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My point is that the Russians don't take this seriously.  

Maybe if you lecture them loudly enough they will listen to you.

Or, did you have a better solution?

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 02:28:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've worked with Russians in Russia and the US for decades both in academia and business. I KNOW you achieve nothing by lecturing them.

My diary wasn't a lecture. It was meant as information for the readers of this blog and those at DailyKos.  Isn't it shocking to find out that Russia wastes as much energy as it exports?  The Russians should be encouraged to change, at times perhaps pressured, which in the right circumstances they do respond to. Am I lecturing when I write diaries about the corruption and stupidities of the Bush administration?  Would you be more upset if it were Germany or Portugal or Spain that was wasting energy on such a massive scale?

This isn't about politics, it's about saving the planet, and everyone, the Russians included is going to have to do their part.

"My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama

by JohnnyRook (johnnyrook1@gmail.com) on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 03:28:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, saving the planet is going to involve some politics, so I disagree a bit.  Everyone has to do their part; how do we convince them to do it?

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 03:38:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't have the answer to that one, a few ideas, yes, but no definitive answer.  I keep asking myself the same question.  Of course we can all make the lifestyle changes that bring us into harmony with a sustainable future, but beyond that on a policy level, we in the US need to throw the buffoon in the White House out with as many of his partisans in Congress as well. Then we'll be able to cooperate with the Europeans and start working at bringing India and China on board.

We'll also need to develop low cost, energy efficient technologies to transfer to the Third World.  I see confronting global warming as an opportunity to correct many of the mistakes of the past and to rebuild the world in a more sustainable, kinder, and more just way. From my perspective it's not just a question of finding an alternative power source and then continue doing the same stupid things we've been doing.  We need to reorganize our priorities and our societies. There are other crises out there, fresh water and population being chief among them, that will still be there if we treat global warming simply as a question of energy independence.

"My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama

by JohnnyRook (johnnyrook1@gmail.com) on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 03:57:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"I've worked with Russians in Russia and the US for decades both in academia and business. I KNOW you achieve nothing by lecturing them."

Q. I wonder innocently, does lecturing the Westerners produce any results?


"Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity." MMcL

by igor vincha (svjeronimatgmail.com) on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 04:18:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Look, I wrote a piece about Russian inefficiency and waste.  It wasn't about anybody else.  I write about other country's bad policies, most often my own, but that's not what this was about.  If I critique Peru do I have to to critique Bolivia as well?

Just get over it.

"My True Religion Is Kindness" -- The Dalai Lama

by JohnnyRook (johnnyrook1@gmail.com) on Fri Dec 28th, 2007 at 07:49:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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