Letters to the Editor
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Ah, another Salon comments board...
...another batch of insecure, bitter people hiding behind screen names hurling insults at one another or trying to sound smarter in dismissive ways. Where else can someone expressing the joy of reading a book with their family by lantern-light be attacked and ridiculed?
We're seeing right here what the problem is--more than any phantom loads or energy-use practices, the problem is people. We hate change, we hate admitting that we don't know it all or that something we do is harmful. We don't like thinking about our effect on others, and cling to denial like it's something worth loving.
We love comfort and ease more than we love each other. We love it more than the natural parts of the world that are turned into strip mines or nuclear-waste dumps, more than the mountains reduced to rubble to make coal, more than the dozens of foreign countries turned into fuel for our consumption. To us, having some machine record 30 shows per week for us, and not having to remember to flip off a power switch, is more important than civility to our fellow man and woman.
I'm not magically above any of these human fallacies. But I'm working on it. I'm glad to see this article, and for the commenters here who've chosen introspection and information over defensiveness and insults. Recognizing and making change is hard work, folks. I struggle with it every day and always fail in some way. But if we don't try, then what good are we? Don't whine about the big, bad, stereotypical environmental movement--take some responsibility for your actions, drop the ironic detachment, and start caring about something besides yourself.