Horrors of late capitalism

[seany65]

Being told constantly that we must all save on energy use, usually by the ordinary person:

1) Switching the TV Off when we're not using it, BUT every single shop that sells tv's being allowed to have all of their tv's on all the time the shop is open, even if that's 7 days a week.

2) Switching the radio off when we're not using it, BUT every shop that sells radios being allowed to have all of their radios on all the time the shop is open, even if that's 7 days a week.

3) Switching the lights off when we're not using them, BUT every shop that sells lights/lamps being allowed to have all of their lights/lamps on all the time the shop is open, even if that's seven days a week.

4) Switching off our car/scooter/motorbike engine off when we're not using it such as when parked outside a shop, BUT Taxi drivers being allowed to have their engines running all the time even when waiting at the taxi rank, or Govt. Environment Ministers flying all around the world to attend meetings to discuss how to cut back on CO2 emissions when they could just use a computer for conference calls.

5) Buying and using less 'product' in order to cut back on waste and pollution, BUT companies being allowed to bring in products that have ever-shorter useful lives.

6) Using fewer plastic bags to carry our shopping in, (even though those bags can last quite a long time if we don't overload them), BUT publishing companies being allowed to publish an ever increasing number of magazines that come sealed in pointless plastic bags.

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by seany65

Being told constantly that we must all save on energy use, usually by the ordinary person:

1) Switching the TV Off when we're not using it, BUT every single shop that sells tv's being allowed to have all of their tv's on all the time the shop is open, even if that's 7 days a week.

2) Switching the radio off when we're not using it, BUT every shop that sells radios being allowed to have all of their radios on all the time the shop is open, even if that's 7 days a week.

3) Switching the lights off when we're not using them, BUT every shop that sells lights/lamps being allowed to have all of their lights/lamps on all the time the shop is open, even if that's seven days a week.

You do realise that you too are ALLOWED to have your television, radio and lights switched on 24/7 should you wish? Expect hefty electricity bills, but there's no law against it.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

You do realise that you too are ALLOWED to have your television, radio and lights switched on 24/7 should you wish? Expect hefty electricity bills, but there's no law against it.

Would you leave your car running 24/7? Would you leave your taps turned on 24/7-just because there is no law against it? At what point does prodigal wastage of finite resources become a consideration for even the most self centred?

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by Dr Pepper

Would you leave your car running 24/7? Would you leave your taps turned on 24/7-just because there is no law against it? At what point does prodigal wastage of finite resources become a consideration for even the most self centred?

Err, that wasn't my point. I was simply saying that Seany65 was allowed to do exactly what the shops do that he mentiond in his post and I quoted in mine.

[seany65]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

You do realise that you too are ALLOWED to have your television, radio and lights switched on 24/7 should you wish? Expect hefty electricity bills, but there's no law against it.

I understand that we are 'Allowed' to, it's just that we are told/encouraged to switch things off, but shops are not. In fact I'm fairly sure that no-one with responsibility for such things has ever even thought of telling shops to minimise the energy they use on there displays of electrical goods.

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by seany65

I understand that we are 'Allowed' to, it's just that we are told/encouraged to switch things off, but shops are not. In fact I'm fairly sure that no-one with responsibility for such things has ever even thought of telling shops to minimise the energy they use on there displays of electrical goods.

But that's the problem. Why are we allowed to waste that much energy?
Because of elections.
Telling to people to save energy is not popular.

Fair dictators would not allow all these wastes of natural ressources, but in democracies the fair politicians who propose to waste less energies, only receive 2 or 5% of the votes in the first round and never go to the second round.

That's horrible to observe, but democracies, environmentally speaking, seem to be a catastrophy.

[Mr 1980s]

It really doesn't matter what kind of society you live in. Capitalist, communist, military dictatorship, the end result is the same, the little guy on the street is the one who gets fucked over every time!

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by seany65

I understand that we are 'Allowed' to, it's just that we are told/encouraged to switch things off, but shops are not. In fact I'm fairly sure that no-one with responsibility for such things has ever even thought of telling shops to minimise the energy they use on there displays of electrical goods.

They could switch every TV, radio and light on and off every time somebody wants to check out the quality of something... It's a drop in the ocean when you consider the millions of desktops switched on around the world every morning, the number of TVs switched on every evening, the number of lights switched on, the millions of smartphones charged everyday, etc. Seriously, in the big scheme of things, the energy consumed by the TV, radio and light shops that you mention, doesn't even register and it's really not worth going through the whole legislation process.

[footstep]

Year after year, rich are richer, poor poorer.
Capitalism is a system, and as all systems, it will collapse.
Historically proved.
Nazism, communism, "ancien régime" here (before French Revolution 1789) etc...
For what?

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by footstep

Year after year, rich are richer, poor poorer.
Capitalism is a system, and as all systems, it will collapse.
Historically proved.
Nazism, communism, "ancien régime" here (before French Revolution 1789) etc...
For what?

But if you don't want any system... you are an Anarchist.

Sadly Capitalism could collapse after having destroyed the environment that we today know, like a meteorite or a supervolcano.
The only difference, it will be by our own fault.