007 - 10:28 AM
Goin' Green
This makes me sad. Thankfully, we have the opportunity to re-educate folks, even if it comes down person by person intercommunication. My hope is that more charitable organizations get funded through public and private contributions in order to do more mass public service announcements to encourage everyone to get involved in cleaning our beautiful planet.
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Mon, June 18, 2007 - 11:01 AM
It's a beautiful planet - thanks to everyone for not giving up!
Go Earth! Save the Humans! |
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Mon, June 18, 2007 - 11:57 AM
paper or plastic?
"no thanks I have a bag" BYOB- bring your own bag!!!
I have a good sized bag that folds up super small and fits right in my purse. Funny thing though just this last weeked I had a good friend tell me that she doesn't care because she thinks humanity as a whole is just f'ed. Wow- I thought that was shocking. |
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Fri, September 14, 2007 - 9:46 PM
Thank you for offering what I wanted after reading this: hope.
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