Green Moral Status
Day before last, I went to this networking event organized by thhe "Green Scene," and the event's name was Green Drinks. Now, as a visual alone, this is problematic. I'm racking my brain, and I think the list goes like this: limeade, mint juleps, kiwi smoothies, mint chocolate chip milkshakes, that kiwi/melon/whatever-else-they-throw-in-there juice, and pea soup in a cup... and I think that is it. Green drinks... wait, throw in a margarita... are kind of a limited menu. However, "Green Drinks" is a networking doohickey where people in Fairfield County, CT (and I'm sure elsewhere) get together and try to tackle issues concerning global warming, environmental waste, and other important eco issues.
So on Wednesday, the agenda for the evening was this woman gave a performance, and then drinks followed. The performance was this play-like thing read by the woman that wrote it, and the name of it was "The Boycott." Basic concept: women organize to refuse to have sex with men until we stop polluting our asses off. The writer acknowledged this was an update of the Greek comedy "Lysistrata," the play in which the women of Athens refuse to give it up for their husbands unless they stop warring. Her updated version was cute, although it was riddled with cliches and ham-handed humor, but the audience seemed to like i enough and laugh at the appropriate moments, and the woman that wrote it definitely was up on the environmental issues. Repeatedly, the author claimed she was so upset by all of the impending doom surrounding global warming that she was unable to watch certain movies and documentaries, and at times she was reduced to returning to bed and eating lots of chocolate.
Performance ended and I stepped outside to have a non-PC cigarette, and then when I stepped back in, there was a party going on. Schmoozing, what do you do's, environmental issues chat, etc. It was all pretty compelling, although I was clearly there to further my own cause, which is a company which specializes in affordable housing with renewable energy sources. So I'm talking to this one and that one about various topics "green," and I came to the realization that we have really come up with something quite different.
What is most different about what we do is this: we are not interested in doing a call to arms, calling attention to the dangers of global warming and thereby announcing "You must buy what we are doing because it is the right and moral thing to do." No, what we are saying is, "Go Green, Make Big Bucks!" And I came to a conclusion right then and there: morality sucks! I know that sounds a bit ludicrous, but if you look at the history of morality, all it has functioned as up until this point in human events is a means of self-differentiation and better-than-thou status marker. The woman who gave the performance, I'm sure she is an absolutely wonderful human being in many regards, but the nature of her written content served to establish her as a more concerned citizen of the globe than the next person. It is exactly the reason why there has been a Republican dominance in American politics over the last 40 years. This country cannot stand people telling them what they "should" do. For that matter, neither can I despite of my leftist politics. I can't stand it. No American can. We didn't like it when the British told us what to do. We didn't like it when the early Eastern establishment told us what to do, and so we headed West and created the Wild, Wild West. We didn't like it to the tune of WWI and WWII isolationist policies that lasted until it was almost too late. Americans can't stand it. If you look at the Fox TV talking heads, those NeoCons invariably point out what self-righteous a-holes liberals are and why don't they just leave us all alone and let us have our a) guns b) untaxed money c) opinions about people different from us d) all of the above. I get it. I don't necessarily have issues with those same subjects, but I have no interest in someone telling me how to run my life, or telling me what is and what is not right behavior.
This opens up a huge can of political worms (most of whom can be found on Capitol Hill in D.C.), but we can kick that can at another time. Let us just establish, morality sucks! Money, on the other hand, does not. And the part about the "GREEN" movement I cannot understand is why people a lot smarter and far more dynamic than I don't show exactly how INDIVIDUALS are made WEALTHIER by using renewable energy sources. Look at it this way. You spend 10 thousand on an HVAC and Energy system, yes? OK, it may cost you 20 grand for renewable systems, or let us say 30 even for argument's sake. OK, 30. The state of CT (and I chose CT because I know their grants and policies, whereas I don't know squat about Wyoming's or American Samoa's) will give you back half of what you spend on solar, so figure on 15 or 20. That makes it a 5 to 10 thousand dollar investment. But, your monthly bills decrease by over a hundred bucks. Look at the inherent value in that. Let's say you see a 150 dollar monthly benefit for 25 years. That works out to $45,000. Hence, your money grows by 4.5 to 9 times over a 25 year period. How simple an investment is that? I don't care if you hate Redheads, Visagoths, Jews, and Muslims. I don't care if you think Hillary Clinton hides horns under her hair. I can make you money. If the world is a better place as a result, well, Glory be! That is just fine.
So on Wednesday, the agenda for the evening was this woman gave a performance, and then drinks followed. The performance was this play-like thing read by the woman that wrote it, and the name of it was "The Boycott." Basic concept: women organize to refuse to have sex with men until we stop polluting our asses off. The writer acknowledged this was an update of the Greek comedy "Lysistrata," the play in which the women of Athens refuse to give it up for their husbands unless they stop warring. Her updated version was cute, although it was riddled with cliches and ham-handed humor, but the audience seemed to like i enough and laugh at the appropriate moments, and the woman that wrote it definitely was up on the environmental issues. Repeatedly, the author claimed she was so upset by all of the impending doom surrounding global warming that she was unable to watch certain movies and documentaries, and at times she was reduced to returning to bed and eating lots of chocolate.
Performance ended and I stepped outside to have a non-PC cigarette, and then when I stepped back in, there was a party going on. Schmoozing, what do you do's, environmental issues chat, etc. It was all pretty compelling, although I was clearly there to further my own cause, which is a company which specializes in affordable housing with renewable energy sources. So I'm talking to this one and that one about various topics "green," and I came to the realization that we have really come up with something quite different.
What is most different about what we do is this: we are not interested in doing a call to arms, calling attention to the dangers of global warming and thereby announcing "You must buy what we are doing because it is the right and moral thing to do." No, what we are saying is, "Go Green, Make Big Bucks!" And I came to a conclusion right then and there: morality sucks! I know that sounds a bit ludicrous, but if you look at the history of morality, all it has functioned as up until this point in human events is a means of self-differentiation and better-than-thou status marker. The woman who gave the performance, I'm sure she is an absolutely wonderful human being in many regards, but the nature of her written content served to establish her as a more concerned citizen of the globe than the next person. It is exactly the reason why there has been a Republican dominance in American politics over the last 40 years. This country cannot stand people telling them what they "should" do. For that matter, neither can I despite of my leftist politics. I can't stand it. No American can. We didn't like it when the British told us what to do. We didn't like it when the early Eastern establishment told us what to do, and so we headed West and created the Wild, Wild West. We didn't like it to the tune of WWI and WWII isolationist policies that lasted until it was almost too late. Americans can't stand it. If you look at the Fox TV talking heads, those NeoCons invariably point out what self-righteous a-holes liberals are and why don't they just leave us all alone and let us have our a) guns b) untaxed money c) opinions about people different from us d) all of the above. I get it. I don't necessarily have issues with those same subjects, but I have no interest in someone telling me how to run my life, or telling me what is and what is not right behavior.
This opens up a huge can of political worms (most of whom can be found on Capitol Hill in D.C.), but we can kick that can at another time. Let us just establish, morality sucks! Money, on the other hand, does not. And the part about the "GREEN" movement I cannot understand is why people a lot smarter and far more dynamic than I don't show exactly how INDIVIDUALS are made WEALTHIER by using renewable energy sources. Look at it this way. You spend 10 thousand on an HVAC and Energy system, yes? OK, it may cost you 20 grand for renewable systems, or let us say 30 even for argument's sake. OK, 30. The state of CT (and I chose CT because I know their grants and policies, whereas I don't know squat about Wyoming's or American Samoa's) will give you back half of what you spend on solar, so figure on 15 or 20. That makes it a 5 to 10 thousand dollar investment. But, your monthly bills decrease by over a hundred bucks. Look at the inherent value in that. Let's say you see a 150 dollar monthly benefit for 25 years. That works out to $45,000. Hence, your money grows by 4.5 to 9 times over a 25 year period. How simple an investment is that? I don't care if you hate Redheads, Visagoths, Jews, and Muslims. I don't care if you think Hillary Clinton hides horns under her hair. I can make you money. If the world is a better place as a result, well, Glory be! That is just fine.
posted by milesjason03 at 6:37 AM
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