Mar 28, 2010: Chinese Deodorant Cannons

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by spudcon

Makes me sick just looking at the pictures. People who are worried about bogus man-made warming should be worried instead about what the Communist Socialist Utopia is doing to our planet, and what will happen when they start dumping in the ocean. That's more likely to raise sea levels, and destroy life.

We in the West have spent about the last two centuries polluting the planet, shunting dangerous chemicals into our river systems, raising massified farming to epic levels, powering an industrial revolution through fossil fuels, and optimising our personal environments through central heating and air conditioning. Now we're full bore into the computer age and our relative wealth along with the speed of technological development ensures that a plentiful supply of old and obselete computers and mobile phones will sit alongside our old fridges and televisions.

Now, I'm not saying we don't have a stake in what the Chinese are now doing to the environment through their own industrial revolution, but really, it is a little rich to spend hundreds of years fucking up the planet in new and creative ways and then within a decade or so of becoming aware of our part in that planetary clusterfuck, to then point our collective finger at communist countries, or China in particular and call them bastards for doing the same. Particularly since they are still playing catch-up in terms of industrialising their nation, whilst we are enjoying our post-industrialisation sense of goodwill to Mother Earth.

Worth also noting that whilst China is still an appalling polluter, and is growing its fossil fuels consumption alarmingly, it is also the world's leading investor in renewable energy technologies.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by DanaC

it is a little rich to spend hundreds of years fucking up the planet in new and creative ways and then within a decade or so of becoming aware of our part in that planetary clusterfuck, to then point our collective finger at communist countries, or China in particular and call them bastards for doing the same.

Good point. But what about the concept of learning from the mistakes and successes of others? China is an expert in this area. (Which is a polite way of saying they steal all our intellectual property.) They learn everything they know from us, and they decide to reject the knowledge that they find inconvenient. They know pollution is bad, because they saw the West go through that period. But they have made the decision that they don't care. We can certainly judge them for knowingly choosing the path of polluting the planet we all share.