(no subject)

[ginny_t]

The story of stuff. An interesting video about consumerism.

Aside: When did "toxic" become a noun?

Comments

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Oh, had you not seen it before?

I certainly found it very disturbing. :(

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I hadn't. Not that any of it was necessarily new (I just finished reading the World Without Us, which was very poorly written but a little scary nonetheless), but it was a nifty presentation. ^_^

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Oh, I keep seeing that book at the store. If it's poorly written I will skip it.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

It's not worth buying, I think. But it is worth borrowing from the library to check it out.

It reads like a novel-length newspaper article, with fact dumps without analysis, superficial descriptions of people being interviewed, and a sprinkling of sensationalism to make you say "oh, my stars!" and then feel safe in your living room.

Also, the basic premise is pretty rarefied. How exactly would all of humanity up and disappear in a short period of time without a disaster (either man-made or other)?

It's got some interesting information, but I would say it's a starting point rather than a thoughtful analysis.

[hysteriachan.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched the actual video yet, but saw the link on Feministe and then poked around in the site's links. Eeep.

[seangaffney.livejournal.com]

Any word can be noun'd nowadays. Just as any word can be verb'd or adjective'd.

Sean almosts Anime North. :)

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

Ginny swats Sean.

Neologisms that fill a vacuum are welcome. Neologisms that indicate that the creator is too lazy or ?? to find the perfectly good word already in existence and use are most certainly not welcome and make their user subject to mockery and ridicule.

[fpelayo.livejournal.com]

I showed that to my sister and she responded with this: (along with "got a bit tired of all the proselytizing" ^^;;;;;)

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9390797&CFID=4609003&CFTOKEN=96479849

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

So, by passing this on, you've implied agreement with your sister. (I'm just letting you know where I'm coming from with this reply.)

To the proselytizing comment, I say, "It's 20 minutes. Get over it." Also, feel free to point out anything she said there that wasn't true.

The Economist article, though. Don't link me to shit like that please, unless it's in a "WTF?" context. Because really, wtf. I didn't even read it, but a glance showed me the condescending and mocking tone. That's just not cool with me. Feel free to disagree, but don't mock and offend.

[fpelayo.livejournal.com]

Not agreeing necessarily - just getting a 2nd opinion on something that sounds reasonable. (like I did with sending her the Stuff link)

She sent me the article saying it was an interesting piece from a "well-respected magazine." ^^; (but not before jokingly asking if I was "turning into a rabid environmentalist" o.O;;)

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

By passing it on without any sort of commentary, you do appear to be agreeing with it. Sure, get a second opinion, but evaluate both opinions for yourself.

The Economist is a "well-respected" right wing magazine. The whole field of economy is conservative. In addition, look at the cover of their latest issue. Looks pretty darned racist to me. Fear and othering, anyone? NO.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

So, I looked again at this article today. I looked at it too quickly the other day and formed an impression from only a couple of phrases out of context. I'm sorry I was so snappy about that.