Hippies

Ohhh Hippies.  Why oh why do hippies get under my skin.  It perplexes me.  I understand they mean well in this world; they have "good intentions", but still, something is off.  Now... me even talking about this subject is risky because a large portion of my friends fit partially in this group;  some because my background education evolves around the environment, and some because my outdoor hobbies are hot spots for your quintessential granola lover.  Hiking, skiing, camping...well basically anything outdoors tends to be shared with someone with hemp.  So back to the big question...why does this bother me?

Well I guess the first thing is...they mean well, but their "good intentions" block all sensible facts.

Example 1)  Oil sands are bad, use wind and solar.  
Ok, um, lets look into this with a rational 360 view.  Oil is not ideal, this is obvious even to the big wigs working in the towers in downtown Calgary, BUT several things come into play here.  Oil upgrading is advancing at a staggering rate.  I know, I've seen and studied this with my own eyes.  Tailing ponds once were thought to exist for centuries....a few years ago it was decades...now its years!  This is positive movement.  Even after saying this, I still want to look at anything that would suggest progress.

 The hippies throw out the term renewable energy...such as wind, solar, and so forth.  If they look deep into all the little intricacies, and I mean deeper then looking at the green grass and pretty fans twirling, they will see several issues.  Wind power has been in the news alot lately.  Not only is it known to kill song birds, and messing up the local bat population, it is now making the local human population sick....hmmm.  The cost for 1 generator is high, and powers 200 households give or take.  You start piling up these wind farms, we will see new issues....not to mention the chemicals used to construct 1 blade is not ideal.   Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing wind off, its a positive moral for many and does contribute to the grid, but come on, we will never live off wind and sun alone for a loooong time.  Last and Im sure least on the hippy radar... it takes ideal locations, ideal government, and large companies to make a decent income off this.  Look at any renewable based stock....I personally have because I once thought this was the next boom.  Well, the reality is profit is tough to be had here, and many of these stocks are not good buys.

HIPPIES MAY KNOW FACTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS, BUT UNTIL THEY START LOOKING AT IT FROM ALL PERSPECTIVES, THEY WONT HAVE A STRONG UNDERSTANDING OF IT.
HOW DO YOU THINK BIO-FUEL CAME ABOUT.  HOWS THE PUBLIC OPINION ON THAT NOW!??

Hmmm, I seemed to have rambled a bit longer then planned on wind.  I wont get into the details with regards to sun, hydro, geo, etc, but I have points on each.  Hydro floods, sun is not efficient and the photocells have their issues, geo is expensive, and so on and so forth.

I guess hippies like to make you aware what your doing wrong as well.  They may not like the meat your eating because its not ethical, or not like golf because of the water used, or dislike Alberta because we like money, or making money period because its a wasted foot print, or or or.   I've heard it all.  Again, it all sounds good, but I'll take any recommendations from a well educated well rounded individual working their ass off looking at all perspectives, not a 20-30 something hippy yet to see any sort of consequences sitting out in the park protesting against the rich like the occupy movement.  Have you seen photos of these bums?  Mec equipment, hemp and dreaded everything, drums, bongos, all that hippy shit.  Ugh, how can anyone take them serious!

Wow, sidetracked again lol.

My final words...renewable energy, ethical foods, low impact living all are commendable, and at some miniscule level, is making progress, but working within the system and seeing all options presently available is the only way your voice will and should be heard.   Don't judge people who live lavishly.  Those same people may have contributed 100x more to a "green" organization compared to your bush lifestyle contribution.  Its hard to make a REAL difference when your "living off the land" in the sticks.  Don't hate oil, but in the same breath, know that there is a process in progress in reducing emissions, and increasing efficiently.

Again, I apologize on the rambling.  I'm writing this late, my opinion is crazy strong with respects to this,  and Im sure some of my points are not fully explained or completed.

We are living in the future now.