Selling the Ideal Community

 In my midterm paper for Materialism and Idealism I outlined my ideal community. Among many of the unique and attractive features of this community, were the methods of land conservation. The community takes great pains to have sustainable agriculture as well as sustainable logging.  I believe that the way to galvanize people into rallying around my ideal community is by starting to live the lifestyle that my community is based on slowly acquire a group of friends and similarly minded people that will take up residence in the town. Once the town has enough people in it to have the subculture necessary the community can grow faster by going on TV and writing books about how great it is to live in a community that values a simple sustainable lifestyle.

The difficulties I would face is selling my utopian community would be that at this point it is almost impossible to live a simple lifestyle and still enjoy modern comforts. If the world ran out of Oil, or if we had a disaster worse than the great depression, my community would not face the same challenges that it does today.

Consequences of Success

For Vablen success might be the accumulation of wealth and status, driving by the invidious nature of human kind, But I do not believe that is how everyone measures success and thus the consequences of success will be different depending what that success is.  It is true that a large segment of society seems to buy into the idea that success is having all  their material wants met, and enough money to cover any emergencies (for instance if the neighbors across the street get a newer model of heated boxers) that might occur. The current state of our nation, what with people suing over ridiculous pretexts to collect wealth that doesn’t belong to them, is a good example of what the consequences that that type of success brings.  I was raised with in an atmosphere that represented success as working hard at a job that you love, and having good relationships with the people around you. As yet it is hard to look back to see what the consequences of that definition of success will be, but I have high hopes that they will be positive.

Science vs. Politics: The Environmental Challenge

 

There seem to be no end to the cases of science being twisted to fit political views. Since science is supposed to be an unbiased pursuit of truth, it unlikely that anyone is truly using it in its proper form.  That being said, there comes a point when political spin of experiments and reports just scream “Political Propaganda.” Take carbon dioxide (CO₂) as an example; in recent history this seemingly innocent molecule has been blamed for the destruction of the earth. A recent increase in global temperature of late has triggered a host of political action and scientific research.  Many people are convinced that CO₂ is a pollutant that is responsible for global warming.  CO₂ is not a pollutant! It is the product of many naturally occurring processes, and is absolutely necessary for life on this planet.  Plants need CO₂ in order to produce the sugars we need to live. Whether or not CO₂ is a serious problem in regards to global climate change is an issue that other people are debating in great detail; suffice it to say that global warming as a result of increased CO₂ levels is not universally accepted.

When scientists suggest that the earth might be warming up due to an increase in CO₂ levels, the proper response is not to go into a panic and pass a bunch of laws. Before a national tax on CO₂ is instated the positive effects of CO₂ on the plants in our world should be considered. With higher concentrations of CO₂ in the air plants will be at a decided advantage and animals that rely on cellular respiration won’t be inconvenienced. I believe that a Real environmental concern should be that vast amounts of land is logged and not replanted. Deforestation in my mind is a much bigger concern than a change in the amount of carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere.

Qoheleth's story played out in modern time.

       Qoheleth (or the Teacher), wrote about his search for happiness in the book of Ecclesiastes. In his quest for happiness Qoheleth went down the road of material acquisition as a means of attaining happiness. He made his way along this road much farther than I, or anyone I know has been able to, so far in fact that in the end there was nothing that he denied himself. Not a single material thing that was available to Qoheleth in those days was withheld from him......And yet all was vanity.
       An example of a modern day Qoheleth can be found in the story of Aaron Johnson. Aaron Johnson became extremely wealthy running several business ventures in New York City. His big money makers where selling drugs and running prostitutes. In his book, The End of Youngblood Johnson, Aaron tells about having way more money than he could ever spend. He eventually felt God calling to to leave all the wealth he had acquired behind and start a fresh life. In one day Johnson walked away from everything and started over without all the material goods that so many people envy.
       Mr. Rabeder's life also seems to be similar to Qoheleth. Rabeder just recently sold off his expensive possessions and gave the proceeds to charity. He says that “For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness. I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years,”  In the end He did give up his wealth with the realization that material goods and all the luxuries that money buys isn't what life is all about.
       I wonder whether one needs to go down the road that Qoheleth, Johnson, and Rabeder went down; or if the warnings of dissatisfied people coming back are enough to convince oneself of the futility of seeking happiness by that avenue?