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Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 1:09 pm
by Ned
As I said in the Vegetarian thread:
As I said earlier (several times) nobody can be 100% pure in this world. Not just about vegetarianism, but about everything else. Unless one is prepared to move out to the wilderness and live off the land. The moment you turn on a light switch, the moment you fill up your car with gas, the moment you take a pill of medicine, you participate in, and contribute to, unspeakable brutality somewhere happening on the globe. So you can aim for minimizing your contribution to the best of your abilities.
So how do you feel about your contribution to, participating in and benefiting to, evil things happening in the world?
Here is one example (quote from my book "Humane Physics"):
Most of our technological environment contains some of the 118 elements and most of us wouldn’t know what they are. Take the ever so popular cell phones most of our children couldn’t live without today (at least they think so).
They contain the element Niobium (Atomic number 41), or Tantalum (Atomic number 73) dense, heat-resistant, non-corrosive metals that hold an electric charge well – essential in cell phones (Niobium, discovered in 1801 by Charles Hachett, is also used in body-piercing, decorative coins and rocket-engine nozzles)
Where do these metals come from?
The largest supplier (60%), until recently, was the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. When cell-phones became the rage, prices shot up, Congolese peasants abandoned their fields to dig up the thick mud (called “coltan”) in creeks that contained the metal to sell to the white people. Unfortunately, the abandoned fields did not produce the crops they needed to eat, so they began hunting for gorillas for meat, practically exterminating the already endangered population.
So, when we use our cell phones, or indulge in body piercing, we are, in a small way, responsible for hastening the extinction of a magnificent, irreplaceable species on our planet. In addition to the fascinating subject of what we and the world are made of, it is useful to know what we are using in our daily lives and how it may affect the rest of the world.
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 1:16 pm
by marjoram_blues
Ned, do you ever sleep or stop peddling your damned book?
My contribution to bad things - once I burned a book, but some would say that was good.
Seriously, just checking to see if I'm on your stoopid 'Ignore' list
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 4:49 pm
by Skip
Of course, it would be nice if we all became fully informed about the inadvertent and indirect harm that our activities cause in the world. That would be optimal, indeed, because it would not leave us any time for the activities that cause the harm.
Short of total paralysis, all western middle-class people can reduce their ecological footprint without suffering privation.
It takes a little bit of thought and effort. To reduce it considerably, you would have to reorganize your lifestyle. The people I know who have done that seem none the worse for it. Most of us could, in fact, benefit both physically and emotionally from simplifying our lives.
You don't need to feel bad - you just need to become aware.
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 5:18 pm
by Dalek Prime
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:24 pm
by Ned
Excellent article, Dalek, very informative with actual data.
Thanks!
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:34 pm
by Dalek Prime
Most welcome, Ned. I know I can be a one-issue person, and very annoying because of it, but it seemed to fit here.
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:42 pm
by Ned
Dalek Prime wrote:Most welcome, Ned. I know I can be a one-issue person, and very annoying because of it, but it seemed to fit here.
You are always annoying to some, when you feel strongly about something that others disagree with.
Just like me and religion.
Well, let them be annoyed, they are not important.
The important part is that others are reading you and may start thinking about it and may start asking questions they never thought of before.
Every drop helps!
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:46 pm
by Dalek Prime
That's a good point, and somewhat comforting to ponder. Thanks Ned.
Re: Your contribution to bad things in the world?
Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 3:53 pm
by Ned
Dalek Prime wrote:That's a good point, and somewhat comforting to ponder. Thanks Ned.
Welcome, Dalek.
It is important to know that everything we say and write WILL affect someone, somewhere.
Not necessarily immediately and/or visibly, but ideas have a way of penetrating even the thickest skulls, and nudge some dormant neurons.