Wet blanket rant.
Filed under General
I am a cynic. Not in many things, but well, this Earth Hour thingy – lemme admit it, I am totally, absolutely, cynical about the whole premise. Well, maybe because I think WWF has a lousy PR plan (these people send me 4-page newsletters every month asking me to donate money to help save jungles, just because I donated once… I can't stand the sight of wasted paper you see…), but more so because the more I see the word Earth Hour and that stupid logo popping out the more I wanna go, 'OMG WTF so stupid…'
Its stupid, I think, because the whole frenzy and excitement of holding torchlights and lighting candles, in pretense of the whole 'love our planet' crap is an absolute attempt by people who otherwise don't give a shit about efficient power usage and the environment. I think the whole 'let's do this to raise awareness' concept is good, but I also feel strongly that its GONE WAY WAY overboard.
The more I think about it, the more I think how hilarious it is that these very same, articulate people who will complain till the cows come home when the power trips for just fifteen minutes, are all going rah rah for Earth Hour. The same people who call up your local utility complaining about 'maintenance' cut offs in the middle of the night causing them to lose the precious light (and fan, and TV, and router, and whatever…) they need to carry out their daily work are now going 'HEY COME AND JOIN ME SAVE POWER…'
I think its funny how these people are now pointing fingers at cynics like us (I know there are many like me), saying that we're just wet blankets.
So I say, yes I'm a wet blanket, cannot izzit? But I also say, good for you, otherwise I have no idea what will move you to actually appreciate the piece and serenity of being in the dark. BTW, I don't sleep in air-conditioned rooms cos Air Conditioners are power guzzlers. Are your lights switched off and your air-cond turned on? Think you're still saving power?
Think again.
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Mar28
March 28, 2009 at 10:16 pm
first they’d berate you for not joining in the fun, spoiling the mood, etc. then when you point to them that they probably aren’t helping earth at all (e.g. air cond) they’d tell you it’s symbolic only…
March 28, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Sure, it may be hypocritical, and selfserving, and making people feel good about themselves. But one cant deny that it raises awareness about climate change, which is very necessary. Any publicity is good publicity which is why earth hour should be here to stay.
March 28, 2009 at 11:13 pm
it should stay. The concerts and the RM30 t-shirts and celebrities eager to make a quick buck should go though.
throw those out, and add on the no air cond thingie and it will be PERFECT. To make it even cooler, get TNB to have a sudden power outage to add to the fun! That will be earth hour all right.
March 29, 2009 at 1:23 am
so, say I join a “do not waste food” campaign, then I’m a hyprocrite for “eating” (or henceforth complaining about not having food when I’m really really hungry)?
I get your point, your argument is found wanting.
March 29, 2009 at 2:31 am
I don’t get it.
What’s wrong with aircond? Why does everybody keep ranting about aircond? Why do I have to make do without aircond?
Just because it is a luxury?!?
That makes no sense at all. Loads of things are luxuries as well. Shall we make do without those things?
March 29, 2009 at 4:21 am
I think at the end of the day the point boils down to making the whole idea of a green living a daily thing not a once a year one hour thing. On that note, green living is expensive and what not. But I guess the little things count, like how we watch TV and use the computer to chat at the same time barely paying attention to what’s on screen and leaving all the lights in the house on, leaving taps running while brushing teeth. Stuff like that.
March 29, 2009 at 1:42 pm
MY REVERSE EARTH HOUR PWNS YOUR EARTH HOUR
March 29, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I’d say it was a worthy effort to get people to not rape the earth as much as they normal do for just 1 hour. It’s the best humanity can and will (in general) do with all the selfishness that exists. It is still good.
If we’re going to go on a tirade at the meaningless things in this world there are too many but since I was Christian I’ll say let’s forget about the meaningless celebration of Christmas. The date of the celebration itself was stolen from the pagans and scholars have said that we don’t really know when Christ was born. The next is the idea of acting all holy just because he was born. The worst of it all is acting nobly just for 1 day when the other 364 days in a year people act like assholes.
So yes, humanity will create pointless symbolic rituals that is futile in the long run. From that point of view, perhaps a short lived burst of goodwill is still better than none.
**P.S** I still think the concert held was a f*cking disgusting stunt which completely defeated the purpose of the event.
March 30, 2009 at 3:02 am
Example of I’m-missing-the-point analogy.
Nothing is wrong with aircond. Don’t read the stuff up there in a general way. You’ll miss the point if you choose to ignore the context.
BTW, do you think it’s possible to ask your ex-colleague whether the consumption of electricity during Earth Hour time was more than usual, Claire?