What do you tell a friend who says 3000 barrels of oil spilled in the river is nothing...

We are not to blame just because we consume. There are solutions to everything. Oil should be transported in a bladder. But accidents will still happen. Its not like anyone wants to waste oil/money and kill animals.

It is not my fault that the BP Oil Leak happened just because I drive a car.

reply to post by FlySolo


We certainly all are hypocrites. We rally around some cause while at the same time being a part of the problem. Everything is interconnected now I don't see how anything you buy or own doesn't in some way contribute to misery, environmental disaster or what have you.

I don't know if I think this thread should be in philosophy, but I think if you took some time you could create a really great thread in that forum related to this experience. Think about it.

reply to post by FlySolo


I get what you're saying, but I'm viewing it like infinity. There are thousands of things that we do, and can still care about at the same time. It'd be like telling someone they were stupid for composting some of their waste, and recycling as much as they could so they had less trash put in the landfill each week. "Well you produce trash so just don't worry about your trash production, quit trying to reduce it." Just because you use or consume doesn't mean you are immune from giving a crap about its affects on the environment. I think that's a small minded and ignorant way of thinking. Maybe your friend doesn't normally think that way but in this case he was very uncaring and almost being disrespectful to you by shunning your opinion and calling you a hypocrite.

Originally posted by FlySolo
Yes. And I understood that. But this is the crux of the problem and the paradox of my dilemma. .

Right, your OP makes that clear but I think that it is a problem for you because you wish that wasn't the case.

The spill itself isn't a small deal and I don't think your friend considered it as such, he was pointing out that it was is only a small part of the whole situation which every consumer has a part in and therefore has no moral standing to complain about. We are in fact the reason that the oil is being sucked out of the ground in the first place. Also had that oil not been spilled, it would have found its way into a combustion chamber and the products of its combustion thrown into the air. Is that really any better than the spill? Maybe but honestly, how much better?

that he's an idiot

reply to post by Domo1


I think it's about balance. We can all drive cars and consume energy. But once a week we also have to roll up our sleeves, put on the boots and pick up a shovel and start cleaning something. If we did that, then we can all be as self-righteous as we please. Somehow I think that would change everyone's views about oil spills.

Originally posted by Germanicus
We are not to blame just because we consume. There are solutions to everything. Oil should be transported in a bladder. But accidents will still happen. Its not like anyone wants to waste oil/money and kill animals.

It is not my fault that the BP Oil Leak happened just because I drive a car.

yes it is our fault because we consume. if it wasn't for our demand for oil they wouldn't be pulling it out the ground. though we are kinda forced into a corner we can try to pass the blame to someone else(our rulers) but we're still part of it

reply to post by daskakik


Good point. One way or another, it's pollution.

I would smile and say!

Hey take care buddy, that about does it for me.
oh and good luck in your endeavors.
Good Bye
friend?

Originally posted by biggmoneyme

Originally posted by Germanicus
We are not to blame just because we consume. There are solutions to everything. Oil should be transported in a bladder. But accidents will still happen. Its not like anyone wants to waste oil/money and kill animals.

It is not my fault that the BP Oil Leak happened just because I drive a car.

yes it is our fault because we consume. if it wasn't for our demand for oil they wouldn't be pulling it out the ground. though we are kinda forced into a corner we can try to pass the blame to someone else(our rulers) but we're still part of it

I disagree.

You must have a very heavy conscience. It must weigh alot.

By your logic I could blame myself for pretty much everything. If you really believe what you say, you should be insane with guilt. Raving mad. But you are not. Im guessing you dont feel too responsible at all at the end of the day. Just conversation.
You are a very good person arent you?

reply to post by FlySolo


If it was his backyard,
Your friends views would be more valid.
I can assure you of that.

By the way, it is true that we consume this resource.
But what other realistic alternatives do we have to choose from.

So it is like the monopoly calling the kettle black.

That is the general sissy girlyman auto response from these wimps.

Kind of like "You have the freedom of choice",
Use our gas or don't. Paper or plastic?
It doesn't matter because we own both manufacturing proccesses.

The game is rigged, and the shareholders have their claws in every producer.
So no matter what you purchase, they receive a dividend.

Yet they produce nothing at all. Behind their shiny facades, they are total losers.

Seperate the grain from the chaff.

Best Regards, Wildmanimal S&F

To your OP.

I have met a couple people like that, while drinking beers as well I might add.
One dude was bragging about how his friend digs a hole and drains the oil from his 7.3 diesel Powerstroke ford into it. BRAGGING! Because he thinks he is a redneck and it is a cool redneck thing to do.

When I attested to it he said "What are you, A Hippie?"

That is when I proceeded to explain that I am not an IDIOT like himself. Holding myself back from busting his 4 teeth he had left out.

He didn't really have much to say, as well as our mutual friends around us.

There are many idiots in this world.

As for the oil spill, NO EXCUSE is a viable argument to disregard or dismiss what happened as a non-issue.
You did the right thing though, you handled it better then I would have.

Originally posted by FlySolo
reply to post by daskakik

 

Good point. One way or another, it's pollution.

Even if the effects of pollution are different from spills and from burning, the fact that 84 million barrels of oil are consumed daily means these 3000 barrels are only .003% of what is burned every single day.

reply to post by llmacgregor


Fortunately, my friend is pretty rounded and has lots of integrity. Got a girl from hell pregnant he only knew for three-months and did the right thing sticking with her to raise their daughter. Not in a relationship with her either while she continues to bust his balls anyway using their child as a tool to manipulate. A stand up guy. And in retrospect, I think he wasn't being a jerk when he said what he said, just wasn't being sensitive to the issue.

Your friend on the other hand, I would have busted his last four teeth out for calling me a hippie...if he didn't have anything good going for him

He wasn't right at all he was stupid. Unfortunately his attitude is the prevailing mindset and that is what keeps us from seriously starting the transition away from oil.

It is not your fault you were born into society dependent on oil and you have to use it to function in society. Doesn't mean you cannot be angry at the spill and all the harm oil causes and work toward educating people that we need to make a change.

reply to post by llmacgregor


Service stations still take used oil don't they?

Bubbas like to fish and hunt... You want that crap in the fish you're about to fry?

You clearly are a hippie. I see that VW!

Don't argue with the stupid, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Lol forget what he/she may think...show 'em...

"Look at this bird covered in oil...Still think it doesn't matter?"



-SAP-

This # happened here in Michigan a while back, so called accident. One quart is too much IMHO, it's just not natural. Think of yourself as a microscopic species and now you have to do what you are supposed to do naturally except you just been coated in oil? Oil has vecosity, meaning a small amount in the right vescosity can completly coat microscopic live forms and cause them to malfunction. As we all know there is a balance of mother nature and the food chain and or survival of the fitest. So a tiny ammount such as a unatural quart of let's say Mercron (ford tranny fluid) could # up micro biological systems and through lack of ingredients of natural selection and or evolution could possibly have grave repucussions down the road. For every reaction there is a equal action whether it be negative or positive.

find out the equivalent amount of black dye to pour into a pint of water to accurately represent the poisoning of the water system and let him watch as the cloud slowly, slowly, spreads to eventually murk all of the clear water into an indiscernible bottle of goop. take that divide by 0, add 50 years and hes an idiot.