Creating a better future.

[Everything]

Alot of people feel helpless for not being able to have any influence because of lack of information. You want to buy green products, but are mislead by "green" commercials that are not really that "green."

 

I watched a video of Daniel Goleman that really brings alot of hope for this current issue. He is the author of emotional intelligence and currently also the author of ecological intelligence. It is basicly industrial ecology, sounds nice. Eventually, it is people that decide to actually buy the recommended products from such organisations of industrial ecologists. But if it is done, I'm sure we can provide more food and shelter for more people on the planet and have less need for warfare to improve economy. Economy is primarily based on resources, but economists often forget this, because consumers don't care either.

 

If you want to see the video, but I must warn you that it is long and not everything may be equally interesting.

 

The site goodguide.com is an example of what we might see more often in the future.

 

Isn't that great? Leave a comment or opinion.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Everything

[RiverSnake]

Edited April 21, 2011 by Tao Apprentice

[Marblehead]

Yeah, living 'green' is still not a very popular topic of discussion.

 

The first thing that needs to happen is that the people, the consumers, need to care. So when they ask "Why live green?" they are told that it will help preserve resources for future generations. The question is, "Do the people really care about future generations?"

 

I try to be an optimist but I find it so hard some times.

[manitou]

I don't think living green fits into the Dog Eat Dog mindset that our economy seems to be based on. This is one mean nation. I listened to Trump this morning talking about running the country like a big corporation - where's the green mindset in that one? What the heck would he do about the little people?

 

The disparity between the haves and have nots in this country has gotten ridiculous. How could anything "green" spring out of this place? How can people care about the planet, when they're pumping so much energy into getting even richer? I just can't stand this....

[Marblehead]

I don't think living green fits into the Dog Eat Dog mindset that our economy seems to be based on. This is one mean nation. I listened to Trump this morning talking about running the country like a big corporation - where's the green mindset in that one? What the heck would he do about the little people?

 

The disparity between the haves and have nots in this country has gotten ridiculous. How could anything "green" spring out of this place? How can people care about the planet, when they're pumping so much energy into getting even richer? I just can't stand this....

 

WoW! You were a lot more straight forward than I was. Hehehe.

[Everything]

Yeah, living 'green' is still not a very popular topic of discussion.

 

The first thing that needs to happen is that the people, the consumers, need to care. So when they ask "Why live green?" they are told that it will help preserve resources for future generations. The question is, "Do the people really care about future generations?"

 

I try to be an optimist but I find it so hard some times.

Depending on what your defenition of optimism is, people sometimes denie their own sadness, anger or fear. While recognizing the useless negative emotions you can start working your way up. Sometimes the truth is what matters more, but having faith is the extent to which you can believe in positive constructive and sensible ideas so that the negative less useful ones die out or are reduced in value in your mind, eventually.

 

I believethat people really do care if you look in to it. They just care in the wrong way. If information is made more transparant, consumers will not buy destructive products for ever. They just wont. Even Justin Bieber will buy constructive products and support companies that make toothpaste that is good for the environment. If all the processes that happened during the production of a single product is brought to light, people no longer have to shop blindly and frustrated not knowing what to buy. I find my self buying all sorts of weird things and having no idea wether or not it is true what the cover says... How can we know for sure? The things that we buy the most, like lamps, dishwashing products, soaps, clothes, etc... We buy all those things based on commercials made by companies who care about proffit or simply making their consumers and producers happy, since a "nice" purpose seem to work better for companies who would like to innovate. So if destroying the earth will make consumers and producers happy then they do that.

 

When industrial ecologists make all the processes transparant for all to see, people will buy more constructive things eventually. and the purpose of companies will shift towards being more constructive with the health of consumers and health of the environment. The "green" products should be much more accurate and universal, like those with high ratings on goodguide.com. If this kind of thing becomes popular, and people will feel "good" about buying products that help them contribute to a better world, the least that can happen is creating a durable world and healthy society with more economic prosperity. Industrial ecologist are pretty advanced these days. It will require cooperation of the planet as a whole to keep them satisfied and have them rate your products high.

 

So no need to be optimistic. The chances are high that the big companies already plan on developing their ways in order to be the first company that proudly has industrial ecologists walking down their offices when the trend arises. Rumor goes it will happen within the next 10 years already? There is not a better thing I would wish for the future generations. Hell... They might even compete on this specific concept of becoming truely "green" as a company. It is like a competition between the most generous/mercyful people on the planet, who cares what the outcome is. We're all winners with these kind of battles.

[Everything]

I don't think living green fits into the Dog Eat Dog mindset that our economy seems to be based on. This is one mean nation. I listened to Trump this morning talking about running the country like a big corporation - where's the green mindset in that one? What the heck would he do about the little people?

 

The disparity between the haves and have nots in this country has gotten ridiculous. How could anything "green" spring out of this place? How can people care about the planet, when they're pumping so much energy into getting even richer? I just can't stand this....

There is no problem with people wishing to get richer all the time. It is one phenomena that is currently taking place which we much accept for what it is. treating symptoms wont help, we have to find the root or cause of this. When we break it down into parts, it is basicly human nature. So not much we can do about that.

 

There's alot of things wrong with the economy aswell. That wont change untill there is absolute chaos. Only then shall people demand change and demand a diffrent way. Just like the Venus Project. Sounds great, but wont happen untill this system collapses.

 

A more slow , peaceful and gradual change is the one to look for. It can only be done if we buy ourselves some time. Reduce the rate at which we destroy the planet for example. Or destroy ourselves even. Industrial ecologists play a big role here. Perhaps we can even one day allow industrial ecologists to examine the proffits gained from war, and decide this way wether we should engage or not. Currently, any war will do and war naturally arises impulsively out of economic necessity. The benefits of war currently outweigh that of not making war. For example, some imaginary terrorist that kills 7 terrorists will be more proffitable for economic growth then a cure for all heart diseases which makes it so that people no longer need health care and have the entire economy collapse.

 

It is not in the interest of health care systems to have a society where everyone is healthy. Neither is it for hospitals or doctors beneficial to have you be completely healthy. A dentist might profit from a slight mistake made in your filling, and having one dentist solve all the dental problems would mean certain collapse of the dentist industry. When you quickly pass for your car licenese exam, who is to proffit from giving you lame lessons that add nothing to the driving experience? It is not profitable for a company to make products that are durable and last longer. Products that die fast or have an artificial life expectancy of a few years (technology makes these kind of things possible) might produce more waste but is more proffitable for companies, because consumers are not informed about all the complex stuff underneath. Consumers are not industrial ecologists. Let them do the job of deciding which products to buy for wise investments.

 

So no, green at the moment does not work because nothing is really green. But it might become green in every possible way.

 

I personally believe that stuff like "venus project" has already failed. Such great ideas should have long been implemented by now, it just doesn't fit the current paradigm of a society ruled by fake political laws and an economic system based on debt. Maybe after a 3th world war the venus project will be considered and I don't even think it is wise for things to get that far. Thats why I see the most potential in this concept of ecological intelligence of daniel goleman. It is basicly a slow shift from current monetary economy towards a resource based economy, and the consumers them selves will help companies do it. On the other hand, postponing a 3th world war would mean that the war will take place on a future time with more technological advancement and thus having weapons of mass destruction become more available for everyone. Whatever happens, I hope for the best: no war at all.

 

Goodguide.com , the site that keeps war in the zoo!

 

...Not funny? ...Well then, that one was for my own entertainment

Edited April 23, 2011 by Everything