The futility of the Prius and the end of the world as we know it

That's right, we're destined for the same endgame, but it's a different one than you cite. We all die in the end, so what's the point? Why does anything matter? Why work? Why be nice to people? Why do anything with your life since you'll be forgotten anyway? Why save people's lives as a doctor since they'll all die anyhow? Why slave over the piano since all that skill will die with me anyway? Why, why, why?

We can ask ourselves why all day long, but if that's the only excuse we can come up with for slacking off, well, then we're no further along than a high school English class that just read Godot for the first time and feels like they really "get it" (no offense, high school Prius drivers!). Please realize, since tone doesn't communicate well over the internet, I say this with great respect for your lifestyle, but find your end conclusions infinitely more problematic and insidious than the initial problem itself.

Yes, we all die. Yes, we run out of oil and huge conflicts arise as this progresses. These are observations, not rules by which to live your life.

 

Sad state of affairs. Like there is no hope.

 

Regardless of what 'the endgame' looks like from here, no one knows what will happen in future. There are both encouraging and discouraging signs - focus on the positive and you'll remain positive. Giving in to a pre-conceived conclusion is the same as giving up. I'm under no illusions that my words or actions will have any influence one way or the other - I do things because it's the right thing to do, not because they're going to have any permanent global influence. I've made significant changes in my own life, I see others doing the same, and I've seen a paradigm shift in attitude within my own lifetime. Evolution's a long, slow process. Be patient.

 

Despair is the worst sin because it makes us stop striving. There *will* be a world tomorrow; we must continue working to make it better, and resist letting others make it worse.

 

i'm thinking more along the lines of 'let's use the oil up now', 'let's make the necessary changes now'. i want to live in the new world of alternative energy, not ration oil so 50-100 years from now or whenever, someone else can live in it. they'll get to live in it anyway if we use the oil now and make the changes now.

 

Of course, it might also not be a bad idea to build an underground bunker with an electric car, water purification setup, and enough solar panels to be self-sustaining. 100 years from now my great-grandchildren may well be able to live like a king (a sheikh, even) if they have such equipment for their use when Mad Max roams the barren earth above…[/QUOTE]

So what will your great grandchildren eat?

 

While the impact of your life choices are quite insignificant to the environment as a whole, it is important to live according to your values rather than doing someone else's. I don't think you are the only person who goes to this extent of trying to reduce your carbon footprint. I have a Prius and still take the bus to work, only do grocery shopping once a week when I am out for some other event etc. I have friends who don't even own a vehicle just because they don't want pollute the world. I applaud you for your effort. Slowly, more and more people understand that it is important to go back to more humble ways of living. Keep it up!

 

But politics is influenced by people and people's views on these issues are influx as proved by this...

50 years ago the number of people who thought like this was very, very small. It may yet be a small number, but the number of people that are even aware of these issues has greatly increased. People are starting to understand what externalities are and pay attention to them. It will take time. It won't happen as fast as many of us would like, but people are changing. The cost of coal and the cost of solar/wind/etc are going to invert sometime in the not so distant future, carbon tax or no carbon tax. The day that that happens is the day we start reclaiming clean air and a better environment all around.

 

See, I believe in karma, which means that the "good" that I do means something, even if it's "too little, too late" on the global scale.

In the span of eternity, on a cosmic scale, none of this matters - except for spirit/soul... and the joy that one's life brings to oneself and to others. Joy, love, and caring. That's why I'm "green".

 

Life is futile. The only way you can have a 0 carbon footprint is if you are dead.

My grandfather though likely had a negative carbon foot print. You can't do this by cutting back, you do it by moving forward. I'm sure he planted, or paid to plant, enough trees to cover the whole family. There are baby steps though. He used cars and airplanes, ate food, and all that, there was carbon consumed.

20% reduction in the short term globally seems crazy, probably because it is. China and India will increase their carbon foot print. We also don't need to go to 0. Incentives can get us there even without a stinking carbon tax. A carbon tax will just help with a small step.

Expecting to do it on your own isn't an ephiany its a dellusion. Trying to clean up the world together isn't a fantasy its a goal.

 

If you knew that many other people were feeling the same and taking the same actions, you might not have given up. This video has a good metaphor:

 

This thread reminds me of the story of two men walking along the beach where there are thousands of starfish washed upon it. One of them commented on how sad it was that they would all soon be dead. The second man picks one up and throws it back in the ocean, saying "Not that one!"

The first man says "Are you crazy? You could never possibly rescue all these starfish - there are thousands of them! What difference does it make?"

The second man said "It made a difference to that one starfish."

 

Never heard of the walkability index, but did purposely buy a place so I could walk to work and all the stores use the Prius just for visiting family.

 

Time for a walk, Shik.

I'd suggest someplace with lotsa big trees, far away from civilisation. Regardless of what we do, despite our best efforts to turn everything into money, life will endure and survive.