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it's really really a great talk. Really. He implies that Main Street shops are important, and states that the world is running out of cheap oil. Do you believe

it's really really a great talk. Really. He implies that Main Street shops are important, and states that the world is running out of cheap oil. Do you believe these things?

joeyo 18y ago
I can't speak for nir, but I certainly believe both of those things.
nir 18y ago
Yeah, I might have been a little excited when posting this, and a bit frustrated at the type of material we've been seeing here recently. To your question, 3 things: 1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. 2. His urban planning arguments go a bit further than "Main Street shops are important". In my view the suburbs are simply a bad design choice - he explains how they came to be, what are their inherent problems, and why this touches many issues of our society & life quality, well beyond energy consumption. 3. As for the world running out of cheap oil - I'm no expert, but as I understand oil is found in nature rather than produced, so by definition its total amount decreases when use it. Even if we have enough oil to last thousands of years at affordable prices, the political and environmental implications of using it still stand.
- anamax 18y ago
  > 1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. If that's the standard, let's get Robin Williams, or Brando, reading the phone book, the Boston phone book if class is relevant. > In my view the suburbs are simply a bad design choice - he explains how they came to be, what are their inherent problems, and why this touches many issues of our society & life quality, well beyond energy consumption. He doesn't actually explain so much as try to justify his combination of disdain, digust, and pity for folks who live in them, folks who don't have the good sense to flee in horror.
  - nir 18y ago
    >If that's the standard, let's get Robin Williams, or Brando, reading the phone book Ultimately it's vote-based site, so it has as much chance as anything. Standard-wise, in a week where the top stories were about Arrington getting spat in the face, I honestly don't think this submission is lowering the average. But, again, it's a matter of taste.
    - anamax 18y ago
      I didn't say that it lowered the standard. I suggested that "great delivery" is something of a cop-out. I doubt that you posted thinking thinking "great delivery". I suspect that you posted thinking "great message".
- gravitycop 18y ago
  1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. Does Kunstler's delivery not seem like bullying to you? Let's consider some of the things he says: "We're normal we're normal we're normal we're normal we're normal, please respect us we're normal we're normal we're normal." But we know what's going on in these houses, you know. We know that little Skippy is loading his Uzi down here, getting ready for homeroom, we know that Heather, his sister Heather, 14 years old, is turning tricks up here to support her drug habit Would you say that to a parent of teenagers who told you that he intentionally chose to raise his children in a suburb because he believed, and still believes, it is good for children to grow up in suburbs? Would you stand up and say that at a townhall meeting of middle-class suburban homeowners and parents?

it's really really a great talk. Really. He implies that Main Street shops are important, and states that the world is running out of cheap oil. Do you believe these things?

joeyo 18y ago

I can't speak for nir, but I certainly believe both of those things.

nir 18y ago

Yeah, I might have been a little excited when posting this, and a bit frustrated at the type of material we've been seeing here recently. To your question, 3 things: 1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. 2. His urban planning arguments go a bit further than "Main Street shops are important". In my view the suburbs are simply a bad design choice - he explains how they came to be, what are their inherent problems, and why this touches many issues of our society & life quality, well beyond energy consumption. 3. As for the world running out of cheap oil - I'm no expert, but as I understand oil is found in nature rather than produced, so by definition its total amount decreases when use it. Even if we have enough oil to last thousands of years at affordable prices, the political and environmental implications of using it still stand.

anamax 18y ago
> 1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. If that's the standard, let's get Robin Williams, or Brando, reading the phone book, the Boston phone book if class is relevant. > In my view the suburbs are simply a bad design choice - he explains how they came to be, what are their inherent problems, and why this touches many issues of our society & life quality, well beyond energy consumption. He doesn't actually explain so much as try to justify his combination of disdain, digust, and pity for folks who live in them, folks who don't have the good sense to flee in horror.
- nir 18y ago
  >If that's the standard, let's get Robin Williams, or Brando, reading the phone book Ultimately it's vote-based site, so it has as much chance as anything. Standard-wise, in a week where the top stories were about Arrington getting spat in the face, I honestly don't think this submission is lowering the average. But, again, it's a matter of taste.
  - anamax 18y ago
    I didn't say that it lowered the standard. I suggested that "great delivery" is something of a cop-out. I doubt that you posted thinking thinking "great delivery". I suspect that you posted thinking "great message".
gravitycop 18y ago
1. Even if you completely disagree with the message, Kunstler's delivery alone is worth the 20 minutes. Does Kunstler's delivery not seem like bullying to you? Let's consider some of the things he says: "We're normal we're normal we're normal we're normal we're normal, please respect us we're normal we're normal we're normal." But we know what's going on in these houses, you know. We know that little Skippy is loading his Uzi down here, getting ready for homeroom, we know that Heather, his sister Heather, 14 years old, is turning tricks up here to support her drug habit Would you say that to a parent of teenagers who told you that he intentionally chose to raise his children in a suburb because he believed, and still believes, it is good for children to grow up in suburbs? Would you stand up and say that at a townhall meeting of middle-class suburban homeowners and parents?