I notice people rarely talk about themselves and the environment. They’ll express outrage, recount facts, and say what other people should do, but not about themselves. So I’m thinking more about why. Seeing the overlap between behavioral addictions like social media, binge-watching TV, and gambling, and behavior that requires polluting reveals the overlap with why talking to addicts about their addiction goes nowhere. Addicted people resist acknowledging hurting people and[…] Keep reading →

I recently wrote about how Trying to lead an addict to admit their addiction or that they are hurting others (or themselves) is like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands. I’ve been thinking about why. Generally addiction means you’re acting against your own values, hurting others. An addict may say he or she doesn’t see that he or she is hurting others, but likely some part of[…] Keep reading →

I spoke recently with a guy who went through Alcoholics Anonymous. I tried to show him that we are addicted to behaviors that pollute and deplete. He agreed with that assessment. He agreed he was once addicted to alcohol, but he wouldn’t acknowledge that he was experiencing addiction with his polluting, depleting behaviors. To clarify, he didn’t disagree with anything. He just wouldn’t acknowledge he was addicted today. He acknowledged[…] Keep reading →

Every time someone tells me they balance their behavior regarding the environment, guaranteed the next thing they say will concern only themselves. They want to help the environment but they want to live their life too. They want not to pollute but they can’t afford not to fly. They want to eat less meat but they want to stay healthy. For one thing, most of what they say doesn’t make[…] Keep reading →

A reminder: my point in posting about syringes and addiction is less about the people addicted to hard drugs and more about our culture of huge parts of America (and many other nations) addicted. Addiction to social media, doof, fast fashion, driving, wearing shorts inside in the winter and sweaters in the summer, and everything else is addiction too. Regarding syringes, I’m writing: I saw the syringes below about 9:30am[…] Keep reading →

This post is about freedom. Several milestones this week following Year 13, day 1 of daily burpees and My Second Winter Solstice: Over 1.5 Years Unplugged From the Electric Grid (and counting). More freedom than ever. I once filled about a load of trash every week. I ordered takeout and bought lots of packaged food. I bought things online. I didn’t realize how much it cost me in money and[…] Keep reading →

They put up umbrellas to be less obvious in one sense since you can’t see they syringe as easily, but more obvious if you know the reason for the umbrella. I post about addicts because I only see quantitative, not qualitative, difference between this behavior and McDonald’s, Starbucks, or other behavior that people can’t stop despite it harming others. If we drive when we can walk or bike, or use[…] Keep reading →