That's awkward.Brian Peacock wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:35 pm
Good points. I don't own a car and I haven't had the heating on for 8 years, or plugged the fridge in. Aside from footwear I've bought about 3 or 4 brand new items of clothing in the last 5 years, and I mostly cook seasonally, from fresh, and do all my food shopping locally on a day-to-day basis. In the great scheme of things, and against all the people who are not even thinking of doing even some of that, it counts for nothing - but it's a start and it's the kind of individual action that sparks conversations and discussions about what 'we' could, can, couldn't, might, and mightn't do ourselves. And like my vegetarianism, it's also partly to do with trying to live in a way that's consistent and compatible with my personal ethics.
JimC put it better.
To paint an honest picture, especially by contrast to what you have described, I am a giant, fuel-guzzling machine. Thousand litres or more a year, just warming my house.
Gak.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it.Hang on a mo - am I supposed to be saving the planet all by myself?
You're welcome.
Can I just say that I appreciate the time you took to write this, and for showing us a bit of the real Cunt
Yeah, I resent that. Makes me uncomfortable for one nearly clear reason, too.The local government and the public's commitment to this public pre-sorting of refuse, while not solving the problem in itself, is at least a tangible, visible thing which directs people's attention towards recycling, plastic packaging, resource use, and the like..
When glass bottles are returned to the local bottle depot, the attendant gives the customer their money, and the bottle is smashed and deposited at the landfill.even if the profit motive tends towards corruption in a developing and poorly regulated sector:
I'm SURE something like that wouldn't have corruption just waiting in the shadows.
That's EXACTLY what should happen. In the case of the roadways horseshit, they took government money. (not to mention the crowdfrauding/crowdfunding)But at least some people are thinking about solutions, and we shouldn't necessarily be dismissed if they turn out to be a bit crap, eh?
My understanding is that the west has not finished negotiating their claim on Sahtu lands, but I may be mistaken. Land claims are not easy to keep up on and I haven't been making an effort.
Development is a knotty ethical issue. How can we in all good faith start laying down the law to the developing world given our history and while we're sitting on our own massive dependence on hydro-carbons(?) But then again, economically and democratically speaking the West is in a far better position to lead by example than developing economies. We can also afford to take a bit of hit so that having a little bit less might mean developing nations can have quite a bit more and thus, with encouragement, be better able to implement the alternatives we are now turning to as they come along. We've gifted trillions to the financial sector to boost an maintain asset values that do little but suck money and resources out of the system - if we spent that on re-directing our infrastructure towards sustainability and giving others a leg up, well, we could finally begin to hold our heads up when the aliens arrive!
It is just one more complication.
You may be right, but 'simple' and 'logarithmic' together like that makes me think you are making fun of me.A simple reform would be to simplify tax laws and cross-applicable exemptions by, say, calculating tax liability by a simple logarithmic scaled to earnings/profits. Perhaps..
- y = 3x
... could be a good starting point, with income on the x axis, liability on the y, and where the relevant multiplier would remain a matter for policy but the third unit on the y axis would intersect the x axis at median earnings/profits. That would produce a truly progressive tax system at least. We can even ask Jim to help us refine the function before we write the proposal if you like - I think we can get him on board if we pay him in gin
JimC! Is he mocking me? Is that like telling a motorist they need a new giggling pin and johnson rod?