Environmentalism is failing, Thank God Vol 42

If yoga was someone the Beatles talked to in India, you must be a Boomer !

Each time I read about a famous environmentalist giving up their fight, I get emotional. More and more lately it seems, the tree huggers are giving up their fight to change our ways, and instead join the people who believe that technology will solution the problems.

Like most Boomers, I somewhat believe that we humans are changing the environment around us. So, not a climate denier, but also not unaware of our impact on the planet. I know that we Boomers believe that technology will solve the problems of the present. While the solutions may not be perfect, they will move our civilization upward. I sometimes wonder if there were environmentalists on the Mayflower. Imagine some religious types saying that the pilgrims could not cut down the trees to make a fort, to make them safe from the natives ! I wonder what ever happened to him ? Maybe his last name was Stockade ?

In many ways I feel for the environmentalists, as they were trying to get us Boomers ( our kids already get the message ) to change, and its near impossible. I feel because I am trying to wage the same type of fight, to get Boomers off their couches, away from the buffet table, and turn their energies on doing good. How do you nudge someone off a well worn path, who is used to getting exactly what they want, when they want it, without consequence ? Remember when there were 4 channels ? Now Springsteen’s codex of “500 channels and nothing on” is appropriate.

So, there have always been luddites of one type or another. The environmentalists are just the latest group that included people who figured that the streets of New York would be un-usable based on the amount of horseshit that would soon be littering the streets due to population trends. Remember, we did not leave the stone age because we ran out of stones !

We have been solving technology issues forever, and I fully expect us to continue this process. Really, it’s a trait that continues to make us the dominant species on the planet, and hopefully soon, the galaxy. Indeed, think of humans venturing off this planet, populating the space around us, and understand that needing and using our resources to do this is paramount to our survival. I am no space nut, but any logical future for our species has to include space exploration. We are, after all, one small meteor away annihilation. Perhaps Mars is the next big step. For today, I would settle for raising everyone out of poverty, and having people have a chance to be the best that they can be. Only then will the human race be firing on all cylinders.

To do this, we need to look at and solve some the more inefficient societal compacts that have grown over time, like environmentalism, acting as a drag on our progress. For example, assisted suicide is a must have. We will otherwise spend lots of resources on people who can not appreciate the effort , nor pay for it.

Another example is the death penalty. To me, we seem to have lost the meaning of penalty. Overall, jails have proven to be better schools for criminals instead of places of reflection. I am a moral person, and believe in a soul. I am not sure who gave me this soul, or what happens to it when I die, but I do believe that someone who has a damaged soul should pay the penalty, and be asked to start over. Use the space for those who can repent, and be rehabilitated. Also, since I am on the subject, legalise pot, and empty the jails of the weed victims.

How is that for a centrist’s policy – use the death penalty, but legalize marijuana. Yes, a few innocent people may lose their lives, but lets be real – we kill more people using our cars than would ever be equaled by wrongful lethal injection. And besides, wouldn’t prisons, with perhaps a few minor touches, make perfect old age homes ! Boom, two birds with one stone.

I get emotional because we need other luddites to join us in our fight to flight. One group who needs to wake up are all the religious zealots. They will eventually see that they are working at cross purposes to their goals, which dwell in the past, and have no future.

We also need to end some of the so-called wars we are on, and try something else. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. Are food stamps the best we can do ? Really, cancel all the current benefits and start over, cause they did not work. Don’t get me wrong, I want poverty eliminated – all I am saying is that the current ideas did not work, so what else can we try ? Same idea for the war on drugs. Is building prisons the net effect ? Start over, please.

I feel the same way about social housing. I don’t know about your city, but in mine, we have tried putting the poor in subsidized housing, without success. So, sell the houses, perhaps even give them away to the occupants, and move on. Try something else. The economic axiom of ” no one ever washed a rented mule” may be dated, but its still appropriate in this case. Ownership has its rewards but also has consequences, while subsidies have neither.

These are all things that hold us back, and need fixing, not elimination. Let’s try something else. Maybe some Boomers will come up with a few good ideas to implement. Maybe eliminating poverty is our generation’s goal !

I do believe in a leading a moral life. Most Boomers do. I am in no way suggesting we abandon people in need, but I argue that the solutions currently used are not working. Any ideas ?

Next on Boomers – wtf !, why failing at something is actually a fast path to success.