Pretty People Prefer Priuses
Jerome a Paris of the DailyKos waxes lyrical about the Vanity Fair “green” issue, something I never picked up because I figured it would make me hork up my spleen.
Jerome, you’re a snarker after my own withered melon-seed of a heart. Brava:
Plenty of snarky, snide, vicious little jabs at Birkenstocks, lentils, tie dye, tree hugging, and any critique of capitalism—just so yesterday, m’dear. Trying to make it clear that Pretty Wealthy People Green-ness is a whole new, fashionable, stylish and above all upper-crusty thing, not some dreary shtick about, you know, serious ideas discussed by nonphotogenic vegetarian anoraks who drive old cars or godforbid ride a bike. Token third world activist—just one—Wangari Maathai. Everyone else seems white and 80 percent male. Feature pages: nifty expensive gifts to buy that are green or pseudo-green—how to Keep Consuming Pointlessly with a Clear Conscience. …
Every pathology of the overripe zenith of American hyperconsumerism and narcissism, proudly flaunted in one shiny, garishly overcoloured, borderline-porno, pretty-shiny-toxic package. What an experience.
[via Gristmill]
Then, oh frabjous day! I read David Roberts’ tirade on Wired. My cup overfloweth:
And speaking of hippies: the “Rise of the Neo-Greens” practically bursts a blood vessel admiring the clever young fashionistas “triangulating between the hippies and the hip.” …
Anyway, this post is probably bitchier than strictly necessary. But as environmental consciousness becomes cool, I’d really prefer it not also become faddish and vain, and I’d prefer not too much crap be dumped on the caricatured heads of the activists who came before us and laid the groundwork for this resurgence. All the glossy-magazine coverage is uncomfortably redolent of late-90s tech hype. To paraphrase ex-Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan, let’s keep our exuberance rational. This is one bubble we can’t afford to have burst.
We bitch because we love. Ah well, no time for bile, Dr. Jones. The sun is out and the day is young, so let’s enjoy what we can while we can.
The Worsted Witch » My Selfish Gene said,
August 2, 2006 at 4:35 pm
[...] I understand how the wheels of the consumer capitalist machine revolve, but I’ve always raised a skeptical eyebrow towards green consumerism, which is quite different from consuming consciously. The latter places needs above wants. The former, however, objectifies the movement but sees no inherent value in something other than keeping in step with the zeitgeist, persisting in the same excessive spending patterns reflexively with neither analysis nor forethought. [...]