ghotifish.net

My goodness, this “Web-Log” thing really seems to be catching on, doesn’t it?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of kottke. Not only does his web page look good, it’s also full of stuff that I find pretty interesting. One of my favorites so far has been a link to this essay by Kurt Vonnegut. Kottke quotes a memorable bit, which I will reproduce here, mostly because I find it oddly thrilling to have it on my site as well:

Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

Now, I normally don’t care very much for Vonnegut’s writing. There’s no doubt that he’s good, and I certainly won’t try to argue otherwise. I think what I don’t like, judging from the small sampling of his fiction that I’ve read, is that it is usually all too clear that he has a point to make, that he directs his writing towards that point — and therefore he ends up with characters and situations which I find contrived an unappealing. His essays are another matter: when not burdened with the care and feeding of dramatis personae, he can stick to the business of making his points.

And what a good point he makes.

During my freshman year at Carleton, the Residential Life office undertook a poster campaign designed to educate us youngsters about the perils of alcohol. They asked, “Do you have to eat a can of green beans every day just to feel normal?” Easy to snicker at, for sure. But also hard not to think about. It’s easy to decide not to eat a can of green beans. Why shouldn’t it be easy to decide not to drink a can of beer? Yet for many people, it is very difficult — that’s addiction. Do you really want to put yourself in a situation where you are unable to make choices?

Do you have do burn a gallon of gasoline every day just to feel normal? Could you choose not to?

That’s addiction.