Re: What's YOUR philosophy?

bkrisp, I know what you mean about "it" happening at any time, walking down the street, during crisis, so forth. For me it happens usually once or more per day. This I attribute to the fact that I don't have spouse/kids/mortgage or a lot of the typical daily stresses many people have, therefore I have more free time to contemplate such things. Recently I retired from full time work, so daily stresses are even less, free time even more.

There is one thing you said that I'd like to comment on.


"but people like me who drive cars and pollute the air, and produce wastes that sit in landfills, and contribute to this world that is full of CRAP from all the factories and plants."

I too sometimes get caught up in certain guilt complexes, but for this particular group that you've mentioned, I came to a rationalization some time ago that at least for me, this is somewhat misplaced guilt. Yep, I drive a car, therefore I pollute, not because I intentionally wish to, but mostly out of necessity. Back when I was still caught up in the guilt complex, I reasoned that I could give up the job I had then and focus on employment somewhere that I could walk to work, and the more I tried to play out this scenario the more I saw the reality of beign limited to working at a place flipping burgers or pizzas, both which happen to be places of employment that tend to encourage people other than myself to have a reason to drive and pollute. Eventually I came to realize that most of us were born into a world with many of our necessities somewhat pre-determined for us before we ever even had a chance to be cognizant of them and possibly decide otherwise, necessities structured and controlled by those in control, like the auto factories that need to sell cars, and the oil companies who need to sell oil to run the cars, and the insurance companies who need to sell insurance, and the banks who need to sell loans, and the politicians who need to sell legislation governing and regulating what they deem as appropriate for all of these necessities which they control. To a large extent, those in control have finally suceeded in whittling down most of the control and decisions in this world such that they have assigned us regular people to have one primary duty to fulfill - being consumers. Had I been born into a world that had already pre-determined the use of alternative energy sources, I would now be using them instead of sources that pollute.

There are various other ways in which people can pollute the environment that are completley outside the normal consumer trap; how people think and act towards others, for instance. Anyway, do what you can, despite the main task the commercial world has set aside for us, we can each always consume a little less than what we normally do, and pollute a little less as a result. Meantime, don't be so hard on yourself, that too is consuming in a different way all together.