Toxic Laptops Exposed

[bigtomrodney]

I absolutely want to promote a better environment for all. I would share many of the same goals as Greenpeace et al., but my objection as I mentioned above is the methods used in highlighting these points. I can tell you I've never met an activist who wasn't either a little odd or a straight out basket case. That may be a generalisation but I can only speak from my own experience. I also find that most members of groups like this are also members of any other group that likes to make a noise. So you are left with career protestors. Guys who are in CND, Greenpeace, Socialist Worker's Party, Anti-Nazi League and anything else that lets them make a lot of noise and draw attention to themselves. You never see these career-protestors working for a living.

It's the attitude of "Everything is wrong so I reject it". This is a complete cop-out. How about this is how we live - let's make changes and sacrifices to ensure we do it the right way and prevent harm to the environment. So as I said I'll do my piece, you concentrate on yours and we'll all fix the world. Let's just leave the dogma to the politicians you've lost your faith in.

[fingal]

I absolutely want to promote a better environment for all. I would share many of the same goals as Greenpeace et al., but my objection as I mentioned above is the methods used in highlighting these points ...

It's one point of view, but to come back at you slightly - not sure about the 'basket case' bit. At one time or another I've been labelled that way. In fact, for a brief time I was known as 'Weird John' (at university). I've also been 'Mad John' and a couple or three others. I was actually none of these things: people have just grown to hate and despise anything which is 'different', and I would argue that most things today are wrong in some shape or form, though I won't labour the point. It's not a view shared by most people. All you have to do these days to be seen as 'radical' or 'crazy' is to not follow the crowd.

I would refute the opinion that people in CND etc. are out to draw attention to themselves. I've hung around with people like that, and they were some of the friendliest people I've ever met. Sure ... some of them were up themselves, but you find that in any group. Most of them really cared ... and were prepared to break the law to prove it. I was too much of a middle class coward to get myself arrested, but looking back on it I wish I had.

Greenpeace are a quite sophisticated group of people, and I think a lot of the 'hippy' perceptions are based on media representations of them. Journalists are often good at writing, but poor at understanding. There are enough PHDs and academics working for such organisations to give them at least some weight. They aren't hippies or weirdos I can assure you.

I'm not saying that I know the answers: that would be hugely arrogant, but I know where things are wrong. Maybe it's just the human condition; things are never satisfactory?

[off_topic]
As a slightly off-topic example, I work as a business librarian of sorts. In England at least we're perceived as old, stuffy ... We are very fussy, smell of Brillcream and wear elbow patches on our corduroy jackets. Short tempers are of course de rigeur, and God! Don't ever bring your overdue books in and expect a smile.

We actually did a module about these negative perceptions when I was doing my degree. Ha ha! They said. Please feel free to laugh. Imagine my horror when I met some people who were more or less like that. Those are the ones people actually remember, not the rest of us. Life is unkind like that.

A bit like your average Linux user. Cuddly penguin by the bed? Long hair? Goatee? Heavily into Metallica?
[/off_topic]

Anyway - I'm happy to be different. I just keep it quiet most of the time. As for being a professional dissenter ... Why not? Who's to say that working 9-5 until you drop is a worthy or desirable thing to do? Why not keep goats and live in a stone hut in Madagascar?

[ImNeat]

Oh...nice. Now I am never going to eat my laptops again.

Rofl.

Common man....they are laptops....you don't regulary dump them in your trash or eat/smoke them....then why care what are they made up of.

If only that were true. Unfortunately, they are regularly dumped and eaten. ...Ok, so just dumped, but that's still horrible.

As consumers we have a responsibility to be aware of what we're doing. If you don't see it now, then you will see it later.

Couldn't agree more.

All this BS really does make me want to go out and buy the most poisonous, toxic gas filled laptop I can get my hands on. And gimme the one with the really big power supply, so I eat watts like they're going out of fashion - lets see how fast I can make my meter spin...

Wow. Wow...

Why not keep goats and live in a stone hut in Madagascar?

G04tZ R pPl 2 U 4S$H013!!!!