Is This Irony?

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Or just idiocy? You be the judge.

At least these people are trying to live their "convictions." That is certainly more than can be said for the elitists who are their beloved leaders.

One more point before we go to the article. Liberals like to call themselves "progressives." In fact, that is what they want us all to call them. You know, as in: "progressing" away from the awful things that this country used to be. Anyway, the manner in which this couple (with different last names, but we learn at the end that they are married) lives is spectacular in its absurdity. It also points out the cold, hard fact that these people are nothing more than well-intentioned, but simple-minded, tools of the vast anti-capitalism effort that is trying to gain momentum.

Don't believe me? Okay, then, here is a very small sample of this article (which you need to read in its entirety to believe):

[[ The dishwasher is off, along with the microwave, the coffee machine and the food processor. Planes, trains, automobiles and that elevator are out, but the family is still doing laundry in the washing machines in the basement of the building. (Consider the ramifications of no-elevator living in a vertical city: one day recently, when Frankie the dog had digestive problems, Mr. Beavan, who takes Isabella to day care — six flights of stairs in a building six blocks away — and writes at the Writers Room on Astor Place — 12 flights of stairs, also six blocks away — estimated that by nightfall he had climbed 115 flights of stairs.) And they have not had the heart to take away the vacuum from their cleaning lady, who comes weekly (this week they took away her paper towels).

Until three weeks ago, however, Ms. Conlin was following her “high-fructose corn syrup ways,” meaning double espressos and pastries administered daily. “Giving up the coffee was like crashing down from a crystal meth addiction,” she said. “I had to leave work and go to bed for 24 hours.”

Toothpaste is baking soda (a box makes trash, to be sure, but of a better quality than a metal tube), but Ms. Conlin is still wearing the lipstick she gets from a friend who works at Lancôme, as well as moisturizers from Fresh and Kiehl’s. When the bottles, tubes and jars are empty, Mr. Beavan has promised her homemade, rules-appropriate substitutes. (Nothing is a substitute for toilet paper, by the way; think of bowls of water and lots of air drying.) ]]

Ummm... I'd rather not think of it, if you don't mind. Sorry, back to the fun:

[[ Yet since the beginning of No Impact, and to the amusement of her colleagues at Business Week, Ms. Conlin has been scootering to her office on 49th Street each day, bringing a Mason jar filled with greenhouse greens, cheese and her husband’s bread for lunch, along with her own napkin and cutlery. She has taken a bit of ribbing: “All progress is carbon fueled,” jeered one office mate.

Ms. Conlin, acknowledging that she sees her husband as No Impact Man and herself as simply inside his experiment, said she saw “An Inconvenient Truth” in an air-conditioned movie theater last summer. “It was like, ‘J’accuse!’ ” she said. “I just felt like everything I did in my life was contributing to a system that was really problematic.” Borrowing a phrase from her husband, she continued, “If I was a student, I would march against myself.” ]]

You just absolutely, positively cannot parody these people. Wow...

The Year Without Toilet Paper

For the record, I find nothing wrong with some of the things they are doing. Less television and more family time is an awesome concept that we all should embrace, for example (well, they went with NO television, but, whatever).

However (and this is a big however), the whole point of "progress" is to move mankind away from the drudgery, pain, and sacrifice of old. Our purpose on this planet is not to be miserable so that we don't put paper in a landfill. Our purpose is to advance, to love, to live, to enjoy the life that God has given us. Improvement of the human condition is not a bad thing.

Coming from a Catholic, you may find this hard to believe, but living on a huge guilt-trip is not something good or noble. It is just silly.

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