cars, guns, televisions, and red meat

"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad," a proverb which comes to us from the television series "Star Trek," is probably appropriate here.

From Digby's blog yesterday:

From what I can gather, this climate change pseudo-scandal is going to be with us for a while so if you haven't delved into it in any detail, it's probably a good idea to do so. The number of Inhoffian cretins bellowing on TV about hoaxes is growing by the hour.

We're ruled by lunatics in suits who claim that global climate change is a con job.

Then there's Southern California, where the impact of destructive forms of human activity on a fragile environment are not just measurable, but unavoidably seen, and even tasted. What good is air if you can't chew it?

It's still possible to achieve the good life in this country, but only if you can imagine what it looks like. And what it looks like will never, ever be televised. We have to be able to imagine and create it ourselves, because we are utterly leaderless.

The good life doesn't include cars, guns, televisions, or red meat. You won't see it on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Vulgar." At this point, there is no aspect of the mainstream culture which lends itself to any semblance of a viable future.

We have to make our own damn future.