tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6343122535318547716.post6016024178984517001..comments2024-02-25T13:25:26.434-08:00Comments on Owl's Farm: Is Resistance Futile?Owlfarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373358232893937182noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6343122535318547716.post-81859627289143436022010-03-10T12:58:03.659-08:002010-03-10T12:58:03.659-08:00GEM, I'm not sure we can fault ourselves for s...GEM, I'm not sure we can fault ourselves for satisfying a genuine desire--as opposed to a mere whim. The love of art (and these are objects of art, not simply of desire) fuels our human beingness, and if we weren't so stupid about so many other things, the environmental cost of art would not be nearly as high. If you don't shop for crap at dollar stores, I see no reason to apologize for objects that reflect craft, skill, creativity, and love! If we all limited ourselves to purchasing what we truly need and truly desire, we would undoubtedly buy considerably less and cost the natural world substantially less in the long run.Owlfarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15373358232893937182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6343122535318547716.post-67108118458249123932010-03-07T16:21:32.503-08:002010-03-07T16:21:32.503-08:00Well, I for one talk the talk, but don't alway...Well, I for one talk the talk, but don't always walk the walk. Take for example my recent insane purchase of an item of desire, which i certainly don't need, and the production of which has far flung environmental consequences. On pure whim and greed, I ourchased 2 Shino wood-fired bowls which were part of the result of a three day, 8 cord of wood firing in an Ombu, which is reported to not release carbon particulates into our local atmosphere. The kiln was built by a Japanese kiln-builder, flown in to design and fabricate it. Gas-powered saws were used to prepare the wood for appropriate size for feeding the fire. The firing took place in a suburb of Vancouver - the wood had to be transported to the site by gas guzzling trucks. The ware resulting from this elaborate and ecologically expensive wood firing are mainly for decorative and not utilitarian purchases - for show, not use.<br /> I sit here and consider all that has been consumed in order for me to have in my possession two objects of desire. Cognitive dissonance is what I suffer, along with my companion North Americans. It is almost impossible to keep at the forefront the notion that every one of our habitual actions need reassessing in light of how every one of our behaviours has consequence for every other living being as well as ourselves as living beings in an interdependent continuum. I don't think a violent revolution is in order to make changes in the status quo. It will take a paradigm shift in philosophy in order to effect the change necessary for us humans to take our minimal spot in a limited environment. Tough call, one which I am not so certain we can deal with sensibly. GGEMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11525848943689396086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6343122535318547716.post-40325263751599857572010-03-04T08:15:07.925-08:002010-03-04T08:15:07.925-08:00I'm not sure where Jensen's figures come f...I'm not sure where Jensen's figures come from, but even commonly agreed upon rates are pretty high (see the Species extinction page at www.whole-systems.org). Some of these are, of course little teeny weeny critters, but the biggest danger to the whole extinction problem is the loss of biodiversity and resulting damage to the ecosystemic web. I'm afraid it's going to take the loss of very large creatures (great apes, whales, elephants) to jar people into doing something until it's already too late to save even our own skins.<br /><br />What recent political uproars have indicated to me is that most Americans see themselves as individual centers of their own small universes, concerned only with how a particular policy affects them and theirs. I'm getting a wee bit weary of hearing claims about what The American People want--when it's hardly what I want, and last time I looked I was still an American people.Owlfarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15373358232893937182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6343122535318547716.post-50015379919864654512010-03-04T06:34:56.090-08:002010-03-04T06:34:56.090-08:00I have read some of Jensen's essays in the pas...I have read some of Jensen's essays in the past, and it is hard to argue with the uncomfortable points that he raises. <br /><br />I agree with him that individual actions (alone) won't fix things, but I think that small actions do set a good example for changing behavior. To me, time is the devil sitting with us in this corner we have painted ourselves into. <br /><br />If it took us 100 years to develop the immense automobile/oil infrastructure we depend on now it may take us another 100 to change that over. (And that is just one area of ecological concern)<br /><br />So....what's the math here? <br /><br />120 species x 365 days x 100 years = 4,380,000 species gone by 2110 using Jensen's logic.Dave Coulterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12613987836803392641noreply@blogger.com