The Pope wants me to clean up my lifestyle. Well not exactly, but I have always found it interesting when the elite tell the rest of us how to save the environment. Now you must understand that I do believe in leaving a small footprint in terms of using the “gifts” God has given us as they pertain to the environment. I find it interesting that in the last twenty years people seem to need bigger houses and cars to lead a normal life. Even though I love art and you might think I’d want some architecturally huge structure to live in, I have never been one to have an interest in owning a large house. It seems that I am very alone in this thought process however as I witness many people creating spaces for themselves that are bigger than any space I have ever lived in including those with my thirteen siblings and parents. I have many family members that don’t agree with me on this issue as witnessed by their ever growing and evolving dwellings. Yet, I don’t question their choices as I think we all know what’s best for our own life style.
In recent years we have all been heavily put upon with guilt by Al Gore, politicians and even the Pope. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6000G220100101 All of these people leave anything but a small footprint on the environment with their jet set life styles but are some how willing to voice an opinion on this subject. I guess it’s kind of a “Do as I say, not as I do.” type of moment. Even the Pope is guilty of living larger than the majority of his vast parishioners yet he wants to encourage us to do what most of us already do naturally. Some of us have always been frugal because we were raised that way. My parents lived through the Depression so I always heard the following gems: “Turn the lights off. Shut the door, were you born in a barn? Save some for the rest of us. There are starving children in China and that nice little waste not want not thing.”
I find it very interesting that right now we are all being fed this vast knowledge about how we are harming the environment through our life style choices. It seems if I choose to eat meat I must pay a carbon tax or something to offset such a terrible thing to do. I can buy as much Chinese plastic junk without so much as a dirty look but if I buy groceries and bag with plastic I’m suspect to humiliation and explanations as to how they are reused at school. Suddenly my old car is a problem as well. It’s nine years old and works perfectly well and really isn’t a horrible gas guzzler so for Katie, the girl who grew up learning not to throw out things before their used up, it works fine. I am encouraged to throw it away and buy a new energy efficient car that will pollute less even though Arnold can still drive his Hummer if he chooses to do so. I on the other hand will be given incentives to “do the right thing”. We are all manipulated by the elite. They give us a piece of candy and then tax us for it. You know the drill.
I personally feel that these very same people are now making plenty of money off this new love of all things “green” but the real love is the color green for MONEY. Don’t you wonder how much Al Gore, who I used to just love by the way, has made off this “green economy”? I can honestly say I don’t really know but I have my suspicions. I just wish there would be some small print disclosure made for all of these people that are directing the rest of us to recycle, reuse and refuse to pollute. Politicians could have disclosure statements on their websites that show what their real carbon footprints are and where there money is invested as well as who it investing in them. The rest of us should just be smart. I know I haven’t flown in years so I cannot possibly be polluting as much as any politician that flies on a weekly basis. I know that I am wearing the same winter coat for the last three years and I try not to waste my money and efforts on things that will just be thrown out.
However, many of us are forced to pollute through corporations that no longer make things that last. Anyone that talks to an appliance salesman knows that appliances are now given a life of seven to ten years. When my father passed away a few years ago he was still using the same washer he had from thirty years ago. Corporations are constantly pushing a newer version of whatever the last thing we bought was whether it is a computer, cell phone or some other gadget we can’t live without. So, we get this very mixed message from all of this. We are told to buy new appliances, cars, etc. because they will take less energy to run. However, don’t expect them to last long but you won’t care because some nice advertisement will convince you that you need something else anyway! Meanwhile, the rich will not significantly change their lifestyles. They will still jet set all over the world. They will still own multiple dwellings and they will still tell the rest of us how to live and our landfills will continue to be the dumping grounds for all of the old cars and appliances that we throw out. Should listen to the Pope, Al Gore or any one else on this matter? I say you have the free will to follow what you think is right.