Slippery Slopes
First Australia built one, then Japan. There's a whole slew of 'em in Europe. And when the United Arab Emirates built Ski Dubai, its indoor ski dome on the desert shores of the Persian Gulf, you just knew Vegas couldn't be far behind? I mean, c'mon, how could Sin City resist? Hey Sheikh, let's race to the bottom! Meanwhile, the real snow goes to hell. Pathetic.
7 Comments:
The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.
The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.
Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.
Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.
If there are no gaps there is no emotion.
Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.
When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.
There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.
People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.
Emotion ends.
Man becomes machine.
A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.
FAST VISUALS /WORDS MAKE SLOW EMOTIONS EXTINCT.
SCIENTIFIC /INDUSTRIAL /FINANCIAL THINKING DESTROYS EMOTIONAL CIRCUITS.
A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY CANNOT FEEL PAIN / REMORSE / EMPATHY.
A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY WILL ALWAYS BE CRUEL TO ANIMALS/ TREES/ AIR/ WATER/ LAND AND TO ITSELF.
To read the complete article please follow either of these links :
PlanetSave
EarthNewsWire
sushil_yadav
Yes, sushil we know. You have told us before. - My first thought when I read your blog was 'COOL'. Don't know what's wrong with building an indoor year round ski slope? It gives people the opportunity to live where they want and still enjoy the activities they love without have to pay the expenses of traveling to their favorite mountain and now they can ski whenever they like without waiting for winter. I don't think anyone wants indoor sking to replace outdoor sking? Also, won't this, possibly, decrease development of potential ski slopes in environmentally sensitive areas? Can't really wrap my brain around why this is pathetic unless it's more of this us against them thinking that got us to this point anyway. - It's an alternative not a replacement. Choice is good, right?
Yeah sushil, knock it off.
Averagejoe, I think you make a good point and I thought it over before posting. I even read about the lengths to which Ski Dubai went to make the project efficient. They say it's insulated so well that they can turn the power off for two days with no increase in melting and I think the recycle water for snow making. That's great, as far as it goes. I mean it. I don't mean to pick on Dubai. But the net energy expenditure to build ski domes must be enormous, no matter how efficient.
As to your point about people not having to travel to the mountains or further develop ski areas, I think you answered your own question when you pointed out that these things won't replace 'real' skiing. If anything, they'll teach more flatlanders to ski well enough that they'll want to travel to the mountains to ski the real thing more often. I bet you more Emiratis go skiing in the Alps now than ever before. And this is the country which, on a per capita scale, already has the largest ecological footprint in the world.
But even that's not my real point. The reason I entitled it slippery slopes is because I think this attitude that everyone ought to have everything available to them everywhere really is a slippery slope and 'a race to the bottom.' It's the thinking that we should eat Maine lobster where we could and should be eating local dungeness crab. Or that it's okay that the fastest growing city in the United States is located in the desert, where water sources are already stressed to the max. Or that its okay if the global temperature goes up because we've got air conditioning and artificial ski slopes.
At what point do we step back and say, no, it's not okay. In the end, we're forced to make value judgements. I know there's some hypocrisy in my criticisms. Hell, I'm as guilty as the next person of wanting it all. But when we have these huge symbols of excess and extravagance in front of us, I think we're forced to judge good or bad. And I say no, not all choice is good. I say enough.
Sorry to rant.
I dunno, I can dig where Sushil is coming from. (But I haven't seen his past comments -- does the dude go on and on, or what?) His missive -- well, what I read of it, the first paragraph -- has something Thoreauvian to it. Muirian, maybe? I like the subsequent points (though having seen it happen with rock climbing, I'm sure that some indoor skiiers DO want it to replace "the real thing"). As the sage wrote, "Having acquired the qin's inner significance, why take the trouble of putting on the strings to play it?"
OK, Pat you are right I did answer my own question when I said more people will be able to ski. Thus more people will want to go outdoors and do the real thing. But seeing as comfort is such a huge thing maybe not. - But I do think this does development does pose as an opportunity for the environmental movement as most folks without concerns for the enviornment haven't had the great experience outdoors. I know this is a little bit of circular thinking here but here goes anyways. You build indoor ski slopes, people whom wouldn't normally learn to ski do, they then want to enjoy the "real" thing, only with the current climate crisis there is the potential risk of losing snowfall in some of the best sking areas. So the Sierra Club and other organizations work with the indoor ski rinks (for lack of a better word) and get that information out there so that people know that if they want to visit these places changes need to be made. I know there are a lot of problems with this but it never has been easy, has it? And also what is there to lose, except everything? - Now to what you said about wanting it all. I do not think that everybody wants it all, in fact I think most people to appreciate the simple things in life. Vegas is called sin city for a reason and is definately a symobol of what "wrong" with the world. But does Vegas really need to be fixed? It is what it is and it will evolve as the world evolves. If we are to set strong environmental standards for emissions Vegas will have the money to make the necessary changes. As for water, I don't know who said it or where I read it, maybe even in one of your blogs, but it goes something like "Americans are so stupid they'll pay for water". I believe this was said before the big water in a bottle craze. Another way to look at is that America and Americans have, for the most part, been so blessed that we just except to have everything available to us. The country was built on capitalism, if someone is willing to pay for a product or service there will be someone else there to provide it. It's just the way it is. (On a side note, I've got to say I have no understanding of the Stock Market and how it came about, is it just betting on businesses?) This is the way things are what we can do is work to better they way we do things so that there is not such and impact on the health of the earth. As the picture becomes more dire changes will be made but travel will not cease and cars will continue to exist and people will still want endulge themselves. In a way I actually think that it can bring the world closer together, but we also need to start understanding that we are all in this together and not one nation, religion, race or individual is more important then another. It's the good/bad judgement that is hurting us. Indoor Ski rinks are neither good or bad there just ski rinks. Can there be a better model for building and maintaining them? I am sure. Now how do we do it and who is going to stand up and make it happen? That's the question we need to be asking.
OK, Now that's a Rant!
Thanks for responding, Averagejoe. I see the points you're trying to make and appreciate your point of view. I respectfully submit, however, that at some point we need to begin saying no to some developments, rather than simply trying to make them less harmful.
Also, people shouldn't care about melting glaciers and vanishing snowpacks because of what it means for skiing, but because of the much broader ramifications. Skiing is the least of it. They should care because of what it means for year-round water supplies in arid regions like, for example, (sorry to pick on 'em) Las Vegas.
Likewise, on the response Pat. I basically agree with what your saying and wish we could work that way but unfortunately we need a change of mindset in this country and around the world to get to the 'No' on development point of view. Hopefully, we'll get there sooner rather then later. And when new developments, or re-developments, occur they are done in environmentally sensitive manner. - Of course I agree why people should care if our glaciers and mountains melt but, as I'm sure you know, why people "should" care about something and actually "do" care don't often mesh.
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