the crushing cost of bullshit
i'm in a lively and fascinating discussion with a few friends on the environmental impact of reusable things (it started talking about drinking cups vs water bottles) and things got around (i admit it, i started it) to the confusion around the environmental friendliness (or not) of hybrid cars. i expressed an opinion (based on some extended reading) that hybrids aren't the environmental panacea many have presumed, and, of course, the discussion then was driven straight to the old (completely false) canard (fostered by idiots like george will and others) that hummers were more environmentally friendly than priuses. (prii?)
well, that hummer thing is complete and utter bullshit, and we all should know it. the impact of a hummer at 15 mpg so dwarfs the impact of a prius at 50mpg, that any idiot (who isn't george will, apparently) will correctly recognize that the hybrid is the better way to go. common sense, right?
only the trouble is, all these "common sensers" never bother to get out their pencil and paper, just the same way that the morons who can convince themselves that hummers are responsible environmental policy never do before they start blathering on about the indefensible, and now we have a binary tug of war over a bullshit argument instead of anybody anywhere learning anything at all. and the fault lies squarely with the bullshit argument--those who would make it when an actual, thought-out and reasonable and responsible argument was there to be made are the ones who cause the reasonable alternative never to get heard because the bullshit took off and reason was left far behind.
so lets say you're smart enough to know that priuses aren't all that. you know that batteries are made out of all sorts of rare metals that are bitches to mine, and toxic to the environment, and that "greenies" are ignoring this when they brag about their 50mpg. fair enough. but the moment you get lazy and resort to stupid and easily-disproved hyperbole, you cause all the reasonable people in the middle who might otherwise be able to understand that batteries are bad for the environment to reject your point of view outright, and dismiss the rest along with it.
truth is, at 50mpg, a prius barely gets 15 more mpg than your average econobox. (i know a civic driver regularly getting 40 out of his gas-only). truth is, prius batteries fail before 100,000 miles at a remarkable rate. (my ex drove a hybrid and found that out the hard way). truth is, at $3000 for the battery, the $3000 in gas savings (that's all you gain, sorry--it's math) is a complete wash. AND YOU'RE STILL STUCK WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF THE BATTERY WHICH ISN'T BEING FIGURED IN YET!!!
people ought to know about this. people ought to think about it, and realize that resorting to a hybrid instead of a bicycle is NOT an environmentally friendly thing to do. yeah, it's better than a hummer, but we all know what kind of selfish assholes drive hummers. if you choose to drive a car, you are choosing to screw the environment, even if your car is a prius. it's the truth.
but, because of the crushing cost of bullshit spewed by george will, et al., people will never hear this. they'll dismiss the hummer alternative and congratulate themselves on being so "green".
i wish people thought more about the crushing cost of bullshit before they forwarded every obama birther smear they receive, not because obama is being a good president, but precisely BECAUSE HE IS NOT. he's busted our deficits and debts to unprecedented proportions, erased civil liberties at unprecedented levels, and kept us killing innocents abroad at an unprecedented pace. if you don't like obama, please, PUH-leeeeeze, look up some actual facts, and share those. i'll rail on the romney apologists to do the same.
but anytime you forward bullshit arguments to your friends who hate the same things you hate, you are, in the process, giving all the reasonable people in the middle the exact reason to never agree with you.
and, because of that, not only do you lose, but we all do, too.
just say no to bullshit, please!
well, that hummer thing is complete and utter bullshit, and we all should know it. the impact of a hummer at 15 mpg so dwarfs the impact of a prius at 50mpg, that any idiot (who isn't george will, apparently) will correctly recognize that the hybrid is the better way to go. common sense, right?
only the trouble is, all these "common sensers" never bother to get out their pencil and paper, just the same way that the morons who can convince themselves that hummers are responsible environmental policy never do before they start blathering on about the indefensible, and now we have a binary tug of war over a bullshit argument instead of anybody anywhere learning anything at all. and the fault lies squarely with the bullshit argument--those who would make it when an actual, thought-out and reasonable and responsible argument was there to be made are the ones who cause the reasonable alternative never to get heard because the bullshit took off and reason was left far behind.
so lets say you're smart enough to know that priuses aren't all that. you know that batteries are made out of all sorts of rare metals that are bitches to mine, and toxic to the environment, and that "greenies" are ignoring this when they brag about their 50mpg. fair enough. but the moment you get lazy and resort to stupid and easily-disproved hyperbole, you cause all the reasonable people in the middle who might otherwise be able to understand that batteries are bad for the environment to reject your point of view outright, and dismiss the rest along with it.
truth is, at 50mpg, a prius barely gets 15 more mpg than your average econobox. (i know a civic driver regularly getting 40 out of his gas-only). truth is, prius batteries fail before 100,000 miles at a remarkable rate. (my ex drove a hybrid and found that out the hard way). truth is, at $3000 for the battery, the $3000 in gas savings (that's all you gain, sorry--it's math) is a complete wash. AND YOU'RE STILL STUCK WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF THE BATTERY WHICH ISN'T BEING FIGURED IN YET!!!
people ought to know about this. people ought to think about it, and realize that resorting to a hybrid instead of a bicycle is NOT an environmentally friendly thing to do. yeah, it's better than a hummer, but we all know what kind of selfish assholes drive hummers. if you choose to drive a car, you are choosing to screw the environment, even if your car is a prius. it's the truth.
but, because of the crushing cost of bullshit spewed by george will, et al., people will never hear this. they'll dismiss the hummer alternative and congratulate themselves on being so "green".
i wish people thought more about the crushing cost of bullshit before they forwarded every obama birther smear they receive, not because obama is being a good president, but precisely BECAUSE HE IS NOT. he's busted our deficits and debts to unprecedented proportions, erased civil liberties at unprecedented levels, and kept us killing innocents abroad at an unprecedented pace. if you don't like obama, please, PUH-leeeeeze, look up some actual facts, and share those. i'll rail on the romney apologists to do the same.
but anytime you forward bullshit arguments to your friends who hate the same things you hate, you are, in the process, giving all the reasonable people in the middle the exact reason to never agree with you.
and, because of that, not only do you lose, but we all do, too.
just say no to bullshit, please!
posted by kad barma at 11:22 AM
1 Comments:
erased civil liberties at unprecedented levels, and kept us killing innocents abroad at an unprecedented pace
Fully agree with the first, but not so sure about the second. Aside from my skeptical thinking about "innocent" adults when it comes to war, do we know that innocents are being killed? If you say non-combatants instead of "innocent" it is a whole other discussion. And, I do agree that children do fall in the innocent bin.
In other news, your Comment Preview runs to the edge of my screen if I have a long paragraph. Is this a bug or a feature?
Regards — Cliff
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