Del Thank you for putting this into words. I agree with you wholeheartedly! Brooks Weisman RPT Arcata & Napa, CA brooksw@jps.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Delwin D Fandrich" <pianobuilders@olynet.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 8:53 AM Subject: Re: OT - It was 20 years ago today. > My what a lot of anger and hostility my little rant has raised. Since most > if this has been directed at me, I'll give it one last response and then we > can all go back to our prosperity and complacency: > > Guilt. > I did not bring up the subject of guilt, although it, along with the > hostility that frequently accompanies it, has been the focus of several > subsequent posts. Instilling guilt has not been the intent of anything I > have written. I do not have the power to instill guilt-nothing I write can > produce it. Guilt comes to a person when they are either doing something > they believe they shouldn't be doing or when they are not doing something > they believe they should be doing. > No, the best I can hope for is that, with some additional information, > some of us might make lifestyle decisions that are less damaging to our > planets once-natural systems. To find guilt, you have to look within > yourself. > > Transportation. > Yes, I drive a car. In general, I try to drive as little as possible and > I try to get as much use out of them as I can before replacing them. I also > am active in promoting efficient and useful mass transit systems-none of > them can yet be called 'rapid.' No, I don't feel guilty about it. > > Energy consumption. > Contrary to implication, I live in a state that is a net energy exporter > of electricity.so far. Nor do we import water.so far. Unfortunately, most > of our power generation comes from hydro-electric sources which are > dependent on relatively stable river flows, which can no longer be counted > on. For example, we normally receive between 85 and 95 inches of rainfall > per year. This year, unless something really radical happens, we will end > up with less than 55 inches of rain. Similar declines are reported > throughout the northwest. > > General consumption. > To live, we are going to consume. And, yes, obviously, I use a computer, > though it, too, is getting a bit long in the tooth. Every person must > decide for him/her self what level of consumption is appropriate. There is > much we can do to reduce our current level of consumption and still retain a > good and comfortable lifestyle. No, I don't feel guilty about my level of > consumption. > Nor do I agree that one must live a totally ascetic lifestyle to be > concerned about how one's own lifestyle affects others. Just because we are > not personally responsible for someone's tragedy, does not mean we cannot > feel compassion for them and help them. I did not chose to live in an area > where hurricanes are frequent visitors, should my attitude then be, "So, > your house was destroyed by a hurricane? Tough, I did not build my house > there, go fend for yourself!" > > Prosperity and social inequity. > It is not my fault, either, that some populations continue to do terrible > things to themselves and to others. But then, neither did I play a great > roll in the prosperity America currently enjoys. (And neither did anyone > else on this list.) I've done my studies and done my work, but the > groundwork for this nation's current prosperity was laid generations ago and > I cannot claim much credit for it. I consider myself most blessed and > fortunate to have been born into a nation which still has a reasonably > stable and equitable government, with laws that still promises some level of > justice, albeit one without the promised equality for all. > That said, I believe we do have a responsibility to go through this life > doing what we can to help others along the way. Barring that, is it too > much to hope that we at least try to avoid making the lives of others worse > than it already is. > > Starvation. > I also did not introduce the subject of starvation to this discussion, > but since it now been brought up by several, let's do the numbers -- this > year approximately 35,000,000 folks will die of starvation and hunger > related illnesses (see www.starvation.com). I find it hard to be callous > about this number, regardless of who or what is at fault. > I doubt that very many of those 35,000,000 people had a choice in where > they were born, in the social and economic status of their parents, or in > the form of government that keeps them in poverty. Nor are they responsible > for the once-productive farmland that becomes arid desert due to changing > weather patterns. But, what the hell, I didn't put them there so let them > die. It's just the planets way of balancing things out. > No, I cannot feed 35,000,000 starving people, but I can at least avoid, > as much as possible, making their lives worse than they already. > > Subsistence living does, indeed, "suck." > > Merry Christmas. > > Del > > > >
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