Goes All the Way to the Environment
| May 21, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Counter/Culture |
The latest magazine ad to catch my eye:
“THE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS CAR THAT GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE ENVIRONMENT. A gas-free commute is great. But sometimes you want to get out of the city and actually see some of that environment. With the Chevrolet Volt, you can drive 35 miles gas- and emissions-free and up to 375 miles with a full charge and a full tank of gas. It’s electric when you want it, gas when you need it. It’s more car than electric.”
Hmm. I see why attempts to cure the ills of our civilization are failing.
It starts with thinking that buying a car has anything to do with “saving the environment” AT ALL.
And then in the middle there’s some willingness to be a trendy-tree-hugger, but only when you don’t have a 3 day weekend coming up, because, I mean, get real. You’ve got places to go.
It ends with thinking that “the environment” is something over there, out there, somewhere else, not here, and not you.
I agree completely :)
Issa, that is just good writing. It doesn’t hurt that you are as right as you can possibly be.
Hi Issa, I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your blog. (You and I met several years ago at the Alchemy work weekend in 2008, and I found your blog through a “follow” suggestion on Twitter.)
I’m 8 months pregnant with my first baby, and I have been devouring all your old posts about your pregnancy and birth experiences with Dylan, and, of course, all your other fascinating topics too. I love your honest voice and your intelligent yet accessible style. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, Emily! Are you coming to Alchemy or Euphoria this year? Euphoria was my baby’s first burn last year at just 10 days old! Congrats on your first baby. I hope everything goes smoothly for you, and I wish you as happy a time with your little one as I’ve had with mine! :-)
Thank you!! Dylan is beautiful, by the way.
I am not going to make it to Euphoria this year – I wanted to (especially since I ended up not being able to make it last year because of an unanticipated work conflict), but I decided it’s a little too close to my due date for comfort. Definitely next year though. Alchemy is still a maybe. My partner James and I have set our wedding date for a couple of weeks after Alchemy, which is creating some potential time and budget conflicts. James and I had a fantastic time at Alchemy last year though; in fact, I’m pretty sure our baby was conceived there!
This reminds me of the time my sister told me that there is only 2% of the Earth left that’s never been trodden on by humans (I have no idea where she got this number, the point being that she was enamored of it.) She then told me that she wanted to desperately to go there!
“So you want to invade the last untouched areas? You wanna just drive your big ol’ Suburban right on in there and stomp on some stuff?”
We have some interesting fantasies about what’s wild, what’s valuable, what’s authentic and what’s tainted and thus now garbage.
Unless your sister is an avid wilderness adventurer, the untouched area won’t even look substantially different than her local national forest. There is really no reason to go there. You’re so right that it’s about our fantasies. When we think of wild/authentic I think we’re (I’m) mostly imagining places where we’re not. And what’s tainted is places where we’ve been, whether that’s physical places or places of ideas. I suppose the truth is that it has nothing to do with the places and it’s us as a culture who are tainted. And we know it, we just can’t face it, so we just keep stomping around on some stuff.