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Showing posts from May 15, 2011

Grown-ups are disappearing fast in the U.S.

According to the rigorous peer-reviewed research by The Onion , the grown-up population in the U.S. has plummeted dramatically since 1950, when a Census count found that more than 24 million Americans could both admit when they were wrong and respect a viewpoint other than their own. Today, only one in three million citizens can provide thoughtful advice to a fellow human being instead of immediately shifting the topic to their own personal issues or what they had for lunch. A good example is provided by a comment to my recent post that actually talked about the runaway energy consumption in the U.S., and used obesity as a metaphor for how much hydrocarbon energy we gulp every day from the bucket-size energy drink containers.  Here is the comment: Fatphobia in the environmental movement hurts our cause. It is really disappointing to me to see my fat friends and allies insulted in this headline. I was so angry I didn't read the rest of the article—which is sad because it&#