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kpete

(71,994 posts)
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 10:35 AM Mar 2012

On behalf of my generation of grandparents to all of you, I want to apologize.

On behalf of my generation of grandparents to all of you, I want to apologize.


I am sorry we used up all the oil. It took a million years for those layers of carbon goo to form under the Earth’s crust and we used up most of it in a geological instant. No doubt there will be some left and perhaps you can get around the fact that what remains is already distant, dirty, and dangerous, but the low-hanging fruit will be long-gone by the time you are my age. We took it all.

There’s no excuse, really. We are gas-hogs, plain and simple. We got hooked on faster-bigger-more and charged right over the carrying capacity of the planet. Oil made it possible.

Machines are our slaves and coal, oil, and gas are their food. They helped us grow so much of our own food that we could overpopulate the Earth. We could ship stuff and travel all over the globe, and still have enough fuel left to drive home alone in trucks in time to watch Monday Night Football.

......................

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_letter_of_apology_to_my_granddaughter_20120328/?ln

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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On behalf of my generation of grandparents to all of you, I want to apologize. (Original Post) kpete Mar 2012 OP
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO!!!! bart95 Mar 2012 #1
I'm not sure the point to this el_bryanto Mar 2012 #2
This is what I mean when I say "Boomers ate the world." RadiationTherapy Mar 2012 #3
I love a good self-loathing screed slackmaster Mar 2012 #4
Go granny, go granny, go granny, go pinboy3niner Mar 2012 #5
I was talking to my grandson the other day and he mentioned how my generation messed up. But jwirr Mar 2012 #6
 

bart95

(488 posts)
1. C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO!!!!
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 10:46 AM
Mar 2012

well, at least we did it in style




all kidding aside, I thought the late 1990's chevy suburban The largest sport utility vehicle on the planet ad campaign was despicable, and would inevitably lead us to the high gas prices we have today, as well as your very legitimate concerns, which i have always shared

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
2. I'm not sure the point to this
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 10:48 AM
Mar 2012

Doesn't the author realize that our generation, based on the knowledge of the time, would do the same thing. Possibly worse as we have even less sense of community than those who ran things in the 50s and 60s did?

Bryant

RadiationTherapy

(5,818 posts)
3. This is what I mean when I say "Boomers ate the world."
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 10:49 AM
Mar 2012

The point is moot, though, because in the context of the time and place they were being marketed to, it was unlikely there was anything particular about them that made them more susceptible to the techniques that encourage consumerism. It was a confluence of world domination of production by the US, marketing consumerism, and the largest generation this nation had known.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
6. I was talking to my grandson the other day and he mentioned how my generation messed up. But
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 11:40 AM
Mar 2012

he is not doing much to change it so I said "watch what you say because in 20+ years you will be saying the same thing to your children". I too am sorry it has gotten this bad. I would just like to go back to Oct. 1941 when I was born and try again. Unfortunately that is not an option.

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