what will you do if obama gets re elected

[pavementtune]

Rbg, when, who and what exactly were you teaching in Gambia?

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Starla

You talk like someone who has lived a privileged life. Do you even realize how many people are dying because they can't afford health care? Or how many people are starving? You know what a tent city is, right?

he went to africa once

[killtrocity]

Americans are inexorably going to need to reduce consumption. Plastic waste and other disposable shit is a huge problem, and it can't be supported indefinitely. PET is ubiquitous and yet it cannot be produced indefinitely, and current solutions such as "green plastics" have extremely high thermodynamic costs and require immense amounts of energy to produce. A more practical solution is to stop consuming so much goddamned waste material. We all know that electronics are major offenders when it come to frivolous packaging, but some things are less obvious - plastic cups, straws, ketchup packets, junk mail... these things exist because they are profitable for the people producing them, but they are the antithesis of efficient from a thermodynamic standpoint and also embody the wasteful ideology that most people don't give a second though to.

The age of convenience cannot be sustained indefinitely, and the most serious issue on that note is the finite amount of petroleum on this planet. Being able to live in the country and drive 15 miles to the grocery store or your neighbor's house is a convenience. The efficient solution in terms of energy is increased population density. It is more efficient for people to live in cities connected by rail systems which require substantially less energy per person than cars and airplanes, not to mention the cost of maintaining roads. Walk or bike when practical, take trains and hybrid buses for further distances, and save airplanes for long trips traversing mountains or vast bodies of water. There is no reason for people to travel 20,000 feet in the air to get from Chicago to Minneapolis, or even to the east coast. But guess what? The current system is profitable to those who have the power to affect actual change in transportation/energy policy. They are going to milk us for every possible cent until it become more profitable to adopt some alternate form of energy (which they are already researching), at which point the environment may be fucked beyond recognition and the people who can't afford to own cars and buy gas every day, nor even a CTA pass, will have continued to suffer dramatically.

Profit does not equal efficiency or even Quality in all cases

[Future Boy]

anyone actually read that

[Trotskilicious]

i skimmed it and it was anti-plane which is kind of weird for someone who thinks space is important

[Order 66]

If space isnt so important why did they make nasa

[Nimrod's Son]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

yes some people are in seriously dire straights right now, but virtually no one in the united states is actually lying in the streets dying of disease and starvation like in some developing countries. Also, it may be worse right now, but don't act like there weren't people living in their cars, homeless, unemployed, and without any prospects of improvement before the economy went down the toilet.

Yes, the rich need to live more modest lives, but so do people in the middle. People take out fucking loans for big screen TVs, spend far beyond their means in terms of luxury items, purchase useless bullshit because of our consumerist society. The US is filled with people who actually have no money, but because of debt culture manage to live in enormous houses full of expensive shit. The majority of Americans have probably not made any meaningful alterations in their lifestyle since the recession.



you just keep repeating that obviously facetious statement, it suits you.



teaching in Africa what a fucking vanity trip. I'm sure Gambia and Senegal resent me so much for coming over there, making friends with their people and spending money in their economy. No one has the right to travel! No one! There is no justifiable reason to go to a country outside your own! It is impossible to interact with foreigners in any manner which is not condescending and patronizing! It is impossible to be educated or become more rounded by visiting other places! The only possible explanation is being spoiled and rich.

So your argument is that although there are people with no homes or jobs or food who can't afford to pay for their diseases, fuck them because Africa has more.

I mean, I don't even understand your argument. We should take care of our own backyard first anyway.

[jczeroman]

I will move to a foreign country and make sure I have my dual nationality sorted.

Wait, I already did that in mid-2008.