[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
analog_kid wrote:
I wonder if these people are genuinely happy living like that?
Why do they have a website? The get their food out of a dumpster but have a computer and internet access? WTF?
They have the computers and web server access, but those things don’t impact the environment because they didn’t pay for them, their parents did.
[/quote]
That logic seems to be what most of their ideas are based from. If you steal a moldy, half eaten loaf of Wonder Bread out a garbage can, aren’t you still a consumer of evil capitalism?
[quote]Azinine wrote:
stokedporcupine wrote:
i read the whole thing, it was interesting to say the least.
what these people don’t understand is that their lifestyle is only possible because of the economic intuitions that they claim to detest.
in affect, the “freegans” ultimate goal is untenable. they hope that everyone would live a freegan lifestyle. For them, if we all just grew our own food, went dumpster diving, took the train, and stopped going to work the world would be a better place. What they seem to really want to a modern hunter-gatherer society.
the problem of course is that 6+ billion people could not be sustained on the earth in a hunter-gatherer economy. further, it is only through the advanced manufacturing techniques and advanced division of economic labor that the worlds population can be sustained.
the freegans of course might object that billions are starving or living in sub-standard housing as a result of these advanced manufacturing techniques and the current division of economic labor, but this isn’t true. manufacturing techniques and division of labor are mere technologies, things that are morally neutral.
what the freegans really should be protesting is the unregulated free trade of commodities. that is, it is not the manufacturing techniques and division of labor that is to be shunned, but rather the men who control the system and abuse it through manipulating the free market.
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
Azinine wrote:
stokedporcupine wrote:
i read the whole thing, it was interesting to say the least.
what these people don’t understand is that their lifestyle is only possible because of the economic intuitions that they claim to detest.
in affect, the “freegans” ultimate goal is untenable. they hope that everyone would live a freegan lifestyle. For them, if we all just grew our own food, went dumpster diving, took the train, and stopped going to work the world would be a better place. What they seem to really want to a modern hunter-gatherer society.
the problem of course is that 6+ billion people could not be sustained on the earth in a hunter-gatherer economy. further, it is only through the advanced manufacturing techniques and advanced division of economic labor that the worlds population can be sustained.
the freegans of course might object that billions are starving or living in sub-standard housing as a result of these advanced manufacturing techniques and the current division of economic labor, but this isn’t true. manufacturing techniques and division of labor are mere technologies, things that are morally neutral.
what the freegans really should be protesting is the unregulated free trade of commodities. that is, it is not the manufacturing techniques and division of labor that is to be shunned, but rather the men who control the system and abuse it through manipulating the free market.
[quote]stokedporcupine wrote:
i read the whole thing, it was interesting to say the least.
what these people don’t understand is that their lifestyle is only possible because of the economic intuitions that they claim to detest.
in affect, the “freegans” ultimate goal is untenable. they hope that everyone would live a freegan lifestyle. For them, if we all just grew our own food, went dumpster diving, took the train, and stopped going to work the world would be a better place. What they seem to really want to a modern hunter-gatherer society.[/quote]
I agree. Such people can do this precisely because they know everybody else will continue to support the system. A lot like people who refuse to take vaccinations and are protected because the rest of us use them. Again this is simply a moral position they have adopted and live in such an artificial environment that their choice is largely irrelevant.
I had an illuminating chat with one fellow a few years back. He was telling me about his completely vegetarian cheese that was oh so morally superior. I took a look at the label and it contained, among other items, wheat gluten and sodium caseinate. I pointed out that the latter only occurs in dairy products and can be labelled as such when it has undergone enough processing that it is legally no longer considered to be milk. In short, his morally superior cheese required a huge industrial base to make. Hitting a cow in the head and eating would leave a much smaller ecological impact.
[quote]Beowolf wrote:
LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Plus, I bet they get all the good earth-friendly weed.
WRONG. Hippies smoke regs, they don’t believe in genetically manipulating part of mother earth for our pleasure.
Fuck. That. Shit.[/quote]
I’ve never seen a hippy smoke schwag. They just plant the seeds (or use cuttings) and reap the fruit. Any kind of homegrown is better than dirty, brick-hard, mass-produced, border-crossing, ditch-weed.
I’m not sure if anyone of you have met any of these people or not. I live in NYC so I’m surrounded by a shitload of these pompous asses. And pompous is what they are. They preach and preach and eat lettuce and sprigs all day long and they let you know about it. The only problem is that they do not live the complete lifestyle they state. A. They still live in homes with running water and heat. So they aren’t living off the land. B. they still have jobs, with large corporations. So their goes their Rage against the Machin attitute out the window. and C. They are just plain annoying. . .just my opinion anyway.