<CNG Trash Trucks for NY The Oil Drum DrumBeat: August 7, 2006>

196 comments on Closing Prudhoe Bay

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retro on August 7, 2006 - 9:16am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
We the American consumers feel utterly entitled - so much so that the idea of us having to think about whom to vote for (rather than pick one or the other based on mood or reaction to an ad) is almost offensive.  We expect to get something for nothing, including the best democracy, the best military, the best football, the best you name it, etc.  Whenever I want to criticize "that AHITWH" I stop myself and turn my ire toward us, the electorate.  We deserve our government a lot more than, say, the Iraquis deserved theirs.
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Sunspot on August 7, 2006 - 9:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Part of the problem is we have become "consumers" instead of Citizens.  Citizens have rights, comsumers just keep on consumin'.  Like baby birds...
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brutus on August 7, 2006 - 2:40pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Citizens have rights

and just as important, Citizens have responsibilities.

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FossilFool on August 7, 2006 - 5:21pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The American people themselves should not be blamed for not being engaged citizens. Being engaged citizens is logically irrational anyway. The logic of one individual going to vote or doing anything else as an engaged citizen does not make sense for that individual to do anything. Statistically, one person does not make a difference. (And in Florida, it didn't make a difference either. Bush was going to win no matter what, most likely because of the peak.) People care about their own lives. And that's what their minds are built for. Mass-scale thinking is unnatural for humans. All this political intrigue and storylines is merely entertainment anyway for people interested in it and background noise for those who don't. I envy people who are living their lives without thinking about this societal/political/environmental stuff. That is how a normal human should be living. However, seeing as it could put them at a disadvantage not knowing about the particular subject of peak oil in order to prepare is the only reason why I'm glad I did care. When peak oil happens though, people won't have to think as much about this mass-scale America because they will be involved and thinking about their immediate local area, which is how it naturally should be.

As for being consumers, that's how Americans were conditioned since they were born, Ronald McDonald and and Santa. It's hard to think out of that. Plus, this is a resource wasteful society for just the things you need like food, even without involving luxuries. And then, government sets up how the infrastructure is to suit the interests of corporations and results in the maximum consumption just to exist within it. This is just what happens when you put this technology and resources on a population of humans. It's nobody's fault. It's a phenomenon that happened and will end.

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shepseskaf on August 7, 2006 - 9:00pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The American people themselves should not be blamed for not being engaged citizens. Being engaged citizens is logically irrational anyway.

I completely disagree. Thinking like that is what's gotten the US into this horrible mess in the first place. It isn't "irrational" to get involved in your country's governance; its the most rational thing in the world. What could be of more value to an individual than to have some part in the process of ensuring that he or she plays an active role in the voting process, and thus has some hand in bringing responsible persons into power. There is no more basic duty as a citizen of a given country. If people aren't concerned about this, then they'll get the government they deserve -- and it won't be the one they want.

Americans don't get involved because of a sort of national hubris that says that no matter who's in power, our 'democracy' is so strong that things will just carry on the way they always have. As we can see now, this is hugely incorrect assumption that has engendered truly tragic results.

Other countries have citizens that are much more involved in the voting process. Witness the voter turnout in the world - country by country. The top 30 all enjoy over 80 percent turnout... while the US, at #139 is at 48.3 percent.

In short, contrary to your statements Americans are to blame for not getting involved in the voting process. If people from other countries can do it, there's absolutely no reason why high voter turnout shouldn't happen here. If it did, there would be hundreds of thousands of less casualties all around the world, and America would be much less hated.

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step back on August 7, 2006 - 11:25pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
As I recall my basic American History, each of our Founding Fathers decided not to get involved.

Who was it that said, "If we hang apart, we hang like cool man"?

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196 comments on Closing Prudhoe Bay

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