25.10.08

Τhe planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!


«Τhe planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away…»

"The planet is fine, the people are fucked."

"Don't worry about the planet. The planet will be here "long long looooong time after we are gone, , and it will heal itself ".

«Τhe planet has been through a lot worse than us. The planet will shake the human race off like a dog shakes off water…».

«Save the planet? We don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, we're gonna save the fucking planet?

«I'm getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. Tired! I'm tired of fucking Earth Day! I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists; these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos..».

«Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat…»

(κάτι ελάχιστο από παράσταση του περίφημου κυνικού αμερικανού κωμικού George Carlin ,1937 – 2008, ο οποίος δεν μεταφράζεται ούτε μεταφέρεται στο χαρτί.. )

7 comments:

Sophia είπε...

Χοχοχοχο, έχει σίγουρα διαβάσει το State of Fear του Michael Crichton..
;-D

Iptamenos Ollandos είπε...

Τόσο πολύ σου άρεσε και σένα ε;
Μπορεί να το έχω δει και 100 φορές...

Πάντως αξίζει να τον ψάξεις και σε άλλα θέματα, μεγάλος φιλόσοφος, κωμικός αλλά πάνω απ'όλα φοβερός χειριστής της γλώσσας...

Ευτυχία Μεντζελοπούλου είπε...

Earth can definately live without us.
We cannot.
In fear of dissapearance we simply have to rebirth to a braver, more tolerable yet socially sensitive being.
Something closer to humman for a change.

Τζεφέρης Πέτρος είπε...

Regarding George Carlin's words:

He spoke the truth (the best he could) without, by any means, "pulling punches" (as they say).

But I think he wrongly presumed that it is somehow "despicable" to be an environmentalist out of self interest. Is it morally wrong to want clean water for our children, or ourselves? (As opposed to "for the planet?")

For all the talk of "the individual" and for all the apparent pursuit of "self gratification" -- what you really see worldwide is the masses of people exploited and enslaved (by long work hours, loan-sharking, debt slavery, tainted water, children raised in institutions while both parents work, industrial food that destroys their health) -- for the benefit of the .01%.

How is this "individualism" or "pursuit of self interest?"

So the perfect irony (implied by George Carlin's words)(but not "despicable" in my own view, by any means) is that individualism, self-interest, and self-indulgence, in its truest form, would involve precisely this "sustainable civilization" that we speak of.

Not only that, but I don't think most people will ever respond to a call to "act for the collective good" or for the "good of the planet." These concepts are too abstract (or perhaps simply "against the nature of the beast").

They have to understand that it is for their own immediate, completely self-serving good -- and only then, perhaps, they will change their behavior to comport with their own interests (which truly IS this sustainable civilization that we speak of).

Thanks eytyxia.
Thanks sophia.
Thanks iptamene.
Thanks ....

Iptamenos Ollandos είπε...

Well I hesitate to answer in english but i will give it a shoot.

I think he is right when he says that it is self interest is responsible for the situation. An that is why we can not trust anymore this, even for phenomenical good causes as enviromentalism (beware of all -isms).

Of sourse this was also your opinion more or less,except the word despicable. Well the world dispicable is harsh but prophets have the right to be harsh to their spiritual children.

Finally the result that you are mentioning (and you are absolutely right) the well being of the 0.1% of the population is not something that any of this self centered people seems to care about. i would say that they feel justified from their deeds as long as there is one more human being that they can still look down to...

Τζεφέρης Πέτρος είπε...

The thing is, George Carlin starts off saying that the earth will survive no matter what -- and that we are hurting ourselves (in the long run) and not "the planet."

All very true.

But then he goes on to mock "Earth Day" and bicycle paths -- and to more-or-less accuse environmentalists of being hypocrites because they don't truly "love the planet" but only act to protect themselves (wanting a clean habitat for themselves, and etc.).

The thing is: To condemn "the illusion of self interest" (where people believe they assert their own interests and individualism solely through consumerism, but are actually enslaved by it) is one thing ... and to condemn the pursuit of real self interest (regarding a healthy habitat and clean water and etc., which is the imperative of every living thing!) ... is entirely another.

People uusally are not seeing that distinction.

(Of course, I also mock "Earth Day," when I see the participants discard a million plastic bottles at the Earth Day celebrations. *frown*).

But in Paris, I saw that they had implemented a fantastic bicycle path system throughout the entire city. And every few miles, they have racks of public bicycles, which you remove from the rack using your credit card, and return to the rack (at your destination) the same way. Many, many people were making use of this system. This is nothing to be mocked!

Sincere efforts toward protecting the environment (however blatantly in the name of pure self interest) -- I will never mock.

Τζεφέρης Πέτρος είπε...

Ας το γράψουμε και στα ελληνικά : η υποκρισία έχει όρια, όπως και ο κυνισμός..

Άλλο είναι το ψευδεπίγραφο ατομικό συμφέρον που σαφώς καταδικάζει ο αείμνηστος κωμικός και άλλο η ικανοποίηση των ατομικών μας καθημερινών αναγκών που επίσης φαίνεται να ειρωνεύεται με τον δικό του μοναδικό τρόπο.

Όμως, πόσο μεμπτό είναι να θέλεις ένα καθαρό μέρος να ζήσεις ή καθαρό νερό να πιείς; Κι ακόμη ένα ποδήλατο αντί τα ενεργοβόρα και ρυπογόνα ΙΧ; Οι περισσότεροι έχουμε θαυμάσει το εξαιρετικό ποδηλατικό “path system” στο Παρίσι αλλά και στο Αμστερνταμ.

Κι ακόμη όσο υποκριτικές φαίνονται οι συμμετοχές μας σε εκδηλώσεις για «παγκόσμιες ημέρες» περιβάλλοντος, όπου διαδηλώνουμε, τραγουδάμε κλπ αλλά και πετάμε ανερυθρίαστα τα πλαστικά ή άλλα απορρίμματά μας, άλλο τόσο δημοκρατικό και απόλυτα ωφέλιμο είναι να μπορούμε, να έχουμε το δικαίωμα αυτό…

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