[Alex carnavas]

Fitter, on 18 November 2009 - 01:18 AM, said:

Sorry, I do apologise. Not bored, no; you present too good a case for that. I have just been trying to get my kitchen redecorated before Christmas, working full time and trying to get some quality time in with the family... not to mention butting heads in another thread... My thoughts are a tad coloured at the moment...

'Hectic' just doesn't convey it at the moment.

F

Exactly what do you mean by: "you present too good a case for that." ?

[Alex carnavas]

Fitter, on 22 November 2009 - 10:44 PM, said:

Well, I think this is where I came into this conversation... If it is too destructive or unsettling to make drastic 'overnight' changes to any type of developed civilization, then logically it follows that changes than need to be made to a society must happen gradually and must happen from within that society to be beneficial and successful. No group forced to make changes does so with any kind of measurable success and certainly not those that are resistant to those changes. I believe that everyone hates to change to something that they don't like, whether that is a new job or having false teeth...

The question is, are those masses that consume the fossil fuels, that love their cars, that eat their mono-sodium glutamate pizzas, that drink their Starbucks from styrofoam cups ready to stop those things and eat grapes whilst discussing the essence of being ? Because if they do, yours and my Wal-Mart goes out of business, yours and my favourite bar closes down, yours and my cafe has no waitress service, yours and my garbage is not being collected, yours and my power stations are not running and yours and my pharmaceuticals are not being developed.

If all turned to intellectual pursuits, the basic foundations of the society we live above would fail because there would be no measure of worth; no yard stick for success and no aspiration to have a 'career' or any kind of 'social standing'

Consumers drive the economy. Ask any politician.

F

If everyone turned to intellectual pursuits then maybe they'd "wake up and smell the coffee." Though I see what your getting at, life cant be consumed by one thing though like everything there has to be a balance.