The President, you and me, we are all consumers. Government wisdom says spend more to make more. That does not sound like wisdom to me. What kind of insane notion is that?
Want to help make our economy stronger? Spend less, buy only what you need, be fiscally responsible (unlike our government) by not spending more than you have and don’t buy things you won’t use or don’t need. Pay the taxes required of you but not a dime more. Our government has no clue how to manage money.
What has consumerism cost us? Banks that can not keep running, car manufacturers that can’t make cars we can afford and businesses that would have failed without huge infusions of cash, our cash. Does this make sense?
I love this country, but we have a messed up sense of what is right and wrong. Why am I paying for the bank, mortgage lender, car manufacturer and the Wall Street mess? That is just wrong. For example, in the Wall Street fiasco, the government plunges us deeper into debt while the leaders in that industry receive HUGE bonuses. Does that make sense? They exercised such poor judgment that they lost billions in our retirement investments and helped plunge the US into trillions of dollars of debt (read, you and me). I have an idea, if someone loses billions of dollars in a job that is supposed to make money, fire him. He is not doing his job. Certainly do not pay him huge bonuses. Let someone take his place, like the guy who won the football pool based on excellent draft picks.
It seems to me our goverment needs the same kind of accountability as the banks, auto industry and Wall Street. Maybe Ross Perot would have made a good President (scarry thought – sorry).
What separates me from God? That is easy. My own desires separate me from God. Tithes, short term missions, and “the work of the church” all insulate me from seeking what God wants from me.
What if He wants me to chuck it all and move to Guatemala to serve the poor there, live among them, eat what they eat, drink what they drink, wear what they wear and serve them with all that is left after I give every material possession I have away?
I don’t know. I just don’t know. I can’t say I look forward to that kind of calling. But I should be listening still and willing to go if He asks it of me. And I will leave it up to God to explain it all to my wife if it happens.
I am listening…
According to Earth Policy Institute, “the global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004.”
According to the Container Recycling Institute, “American consumers purchase over 500 million beverage bottles and cans, on average, every day. Only about one in three are recycled while two out of three beverage containers sold are land?lled, incinerated or littered.”
Bottles for the water requires millions of gallons of oil to make according to Food & Water Watch.
In the US bottled water typically costs more per gallon than gasoline.
The bottled water industry is growing – producing more bottles of water than ever.
Why would we do this to our planet? Bottled water has its place. Certainly providing clean drinking water is vital, but is bottled water the answer to the world’s water problem? Or our water needs? I think not.
At the very least burying our bottles consisutes the loss of billions of dollars in the scrap value of the containers. And those containers affect our planet, its animals, including the quality of life for humans.
Think before you drink, nuff said.