Asshole in this magazine

[amy]

http://www.utne.com/issues/2006_136/promo/12184-1.html

I used to read Utne occasionally despite its yuppie tendencies until I read this article. I was so disgusted they would publish this I stopped reading completely. What an angry dude.

The fat pink soft slobs who go roaring over the landscape in these over-sized over-priced over-advertised mechanical mastodons are people too lazy to walk, too ignorant to saddle a horse, too cheap and clumsy to paddle a canoe. Like cattle or sheep, they travel in herds, scared to death of going anywhere alone, and they leave their sign and spoor all over the back country: Coors beer cans, Styrofoam cups, plastic spoons, balls of Kleenex, wads of toilet paper, spent cartridge shells, crushed gopher snakes, smashed sagebrush, broken trees, dead chipmunks, wounded deer, eroded trails, bullet-riddled petroglyphs, spray-painted signatures, vandalized Indian ruins, fouled-up water holes, polluted springs and smoldering campfires piled with incombustible tinfoil, filter tips, broken bottles. Etc.

I JUST WANTED TO SHARE.

[Artie]

thank...you?

[Ceraziefish]

I don't really see what the problem is. I read about half of it and it seemed like his heart was largely in the right place. He oughtn't have been so confrontational and angry, though, it doesn't help.

EDIT: His writing style kind of reminds me of Robert Heinlein's, only his politics aren't screwed.

[amy]

I added a summary of his viewpoints to the 1st post.

That is definitely not the right place for your heart to go, i think.

What really makes me mad is that they call him a prophet. They not only respect his viewpoints, but award him religious status!? It absolutely baffles me! Like Samurai Drifter said about me and him before, I am not only on a different page as these Utne editors, I am reading a different book

[Ceraziefish]

He thinks that significant parts of the world should be left wild -- which is a personal opinion of mine. Except for nonintrusive recreation.

Yeah, he's a huge asshole and it's stupid to call him a prophet -- but I agree with his basic assessment. I think nature is intensely beautiful and should be left around to be appreciated for years.

EDIT: And I agree with him about recreational vehicles. A big part of the appeal of going out into nature is to be able to walk around and not have to deal with the exhaust, noise, and roads that come along with vehicles. And litter, of course.

[HappyLittleBoozer]

Seems like pretty standard ranting for someone that doesn't like oversized vehicles.

I don't see the problem here, dear.

[Ceraziefish]

Seems like pretty standard ranting for someone that doesn't like oversized vehicles.

I don't see the problem here, dear.

It's true; talk to the staff of any national park and you'll get a similar, if less angry (because those people are some of the chillest people on earth) rant.

[amy]

If he likes the desert so much and he also likes it when people die, I think he should gtfo and go to Mexico or the Sahara

I know I sound like Rush Limbaugh but if you're not even going to respect and try to love the people of this nation at all, and you're an adult, and you had an education, I will pray for you or something.

I hate ORVs too immensely. I always cheer at Toyota commercials! Mostly Corolla but I should probably be cheering for Prius.

[Ceraziefish]

If he likes the desert so much and he also likes it when people die, I think he should gtfo and go to Mexico or the Sahara

I know I sound like Rush Limbaugh but if you're not even going to respect and try to love the people of this nation at all, and you're an adult, and you had an education, I will pray for you or something.

I hate ORVs too immensely. I always cheer at Toyota commercials! Mostly Corolla but I should probably be cheering for Prius.

I saw nothing about him wanting people to die. He was just saying that our population is too big right now. Which I don't necessarily agree iwth him.

The people of this nation aren't any more important than the people of any other nation.

[amy]

Actually, I'm in favor of expanding desertification. I'd like to see North America become a dry, sunny, sandy region inhabited mainly by lizards, buzzards and a modest human population-about 25 million would be plenty-of pastoralists and prospectors (prospecting for truth), gathering once a year in the ruins of ancient, mysterious cities for great ceremonies of music, art, dance, poetry, joy, faith and renewal.

Sorry, not plague.

I think we should care about America first because we're already here, we can make more of a difference, and there's a lot less awkward paternalism involved.

[Ceraziefish]

Actually, I'm in favor of expanding desertification. I'd like to see North America become a dry, sunny, sandy region inhabited mainly by lizards, buzzards and a modest human population-about 25 million would be plenty-of pastoralists and prospectors (prospecting for truth), gathering once a year in the ruins of ancient, mysterious cities for great ceremonies of music, art, dance, poetry, joy, faith and renewal.

Sorry, not plague.

I think we should care about America first because we're already here, we can make more of a difference, and there's a lot less awkward paternalism involved.

But he didn't imply that he wanted people to die; over a long period of time the population can shrink without anyone dying of unnatural causes.

[amy]

Well, that would be nice.

I just think you have to love the people we've got.

[FaultyClockwork]

I agree with CF and wasted no mental effort on this post.

[Ceraziefish]

I agree with CF and wasted no mental effort on this post.

Good. Good.

[margot]

I bet that guy gets angry when conservatives say middle easterners are dumb for being illiterate or something and talks about how they just didn't have the same possibilities to be educated.

[No Sad Endings]

I think Amy isn't so much angry at his opinions as she is at his pure vitriol and condescending attitude. Which, I have to admit, kind of irks me too.