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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (74946)	9/17/2003 3:43:23 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I've got a few things I'd like added myself since we're on the subject. There is no God. Period. Regardless of how much you want for there to be one. (This may not be absolutely true, but it is as far as anyone can prove.) If they got away with and died without doing prison time, they got away with it. Period. Big Daddy in the Sky is not going to save you just because you're you and in trouble. Either don't get into trouble or dig your own way out. When you die, you're dead. Get used to it. I've got as much right to have that displayed on gov't property as they have to have the Ten Commandments displayed.

To: Lane3 who wrote (74946)	9/17/2003 3:46:31 PM
From: average joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

paintedchurch.org

To: Lane3 who wrote (74946)	9/17/2003 4:00:46 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

This was posted to me on another thread- I found it very interesting. : Shopping until you drop leads to misery Paul Brown, environment correspondent Wednesday September 17, 2003 The Guardian Shopping until you drop leads to debt and misery, and not to happiness, so policy must be altered to curb Britain's consumer society, the government has been advised. Buying consumer goods, or "retail therapy", is driven by deep evolutionary forces such as sexual competition and the need to show off and increase social status, but does nothing to make people content. Conspicuous consumption damages the environment and the quality of life for everyone, says the government's sustainable development commission. Researchers call for schoolchildren to be taught the dangers of consumerism for their own wellbeing and for Britain. The commission is seeking to influence government policy on sustainable consumption, specifically with regard to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' sustainable consumption and production strategy. Jonathon Porritt, the commission's chairman, said: "This is practically a taboo area for government and policy makers because the economy is based on getting people to consume more, but that simply cannot go on. The social and environmental impact of over-consumption will overwhelm the benefit. We feel it is cowardly of policymakers not to confront this central question." The report, Policies for Sustainable Consumption, says that the government should change its policy from pretending that it has no influence on consumption, and saying that shopping is down to freedom of choice, to actively teaching people that it could be bad for them. The report's authors, Tim Jackson and Laurie Michaelis, argue that the government can no longer be complacent about personal debt and the misery of the consumer trap. Current levels of consumption cannot be maintained and will lead to greater inequality, environmental damage and debt-driven insecurity. "Western consumerism appears determined to pursue a way of life that offers neither psychological nor social satisfaction. To make matters worse, it also has profound environmental impact," the report says. "That environmental damage is a side effect from a failed attempt to improve human wellbeing is potentially tragic." The belief that consumption leads to wellbeing is so deeply ingrained that we cannot believe it is not true, says the report. "A growing number of studies show that people in industrialised countries do not feel any more happy or satisfied asaverage income grows beyond the level to meet basic physical needs." Groups and families that had developed a culture of consumption where they only bought what they needed had cut household resource use and waste. At the same time they had "strengthened their sense of community involvement, personal fulfilment and quality of life". Mr Porritt said the report was an attempt to make the economic and welfare debate more sophisticated. Simply getting consumers to spend more was no way to keep the economy afloat. It was full of potential dangers, and risked reducing quality of life and ruining people's health. Mr Porritt said it would be interesting when the government began teaching citizenship in schools to see whether they included responsibility towards the environment and society, which includes consumption. He said: "They might dismiss such ideas as ideology, but it is vital for the next generation to come to terms with these issues." money.guardian.co.uk