A rub, or a couple rubs 04/25/23
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"To die, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream; aye, there's the
rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when
we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause." - You
Know Who
Well, I've got a rub or two that I'd love to discuss. Not as dramatic
as death, only as dramatic as taxes. The rubs in question have to do
with sustainable living, and the so-called Green Movement. The former
concept I really appreciate, the latter I view as a form of societal
cancer.
"If money go before, all ways do lie open" - Still You Know Who
Such is the motto of the Green Movement, which is tinted in worship of
the Almighty dollar, and not the chlorophyll as we so stupidly assumed.
Anyway, on to the rubs:
1. Model Year Cars. I mentioned this in another forum somewhere
recently, so if you were there, you now know that I have far too much
on my hands time to ruminate on these little rubs. But in all fairness
to myself, I've been irked by the concept of Model Year Cars for many
years. The concept of Model Year Cars bothered me before the Green
Movement was even a tenth as mainstream as it is today.
Capitalism loves Model Year Cars. It mixes up a machine of utility
with a soulless slave driver named Fashion. Ingenuity gave us freedom
of movement, then greed came along and pressed it into a form of
twisted pleasure, charging us every year for the feeling.
(Is the master to blame, or the feeler of pleasure? I say the master,
as they give no options to those who might control their passions.)
The Green Movement hates Capitalism. Or blames it, at least. How then
can they be pleased when Green Capitalists hand them EVs with stylish
formed-metal panels, unibody frames with no two manufactures alike,
and an endless parts list of incompatibility? These EVs introduce more
problems than they solve, and they completely ignore the broader
question of the demon of Fashion that creates endless waste and an
immeasurably unholy, and growing, carbon footprint.
(As an aside, I have yet to be convinced that the consensus science
around carbon is sensical. Heresy, I know, for one who loves
sustainability, but why lie about it? How one can even hope to find
truth in a topic so outlandishly political is beyond me.)
Leaving out the obvious more primary problem of zoning laws which
drive humans far from the resources they need, if the Green Movement
truly believed the things they professed they would attack the Model
Year Car first, and then move on to other matters (such as fuel; and
with real science, not consensus, to back up their fight). The
idea that we'll push EVs (a degradation in freedom of movement,
interestingly) along without even considering the harm that Model Year
thinking will perpetuate in a battery-filled device, is flagrant
negligence. Perhaps it's even worse.
2. Textiles. The main enemy here isn't Fashion, it's Free Trade,
another arm of Capitalism. Fashion might be in the mix somewhere, but
I prefer it to the demon of Maoism.
(Consequently, I don't hate Capitalism as an idea. I accept its
benefits, and see that when tempered with Socialism, as it is in the
United States and elsewhere currently, it does some good. It does some
wonderful good, if you view profit and riches as good, for a select
few, who are upheld by others who skim off their larceny--i.e. the
political class. What really gets me is the worship of Capitalism,
which seems so blind and demanding a religion.)
My wife loves the fiber arts, and recently sent me a link with an
interesting rub expressed by the owner[1]. They said:
"A bit of background is necessary to appreciate Huntingdon Yarn Mill's
continuous operation in America since 1940. Between 1990 and 2010, the
textile industry in America was nearly decimated due to trade
liberalization policies and low costs of labor in China, India, and
Mexico. On average, seventeen American textile manufacturers closed
every day between 2000 and 2011."
Now, some of those came back after 2011, thanks to automation (where
the Capitalists could offshore the human costs, preserve profit, and
garner a Made in the USA tag while doing it). And yet, the question
remains: Why did we fight for centuries to build a self sufficient
nation, where by 1960 Americans spent 10% of their income on quality
clothing, purchasing an average of only 25 garments per year per
person, 95% of which were Made in the USA; to a 2013 world where we
spent 3% of our income to buy trash masquerading as clothing, to the
tune of an average of 70 garments per year, with only 2% Made in the
USA?[2]
(My impression is that the Green Movement hates nationalists. I
imagine they might view my thoughts here as xenophobic or nationalist
in some way. They're not. I'm a first-generation-born-in-America on my
mother's side, and I have no problem with all the countries of the
planet each succeeding. I'd actually prefer absolute freedom of human
movement across borders, too. But the exploitation of other countries,
at the expense of self sufficiency and in the name of profit, is
deplorable to me. How can the Green Movement stomach it?)
So, Green Movement... if you want to do something about clothing,
consider the ugly realities of globally produced and widely shipped
textiles, and how some protectionism might actually help. I haven't
looked into the situation in other countries. Hopefully they haven't
sold their manufacturing souls to the devil of Globalism. Maybe they
have.
There are probably other rubs, but those are the two on my mind today.
If you're not a Conservative-Exclusive Sustainability Proponent, then
perhaps they were of some interest and/or use. In any case, I hope
they were fun.
[1] https://www.madeinamericayarns.com/about-us/
[2] https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/7939/madeinamerica