Half of the US government's financial assets are student loans

Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by noobermin on Friday January 12, 2018 @04:49PM (#16136639)

If you want to be serious about saving our future, you need to stop standing on the sidelines and echoing the defeatist attitude that the situation we're in cannot be fixed. We need to stop worrying about offending a minority of people who have power and focus on ending their political power, because a lot of the fixes will be political and must be.

EDIT: being a little presumptive here, see below.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by adreamingsoul on Friday January 12, 2018 @04:55PM (#16136675)

Currently, I serve on two committees with my local City government. I work-trade with local farmers and volunteer with numerous non-profit organizations. I've converted my backyard into an urban farm and have started a composting program with my neighbors. I regularly meet with the Mayor to discuss ideas that could benefit the local community.

All of this is in addition to my 9-5.

What else should I be doing?

Also, I don't appreciate your presumption that I have a "defeatist" attitude just because I shared some of my honest thoughts. Next time ask.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by noobermin on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:00PM (#16136708)

You're definitely doing a lot more than a lot of people are doing. I read your last line as defeatist, and probably misjudged you.

I will say however that a lot of the issues you talk about are systemic and larger than what can be affected by local politics. Compositing programs won't address there are still large corporate farms out there that contribute the most to climate change. The same is true of recycling, being vegan or eating local, etc. A lot of change that needs to occur involves regulating large corporations.

It sounds like you're aware of this, but that's how you address the future. I think you agree.

EDIT: leaving my presumptive comment above unchanged so people reading won't be confused.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by adreamingsoul on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:20PM (#16136857)

Thanks. I agree with you about the fact that what I'm doing isn't a direct influence on the bigger issues. However, consumers play a major role in these larger issues.

For example, If we as a society would stop buying cheap food, it would force the hand of these industrial operations to change their behavior.

So I'm taking the time I have now to learn and improve my mentoring and educational skills when working with the local community. In addition to regulation, I also think it's critical that sustainable change occurs from our within society.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by anigbrowl on Friday January 12, 2018 @08:46PM (#16137805)

If we as a society would stop buying cheap food

While voting with your wallet and trying to be a conscientious consumer is great, the asymmetry between ad=hoc networks of consumers pursuing smarter more sustainable choices and people who are directly invested in selling crap fora quick buck is huge. Since the large industrial concerns can spend a fortune on advertising and demand creation how exactly are you going to 'force their hand'? So far evidence suggests they often just create an additional line of healthier-seeming products at a higher price point that can be marketed to your demographic segment.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by adreamingsoul on Sunday January 14, 2018 @11:49AM (#16144958)

In my opinion, the solution here is education. The illiteracy of food is a tremendous problem and can't be solved with regulation. Corporations can easily find a loop-hole in regulations that allow them in principle to achieve the same yield. The only way we are going to stop that is by educating consumers. If a vast majority of consumers read labels, research ingredients, and only bought from local farmers, we would force corporations to change from within. I believe this to be true and a model that works, because I live in an area that is currently undergoing this type of change.

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Re:Half of the US government's financial assets are student ... by anigbrowl on Sunday January 14, 2018 @06:30PM (#16147213)

We already have education, every food product in American has a clearly designed Nutrition Facts label and there are ongoing public information campaigns on the benefits of healthy eating.

Surely you have noticed that there are also people who systematically attempt to undermine such public education efforts. I think you might at least acknowledge their existence and the existence of advertising that attempts to bypass educational channels to sell crappy foods.

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