Category: Thoughts

Why must we die prematurely, by not living rich lives? Why are we being killed slowly by eco-friendly products that deprive us of the quality we deserve to have today? I care about the environment, but everything in extreme is bad. What is worse is, consumers who are being called upon to help the environment by using eco-friendly products are not the real culprits; it is the businesses with the power to corrupt governments to allow dumping of toxic waste and governments themselves wanting to protect their votes by preserving the jobs of those employed in activities detrimental to the environment.

The government still burns coal for the generation of electricity, to protect the jobs of coal miners. How could consumers possibly outdo the government in polluting the environment, no matter how much gasoline or plastic we use?

We the consumers are the worst affected, as we have to live with buying expensive items like cars, computers and such made of “highly recyclable meterials” that cannot withstand moderate temperature changes, let alone any kind of impact. The big businesses love being eco-friendly, as they can charge more by product differentiation and for products that are otherwise inferior and not durable. So you no longer can expect a Bimmer to be unscathed in a minor impact, have an iPhone that doesn’t crack from normal use or even have eyeglasses that have the anti-reflective properties and durability of yesteryears.

Then there’s guilty consumers who, like donating to a church to acquire the right to sin, buy carbon offsets to purge their guilty conscience. Perhaps even to make a statement that they care for the environment. How is a Lexus LS 600hL 5.0 litre 438 horsepower hybrid, that leaves behind a whole different eco-system and probably pollutes the environment more in manufacture, really eco-friendly? That is nothing more than making a statement about being eco-friendly, not actually being eco-friendly.

I thought cleaning a $20 keyboard with a $7 can of compressed air was stupid. How smart then is paying more for batteries than the toy? It is not like a razor and blades, where the overpriced blades are tied to a specific razor. We have the choice to say “no” to toys that require 3 ‘C’ and 4 ‘D’ batteries – case in point, the Hot Wheels Acceledrome Race Track Set. Then there’s the Tyco RCs with proprietary battery packs that cost $45, beyond the $60–$100 one has paid for the toy! Makes other RC toys like the RadioShack Porsche 911 that requires 8 ‘AA’ and a 9V seem reasonable, except the ‘AA’s in the car last only a few days!