tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post5877196739510071559..comments2024-03-08T14:23:31.503-05:00Comments on A Puff of Absurdity: What Happens in the Arctic, Doesn't Stay in the ArcticMarie Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-28330818497766602282016-12-18T20:28:22.076-05:002016-12-18T20:28:22.076-05:00I think telling people about the GHG - methane - b...I think telling people about the GHG - methane - beef connection won't do anything because of the lived belief that it's not our problem and we should be free to enjoy every moment of our lives without being made to feel guilty. I imagine it's further along than willful ignorance - it's vehement insistence that you don't <i>dare</i> suggest we have a part to play in the damage. It's angry and defensive and belligerent in its insistence on the right to do whatever make us feel good today. <br /><br />I think to get people to eat less beef, we have to convince them it will make them fat. That will affect their immediate status, so they might be willing to eat less. But only for their own sake. Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-75414275595206126612016-12-18T17:08:43.205-05:002016-12-18T17:08:43.205-05:00I can't help but wonder, Marie, that had we po...I can't help but wonder, Marie, that had we politicians working for the common good rather than for their own power, if it could play a constructive role in breaking the bonds of narcissism that ensnare us. For example (and I know this is hopelessly idealistic), if they hammered home the role that methane is playing in our changing climate and suggested that people eat one less dinner of beef per week, would people listen? I know the scenario I described would never happen lest, heaven forbid, they should offend the cattle industry in Alberta. <br /><br />Or maybe such a government intervention would achieve nothing. I remember the time when we were essentially trying to have a withdrawal of extracurricular activities during the Harris administration, and OSSTF, while they couldn't say it (it would have been counselling a strike action, something they couldn't do), wanted its members to boycott those activities. Our staff rep very skillfully made a presentation that, unless one were profoundly stupid, conveyed that message without actually saying it. I will always remember some of the staff at the meeting hiding behind the fiction that they would withdraw those services IF the Federation actually told them to. Such willful ignorance served as a shield for them to continue undermining our actions, but thy knew what was really being said.<br /><br />Perhaps that is the way the larger public would behave about cutting back on beef, eh?Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.com