the horrors of change

How are we ever to grow if people like this get paid to write this crap...an excerpt which is at the heart of the problem.

In "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore preached to us about downsizing our
lifestyles. He wants us to take colder showers, hang our clothes outside to dry,
avoid driving, use less heating and air conditioning and generally reduce our
standard of living.

emphasis mine.



It doesn't matter what the overwhelming evidence says, if a person percieves that there is no problem, then there is no need to change. If a person percieves that to change requires sacrifice, and that ultimately that sacrifice will only result in an intangible change in total, then there will be no change. No one wants to reduce their standard of living, especially when the net gain will be negligable.

What we must first attack is the idea that the change in lifestyle is a reduction at all. Ask Mr. Dervaes if he is happier now, or before. Ask the folks over at elements in time if they are happier now? Everytime anyone consciously makes a decision about where their food, clothes and life's necessities come from, everytime someone realizes that personal responsibility and sovreignty is as much about choosing what you really want, and not what everyone seems to want...they are that much closer to truly being free and fully actualized. It is not so much a reduction in the standard of living as a realization of what living really means.


And for all the talk about the so called sacrifice not having any effect? Every person that stops by Path to Freedom and says, "wow, I never thought about that, I might try a few of those ideas." Every person that stops by the farmer's market "just to check it out" Every person who looks at the news and sees what the monsanto's of the world are doing, and wonders where the food in their fridge actually came from...

is one step closer to the turning the tide. Person by person the tide IS turning, and someday people who think like that WILL be in the minority, but by then, they'll just blindly follow what the rest of us consciously decided to do long ago.

and if its all for naught, at least I can meet my end knowing that I tried.

Why am I in such a mood to rant today? yesterday evening I broke my forked spade. Its not even a year old and snapped right at the tang. Post mortem revealed cheap cast "steel." Buy cheap buy twice. But hey I just caused economic growth, because I will have to buy another spade. Sell cheap, sell twice. Watch the GDP rise! the economy is GROWING! Hurray!

Grrrrr.