This just reads like parody to me, especially in light of MMM. I just don't relate to any of it (except the dealership model comment, although I've only tried it once and ended up walking out to go buy a car on craigslist because that was way less sketchy)
how so? are you reacting to the use of the word consumerism specifically?
Checking the definition to see if I used it correctly, and it has several definitions, and even some nuances within those definitions......some of which are weightier than others. So perhaps it was a poor word choice there. I was speaking of myself as a consumer, a customer, a buyer, nosomuch as a philosophy of high consumption as a mandate or anything. But I would hope one would read a little more detailed before calling it a parody. Buying a roof is a once every 20-30 years purchase, and a car every 10-20 (at least herearound!), So I don't think that discussing these two very low volume purchases would necessarily bring to mind those negative connotations, particularly as I mentioned wanting some of them for decades, and planning for them for years.
On a side note: You can't walk out of a dealership when they have the keys to your current car and won't give it back.
Not the word specifically, just the general sentiment.
First, I want to first share a toast to ridding ourselves of dealerships. I absolutely loathe them, and I haven't even bought a car from them. I've tried a couple of times and it was an awful experience even in the process before they had my money/keys.
I don't really want to get too personal here; I don't know your life story or your decisions or thought process. In my following rambling, I don't want to get too much into the weeds of your particular case. But the "parody" comment really came like I was reading a MMM April Fool's post. Here are a few interpretations to what was written:
"I couldn't bother getting solar panels because I considered them ugly, but now that they look cool and I was going to get a new roof anyway, it's literally the only choice any sane, thoughtful person could make- you know, saving the earth and all. I'm doing this for you, you should thank me", with the implication that you're making an environmentally conscious choice, but if the panels were ugly, then you wouldn't be bothered.
"I will pay any price for an new EV, no price is too high for saving the planet!" Again, this is the MMM forum, so this type of statement used to get a friendly facepunch! Since discovering the blog/forum a little over 10 years ago, I've been making some fairly drastic life changes. They were baby steps, but they were steps to life a more full life whilst getting out of the rat race of consumerism. I moved less than a mile away from work- with an enviously easy bicycle commute in the suburbs of Chicago (suburbs being notoriously difficult for this kind of thing). For several years our family owned one car; a Pontiac vibe. We now own two, just picked up a minivan with 180K miles on it and have since used it to haul pianos, plywood, drywall and such, as well as shuttle cousins around. But our collective mileage on both vehicles is ridiculously small; buying a new EV would take literally decades to make up for financially. Without trying to sound like beating my own drum too much, I would like to think that I've done pretty well in my effort to reduce my impact on the climate. We also eat significantly less meat than we used to (maybe 4 out of our 21 weekly meals), we reuse and repair most of our stuff and enjoy lots of cheap, healthy outdoor activities.
I realize my criticisms here are not received with open arms to most of the country. It isn't something that most people can just jump into either. But most people on this forum should be familiar with it at least. The idea that if you could only just buy that expensive new EV, solar roof, and battery, then your conscience is clear and you can live worry free, just seems like the same chasing the dragon of consumerism. What would you do if the EV wasn't an option? How are the negative externalities to vehicle ownership, especially a 4,000 lb heavy metal ridden machine, factoring into this? There are more than just CO2 emissions here. 6PPD, a chemical in vehicle tires, is killing the salmon in Puget sound. This comes from the tires wearing on the roads and that runoff going into the water. Heavier vehicles wear tires more. Imagine the amount of wear and tear saved if one had switched to a 40lb bicycle rather than an EV!
If environmental impact is truly a consideration, I'd strongly advise that you put some thought (and a little math) into whether hoarding a whole bunch of KWH of LiIon battery capacity that's rarely used to it's full capacity is truly the best option moving forward.
I'm sorry, but this seems like a major stretch and a true "think of the children!" level of pearl clutching. "So many batteries! I'm so concerned about battery hoarding!"
It's not the buying an EV that's the issue at heart here. No one is particularly criticizing it on it's own. The criticism comes when the buying an EV is paired with holier-than-thou environmentalism, as though the person is making great sacrifices for the collective good, when in fact they are just buying a monolith to consumption.
Thank you for being specific. I think this is helpful for the conversation.
"
I couldn't bother getting solar panels because I considered them ugly, but now that they look cool and I was going to get a new roof anyway, it's literally the only choice any sane, thoughtful person could make- you know, saving the earth and all. I'm doing this for you, you should thank me"
This interpretation is not accurate, but I'm will to fault myself on not being specific. I was always going to get solar eventually, I wasn't in a financial position to do so for a while, and I didn't really like the way they looked. I had my own ideas on when I got them, I was just thinking it would be best for the solar panels to just cover the whole roof, instead of being floating in the middle of it, and I had planned to try to do that when I got them, which was still a way off as I didn't want to get them put onto an older roof - but I would periodically shop around and see what was going on with solar development, etc. and found the tesla roof info just googling around and I was bowled over and thought - this is perfect! this is what I want!
"
I will pay any price for an new EV, no price is too high for saving the planet!"
The first I heard about tesla was on a late night talk show where musk was a guest. Maybe about 5 years ago? Not sure. oh looking back - it may have been 2015...google search of musk guest slots.....
Anyhoo, I was so excited to hear about this company! I had a 4ish year corolla at that time, so plenty of life left in there and many years to plan, and I did want a tesla for my next car and thought that my financial situation would improve by the time the corolla got older (and it did!). But I did want to support a company that was looking at things this way, rather than an automaker who is being pulled into EV as just another consumer niche to fill. So my support of the company is based there. Telling me that a company that is going to go all electric by 2035 and that is the same level of committment, that doesn't make any sense to me. It's not that no price is too high, it's that I'm supporting a company that changed the future of consumer acceptance and demand for EV.
I am by nature a vengeful consumer! I buy nothing from the koch bros companies, for example. So most toilet paper and paper towel brands are off. So I do thinking about what I am supporting financially with my purchase decisions, and I've been like that for a very long time. Sometimes, I have to buy things from companies I don't like, and don't want to support, but I do try my best to not put my money where I don't agree with.
The criticism comes when the buying an EV is paired with holier-than-thou environmentalism, as though the person is making great sacrifices for the collective good
I think this is really unfair. I was describing my though processes on why I was attracted to tesla as a company, why I wanted their products. It was just a 'here is what I was thinking when I made the decision' that I wanted their car, or I wanted their roof. I do surely regret mentioning it all. I personally am tired of talking about it, lol!
I wasn't looking for approval, I wasn't trying to be holier than thou, I was trying to say this is what I think, this is what I feel, this is why tesla products appeal to me. I was trying to provide basic information about the tesla customer base, which I considered myself a member of. Some people don't even beleive climate change is affected by people's activities.......so if someone doesn't beleive that, they would likely not be interested in an electric vehicle at all. However, my thought was that even that person who didn't beleive could understand that another person who beleived it was affecting climate change would target an EV, would want to support a company that was 100% EV focused.
So it was just intended as information on the tesla customer, and why they would buy.
