The Graduate is a 1967 comedy, ranked by the inbred Hollywood circles as one of the greatest American films of all time. Early in the film is a scene that gives a prediction — a pre-anouncement, rather — of what’s to come. “I just wanna say one word to you,” says Mr. Maguire. “Just one word.”
Bravo! I think this is one of your most impactful articles to date. Your diction was especially powerful. Thank you for the pen recommendation! I have been making efforts over the years to reduce plastic in my life as much as possible. The last purchase of clothes I made was 100% cotton or merino wool pieces. Cost more but completely worth it. I have also been thinking about how plastic is one of the worst things humans have invented for many reasons, primarily environmental. But you point out other equally important consequences such as loss of valuable skills and social and moral decay.
Oct 27, 2023·edited Oct 27, 2023Liked by Insanely Free
Nice article, a bit extreme but it justifies its point. I don't share such a hate for plastics in general but plastic waste make me crazy as well. The amount of shit we can amass in a short time, promotional plastics pens are the perfect example as you mention (I also use Swiss Made metallic pen with metallic refill tank), slightly more expensive than your example but still affordable for most people I would say.
Toys and gadgets are the worst category, sometimes you have to beg to not get crappy plastic toys that are given as "gift" to our kids at the supermarket or in restaurants. And educate small kids to refuse free stuff is always challenging as a parent. I'm not even talking about these "surprise" figures that are wrapped in 5 different layer of plastics and last 5 times less than the excitement of opening them. These makes me really crazy.
Personally I had always try my best to think about every purchase, decide if I really need an object, for what purpose, how I will use it and when and then spend an overly exaggerated amount of time to find the best possible product for my purpose. Durability is always one of the top criteria but also one of the most difficult to asset. And I have always been disappointed by the lack of resource to make such decisions. If I'm willing to pay more to have a pair of shoes that last several years instead of barely a season, where should I go? What should I look for? And maybe shoes is not to most difficult. What about other clothes? I wear only cotton but still some are of poor quality, whatever price you pay for. Socks that don't last more than 10 to 20 washing, t-shirt that get deformed and pullover that washed out in months. I have one sweatshirt that last more than 2 decades which I wear regularly and is still in very good condition but of course the brand who made it disappeared.
As an engineer I work for manufacturing professional equipment that must have a lifetime of 20 to 30 years minimum, which always amaze people not in such industry, but they forgot (or don't know if too young) that it use to be normal that everything last decades. Super Nintendo and CRT TV from the 90's are still working fine today even some in bad condition from thrift store might be reparable or just working after a clean up with a pretty high probability. But try to get a random Xbox and LCD screen from 10 to 15 years ago, good chances are that they are broken and not reparable.
Everyone should think about this, just realizing what's going on is already a very good step in the right direction, the rest will slowly growth over time and each person will end up taking their own decisions accordingly, because once you know, you will never forget. You can ignore it for some time but it will always come back until you are ready to take action, one step at the time.
I would highly recommend POH (Personal Oral Hygiene) toothbrushes and filament floss. It’s a small American company that gets no credit, since they don’t advertise, but visit their site and you’ll understand why they have changed my life. I‘ve used their products for over 10 years.
The brushes use polished tip nylon filament which won’t scratch the gums (a problem with even the most expensive organic bamboo toothbrush), but the differences go far deeper than that into the oral hygiene philosophy of the late Doctor Bass. Highly recommend. Watch the video ‚smile for a lifetime‘ on their site.
A bit out of topic, but i saw you censored a few words. Do you know nostr? https://nostr.com/
If you have key, please add it below and i will zap you.
Disturbingly and heart-achingly true. 😱 An alarming, timely and urgent wake-up call! 🤩
Bravo! I think this is one of your most impactful articles to date. Your diction was especially powerful. Thank you for the pen recommendation! I have been making efforts over the years to reduce plastic in my life as much as possible. The last purchase of clothes I made was 100% cotton or merino wool pieces. Cost more but completely worth it. I have also been thinking about how plastic is one of the worst things humans have invented for many reasons, primarily environmental. But you point out other equally important consequences such as loss of valuable skills and social and moral decay.
Nice article, a bit extreme but it justifies its point. I don't share such a hate for plastics in general but plastic waste make me crazy as well. The amount of shit we can amass in a short time, promotional plastics pens are the perfect example as you mention (I also use Swiss Made metallic pen with metallic refill tank), slightly more expensive than your example but still affordable for most people I would say.
Toys and gadgets are the worst category, sometimes you have to beg to not get crappy plastic toys that are given as "gift" to our kids at the supermarket or in restaurants. And educate small kids to refuse free stuff is always challenging as a parent. I'm not even talking about these "surprise" figures that are wrapped in 5 different layer of plastics and last 5 times less than the excitement of opening them. These makes me really crazy.
Personally I had always try my best to think about every purchase, decide if I really need an object, for what purpose, how I will use it and when and then spend an overly exaggerated amount of time to find the best possible product for my purpose. Durability is always one of the top criteria but also one of the most difficult to asset. And I have always been disappointed by the lack of resource to make such decisions. If I'm willing to pay more to have a pair of shoes that last several years instead of barely a season, where should I go? What should I look for? And maybe shoes is not to most difficult. What about other clothes? I wear only cotton but still some are of poor quality, whatever price you pay for. Socks that don't last more than 10 to 20 washing, t-shirt that get deformed and pullover that washed out in months. I have one sweatshirt that last more than 2 decades which I wear regularly and is still in very good condition but of course the brand who made it disappeared.
As an engineer I work for manufacturing professional equipment that must have a lifetime of 20 to 30 years minimum, which always amaze people not in such industry, but they forgot (or don't know if too young) that it use to be normal that everything last decades. Super Nintendo and CRT TV from the 90's are still working fine today even some in bad condition from thrift store might be reparable or just working after a clean up with a pretty high probability. But try to get a random Xbox and LCD screen from 10 to 15 years ago, good chances are that they are broken and not reparable.
Everyone should think about this, just realizing what's going on is already a very good step in the right direction, the rest will slowly growth over time and each person will end up taking their own decisions accordingly, because once you know, you will never forget. You can ignore it for some time but it will always come back until you are ready to take action, one step at the time.
I would highly recommend POH (Personal Oral Hygiene) toothbrushes and filament floss. It’s a small American company that gets no credit, since they don’t advertise, but visit their site and you’ll understand why they have changed my life. I‘ve used their products for over 10 years.
The brushes use polished tip nylon filament which won’t scratch the gums (a problem with even the most expensive organic bamboo toothbrush), but the differences go far deeper than that into the oral hygiene philosophy of the late Doctor Bass. Highly recommend. Watch the video ‚smile for a lifetime‘ on their site.