Well today I walked past one of the HUGE 4 by 4, 20 foot long, 2 story high pickup trucks they make these days. This had a large metal grill thingy and a nice rubber covering in the pickup part and not a scratch on it. Probably never hauled a thing. As I watched an old couple un-beeped the doors and crawled in.

As I walked off I remember the question we all have been asking as a nation lately," Why do the poor countrys hate us"? DUH!!! Lets see, could it be that the western world is useing so much of the worlds re-sources that poor countrys know they won't ever have anything but handouts?

Okay I'll stop bitchin now But this nations mindless consumning and bigger is better mindset drive me crazy!!!!!!!!......Kirk

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Answers

Okay I was so upset that I forgot the other peeve. Ha! Ha!

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

I couldn't agree with you more Kirk. It's one of mine too.

If the whiz kids in the think tanks that come up with their social engineering and policy schemes would game this issue out with any objectivity at all, they would have to conclude that any scenario that includes an intentional drive to consume materials at increasing rates is doomed to failure because infinite economic growth in a reality that includes finite resources seems impossible.

Environmentally friendly economic sustainability seems like the ONLY thing that will work for the long haul.

Thats especially true if we look at the big picture. Without economic development the global population is growing, thus adding potential demand for diminishing resources.

Couple that with the aggressive eforts being made by the big capital people to develop third world countries into American style capitalistism and consumerism and to exploit "cheap" labor and you have a recipe for disaster.

Imagine all 6+ billion people on the planet now consuming like we do in America. How long would that last?

Although I deplore the terrorist attacks as much as any one it does give me pause to think about the criticisms levelled at America by the terrorists. One of which is the materialism that seems to make a "life" in America. The folks you describe in your post are good examples of it.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Couldn't agree with ya more, Kirk, on your first pet peeve! But....I'd really like to know what the second was??!!

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Couldn't agree more, Kirk. I'd just love to fill one of those things with a bedload of manure, just to show what a "real" truck does for a living! Heehee.

Here's one of my pet peeves, which I'm sure also gets the U.S. a bunch of resentment overseas. It's the increasing use of credit card clearing for just about everything, and pricing to reflect all purchases being made on a charge card. What this amounts to is a surcharge of 2-4% - it's like a hidden tax on EVERYTHING you buy. Even debit cards, which should be a simple transaction between your bank and a vendor, use Visa/MC processing with the same %. If you ask for a cash discount, you get a blank look - the sales people don't even realise any more that they can sell for less and make the same profit!

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

I get tired of the ones that feel they must "keep up with the Jones'".I still find it hard to believe some folks replace their computers every year. I have a neighbor that has upgraded every time processor speeds have risen and he comes here to use this old 100 mhz junker of mine when his high speed connect is down.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

Yeah Jay, I was just riding in my friends loaded XTerra and it slid twice on a drizzley day. I'll take my old Subaru any time.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

I'm curious as to how a non-materialistic economy would operate. In the Star Trek future they've eliminated money because everyone is happy and fufilled doing jobs they love and that is compensation enough. But it seems to me that there are some jobs that no one is going to want to do unless you pay them a lot of money. If we de- emphasize material possesions then making a lot of money won't matter, so then how do we get people to do the yucky jobs? I"m having a real hard time wrapping my mind around this concept. I agree that we're over the top as far as some aspects of consumerism go, but I still want the guy who scrapes the dead animals off the road in the summertime to be compensated in a way that will make him want to continue doing his job!

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

You know, I think the folks who are buying the "Bubba Trucks" are the ones who used to buy the "land yachts" and simply cannot find any large cars anymore, the car manufacturers don't make any big cars, heck, even the caddies are small now! So, to satisfy that feeling of "security" a large land yacht gives you when driving it, they buy the whomping big pickup trucks.

I really can't blame them, I wouldn't get caught literally dead in one of those tiny shoeboxes on four wheels or a mini-van, my four wheel drive Toyota is as small as I'm willing to go, and would never consider driving anything that didn't have a real steel I beam frame to put some protection between me and the other vehicles on the roadways.

When asked why they purchase such big trucks, the inevitable answer is that they like being able to see out much better and the feeling of security it gives them.

Car manufacturers should take note and build some decent sized, but fuel economic, cars to fill that market share better.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

I'm STILL wondering what the second pet peeve was :-)?? Guess I'm "one-trackin'"!!

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

Yup Sheri, I wonder the same thing. Its easy enuf to be critical of what we're doing now and where we seem to be going but truly, what is a viable alternative? Maybe another thread topic?

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

Okay Marcia my second peeve is the people who build huge houses (dream homes) and there are only 2 of them. You know the 5 bedroom 3 bathroom that all are heated. The kind that 20 3rd world familys could live in. Then there is a person in town who converted a 3story barn to live in and put on about 150,000 worth of prime redwood siding on it. I want to puke every time I see the dang thing!!!!

Blood pressure rising!!!!!!!.....Kirk

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2001

I don't understand that idea of building huge houses either, Kirk. OR continuously adding on to what they already have! My mom and stepfather are doing that to their home in N.C. She is practically in a wheelchair because of her diabetes and he can't remember how to get from one room to another!! So why build more?? And they just keep paying more and more in property taxes every year.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2001

I'm with ya too Kirk, Its a crazy world we live in. Kids going to school feel as if they must wear designer jeans or they will be made fun of. Those huge houses are one of my pet peeves also. I always wonder what in the world they DO with ALL that room! People really need to wake up and realize what is important and what is real.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2001

I guess perhaps I don't have right to judge how others live. I'd have to walk in their shoes, or 'be in their movie' as Don Miguel Ruiz says in his books.

When you look at that big house that irritates you by its very existance, do you know the entirety of how those people live? If they have lots of money, they very well might give away thousands of dollars every year to benefit environmental actions. If they buy their groceries at the naturual food store, they are providing enormously more benefit to the planet then the people down the street in their modest home who shop unconsciously at the local discount market. A home that is well built will probably last longer, and use up few resources in the long run, and be less polluting even initially than will a mobile home. Do you know where these people used to live? Perhaps they came from a home twice the size of this present one, and have downscaled considerably already. Do you know what kind of heat they use? A good masonry stove by itself, properly installed, can heat a huge house with only wood, for instance.

I think although that just because we on this forum are aware consumers, and try our best not to waste resources or pollute our planet, more so probably than the general public, that we should maybe be careful of trying to make those who are not like us wrong.We are all on our own journey, have different timetables, and on different levels of enlightenment. People with money who appear to be living large also contribute their bit to the comfort and stability of our economy, although I agree an economy entirely based on consuming as much as possible seems a recipe for disaster.

-- Anonymous, October 27, 2001

EM, YOu know what, I know you are right! BUT I can't seem to change some things. And some of those things that I can't seem to change is my brain. I can't help it, I have been mauling over what you say and I know you are right. But I still think that they are being hogs.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2001

Okay Kirk...I just have to add another pet peeve here! My town has just "canned" curbside recycling since the company they'd hired to pickup was not making enough money from this area. AND the reason they weren't making enough money is because not enough people were recycling in my town. So...what does my son tell me??? He says that I was wasting my time cleaning out all those jars and cans for recycling because they stopped picking up anyways!! He and his family NEVER recycled. I tried to tell him that I wasn't doing this for myself (since I'll probably be dead anyways!!) but I'm doing it for him and HIS children! This state, as a whole, has such a high recycle rate, but I'm soooo frustrated that my town has been eliminated from the pickup route because of people like my own son!!!

So, I'm done "venting" here! Going to bed now to dream about recyclng!!

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Marcia, we have a great system in our county. We pay by the bag for trash pick up, but recycling pick up is free. This sure is incentive to do it right. It helps with the consumption issue too - we make about one bag of trash every three weeks!

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

David...our trash pickup is paid weekly...$5.00/week no matter how many bags of trash we produce. All of that trash goes to a "perc" plant where it is sorted and (hopefully) burned for electric energy for our state. That's fine, BUT, I'd rather know that some of what I use is being recycled to be used again, and again, and again! I can only hope that my town can find a recycle company, like yours, that does not care that much about making money from the pickup! Changing my son's attitude...well, that's probably a long shot :-)!!

I'm REALLY going to bed now!!

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Re: recycling. Mr. S. and I went to a party (some folks he met when he was working) last summer. They had a big barbecue, volleyball, tons of people, lots of beverages in cans. When I finished my beverage, I asked where to put the empty container. The people who owned the house just told me to toss it in the garbage, as they don't recycle. I can't tell you how conflicted I was as that moment. I couldn't decide if I needed to take a stand to make a point (I'm passionate about recycling...I've done it religiously for 30 years!) or what. I decided to not make an issue. I was really bummed out and the party sparkle really dulled from then on. We didn't pursue a friendship with these folks subsequently. These folks had a brand new house, all the toys, etc. I'm not sure they had recycling pickup, as they were out in the boonies. But so what! So are we.

We sort our recyling. We compost what we can. We burn the rest, infrequently. We make a couple of trips to the dump each year. Even the recycling places won't take stuff that I think they should: pulled nails and screws for example. Oh yeah, and plastic. Sheesh.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2001