[Graeme]

The end of consumerism: Our way of life is 'not viable'

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')itch the dog; throw away (sorry, recycle) those takeaway menus; bin bottled water; get rid of that gas-guzzling car and forget flying to far-flung places. These are just some of the sacrifices we in the West will need to make if we are to survive climate change.

The stark warning comes from the renowned Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based organisation regarded as the world's pre-eminent environmental think tank.

Its State of the World 2010 report published this week outlines a blueprint for changing our entire way of life. "Preventing the collapse of human civilisation requires nothing less than a wholesale transformation of dominant cultural patterns. This transformation would reject consumerism... and establish in its place a new cultural framework centred on sustainability," states the report.

[timmac]

And doing what is stated in that article will put half of the worlds working stiffs in the unemployment line, heck maybe 70% unemployyed is what might happen here in America..

All under false science !!

[Rod_Cloutier]

I would disagree with the 'ditch the dog' statement. Dogs have been useful, at times even essential to human survival over the ages. We have domesticated, selectively bred, and co-evolved with dogs, so dogs are not a problem.

Rat terriers and other small dogs were bred specifically to control rodent infestations which would otherwise spred disease and consume our crops and stockpiles of food. Labradors, sheep dogs and other scent dogs were indispencible with keeping cattle, sheep, and in use for wild hunting. Large and vicious dogs, rotweillers, pit-bulls, dalmations were used as guard dogs, guarding property against both intuders and wild animals.

All these things will be important again in the post-peak oil world of scarcity. Its not time to 'ditch the dog'!

[mcgowanjm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', '
')All these things will be important again in the post-peak oil world of scarcity. Its not time to 'ditch the dog'!

[Cloud9]

Jill Russel is an outstanding alarm system. Messing with her could shorten your lfe.

[drew]

A couple of scumbags tried to b&e my house while we were home on friday. The one that knocked on our door (after trying every window and door at the back) said he was looking for some girl. My dog went nuts when I went to the door and I got a bad vibe instantly. I thought 'I have a weapon 3 feet away' which I do, so I wasn't feeling any fear about opening the door at 2 AM......I told the kid 'you've got the wrong house' and he left. Something didn't seem right about all of this and that is when we walked out back and found all his footprints. I grabbed my weapon (a bokken) and a flashlight and checked out five or ten of my neighbours' houses and then called the cops. Turns out they tried to kick in the door of a neighbour's (while they were home) quite a ways down the street about 10 minutes after they were at my place. I had forensics at my house on saturday taking pictures of all the footprints.

The moral of the story is simple; dogs ARE man's best friend. If I was at work and I didn't have a dog people might well have been invading my house!

Drew

[frankthetank]

I didn't think Canada had crime

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('drew', 'A') couple of scumbags tried to b&e my house while we were home on friday. The one that knocked on our door (after trying every window and door at the back) said he was looking for some girl. My dog went nuts when I went to the door and I got a bad vibe instantly. I thought 'I have a weapon 3 feet away' which I do, so I wasn't feeling any fear about opening the door at 2 AM.

The moral of the story is simple; dogs ARE man's best friend. If I was at work and I didn't have a dog people might well have been invading my house!

[Plantagenet]

When dogs are outlawed, only outlaws will have dogs.

[green_achers]

My dog weighs 90 lbs and did a great job of ridding the barn of armadillos the day I brought him home. But he's pretty worthless when it comes to being a watch dog.

As far as the article is concerned, I did not read it yet, but how many articles have I seen written just like this? What are we, 40 years post Club of Rome, and these writers always act like they've never heard of the concept of limits. Where have they been all this time, sharing a cave with Bin Laden?

[hillsidedigger]

Consumerism was once considered by everyone to be a terrible vice that always resulted in disease.

[Sixstrings]

I really don't know what their angle is here. I guess they're just trying to pump folks up to be dirt poor, as in "You're gonna be dirt freaking poor in the new globalist world, so let's all hold hands and embrace poverty. Oh, and the dog has to go."

They don't say that word of course, poverty -- dirt poor, 3rd world Bangalore slum style poverty. Instead, they dress it up like some kind of grand adventure, a noble cause we're about undertake.

[Ludi]

I'll ditch my dog ( and cats) when everyone else ditches their children.

[hope_full]

I live on the edges of the 'hood where the "young men" (twitch, twitch) walk down the street looking for the easy marks in the community. Three times, my car was broken into in one year while it sat 20 feet away from my back door.

At least once a month, a miscreant would stagger into my yard and ask for money and/or generally harass me. Mind you, I have a nice expensive security system, but that didn't keep the car safe and it didn't keep the ne'er-do-wells from knocking on my door.

I now have a 30-pound fluffy dog with a big, loud bark. Since that little dog came into my life, my troubles with break-ins and miscreants have *ceased.* My fluffy dog spends the night in my bedroom and I sleep well. She can hear things and sense things that baffle understanding. We think she's barking at nothing, and then a minute or two later, we look out the window and see someone walking down the sidewalk at 2:00 am.

I'm not ditching my dog.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I')'ll ditch my dog ( and cats) when everyone else ditches their children.

[socrates1fan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', 'I') would disagree with the 'ditch the dog' statement. Dogs have been useful, at times even essential to human survival over the ages. We have domesticated, selectively bred, and co-evolved with dogs, so dogs are not a problem.

Rat terriers and other small dogs were bred specifically to control rodent infestations which would otherwise spred disease and consume our crops and stockpiles of food. Labradors, sheep dogs and other scent dogs were indispencible with keeping cattle, sheep, and in use for wild hunting. Large and vicious dogs, rotweillers, pit-bulls, dalmations were used as guard dogs, guarding property against both intuders and wild animals.

All these things will be important again in the post-peak oil world of scarcity. Its not time to 'ditch the dog'!

[drew]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', '
')
Are you allowed to own a firearm and defend yourself in Canada? Or are you required to run away if an attacker broke into your house?

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('drew', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', '
')
Are you allowed to own a firearm and defend yourself in Canada? Or are you required to run away if an attacker broke into your house?

[americandream]

The caviare eating class wont change anything so no need to panic.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('timmac', 'A')nd doing what is stated in that article will put half of the worlds working stiffs in the unemployment line, heck maybe 70% unemployyed is what might happen here in America..

All under false science !!

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('green_achers', 'M')y dog weighs 90 lbs and did a great job of ridding the barn of armadillos the day I brought him home.