Baum Loves the Earth

Here's some insight as to how Baum spends his free time. He apparently reads some shitty online post by some eco-friendly hemp-sucker we will call Enviroboy* titled, Is ‘Planet Earth’ The Key To Our Eco Failure? Summary: some guy thinks that the reason environmental tragedies and issues aren’t addressed is because environmentalists use eco-terms like ‘earth’ and ‘planet earth’ instead of the words ‘globe’ or ‘world.’ He claims that the former are too ‘Sci-Fi’ for everyone to understand. In Baum’s responses he gets this entire mechanism totally backwards and some Smarter Than Baum Guy* bends him over his hybrid. I hope someone kicks Baum in his earths.

Baum’s responses are (bolded) and my annotated interpretation {red} of his nonsense:

This is SUCH a good call. Great insight. {You’re SO easy to make fun of.} It seems as though the “environmentalists” {Those dirty environmentalists… I like where you’re going with this Baum} have gotten it all wrong in how they “brand” our evolving climate - is there anything more idiotic than calling the effect of greenhouse gasses “Global Warming”??? {What the fuck is he talking about? One question mark will suffice you dick. Jesus Baum, let’s not get crazy here. I can think of all kinds of dumber shit to call it… and isn’t this an argument that refutes the original guy’s argument stating that those dirty “environmentalists” don’t use the terms “world” or “globe”? Planet earth warming would sound way more idiotic I think.}

“Climate Change” is a little better, but it still doesn’t illustrate the severity of this “change.” What it really is, is a “Meteorological Shift” or a “Climate Restructuring.” {Now Baum is talking about Meteors and shit… WHO’S SCI-FI NOW MOTHA FUCKA! I’ll RESTRUCTURE YOUR FUCKING FACE. CLIMATE DEATH BITCH} Now, I’m not saying that I have the answer to the new “Climate Brand Name,” { --Insert: CLIMATE DEATH BITCH-- } but something needs to be done to change perceptions. { Like you stop blowing everybody and people will stop thinking that you like dudes? } What’s wrong as you pointed out, one of the easiest, most effective ways to do so may be to punctuate the idea in a “global” way.

Speaking of which, I think there’s something to be added to your notion of “earth/planet” and “world.” We, as humans, believe the “planet” is “ours”; the “world,” however, is beyond our influence. It’s “our” planet, but it’s “the” world. “Earth” is our home, while the “world” is where we live. Basically, if it’s happening on the “earth,” we’ll figure out a way to fix it, but if it happens to the “world,” well, there we may be in {balls} deep… {on a diseased male hooker... What the fuck are you talking about? Wrong. Pretty sure that’s the opposite of what the guy was getting at but I may be wrong since I didn’t really read it or give a fuck.
- Alex Baum
March 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am

A lot in this article… first thing that comes to mind is the manner in which language can IN AN INSTANT either distance or connect people… {Obviously Baum isn’t connecting too much and if he is, there are definitely some crossed wires here} critically important words can either kill or evolve (people in) a conversation. {See that. He wants to kill Baum}

Alex, I beg to differ { That’s right Baum. I can feel the pain coming} that ‘world’ is beyond our influence by proposing that our worlds are completely and totally influenced by us. Our actions, thoughts, needs, desires etc are within our control, that is in fact what’s so beautiful about ‘world’ - we do have control {Not over Baum he’s the spaghetti bandit}. Whether it be consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously, we either…. connect with people of similar worlds and relate to our common experiences…. enquire into the worlds of others with a level of curiosity that causes a deepening of the relationship to develop a common world…. {No idea what any of this means but I see the words: unconsciously, curiosity, and deepening. I would probably put these together in way more inappropriate fashion} OR reject the world of another as foreign, weird, different and separate to our own.

The planet on the other hand is a thing that is separate to us, therefore when we speak of it it’s easily distanced and gives the perception that making any changes is beyond our control. That’s why politicians who promise to make it any different give the impression of being greater than us, therefore more powerful and worthy of our vote. {BOOM BITCH. FUCKER JUST OWNED YOU BAUM.}

Lastly this thought came to mind… what if the only change in climate that’s required is whether or not we wake up to the worlds being carved out with language? {umm yeah… whatever. You rule because you just made Baum your little schoolboy bitch}

Phew, thanks Enviroboy*… just typing this comment has been an exercise to capture a snippet of my world!
- Smarter than Baum Guy*
March 12th, 2009 at 2:08 am

Smarter Than Baum Guy*, my point is more about the fact that “planet” and “earth” are tangible, while “the world” is something abstract. {WRONG, OPPOSITE. THINK SCI-FI BRO} In other words, we believe that something related to the “planet/earth” is ultimately under our control (when we want to exact change, we can do it); however, the “world,” since it’s more of an abstract concept, is not as easily manageable. { That’s right baum, Magellan sailed around the earth with his Starfleet. Manage that you fuck.}

Consequently, by shaping the discussion around our planet/earth, we gain a reassurance that we can reset the clock whenever we choose. {Baum is now talking about Time Travel. He is crazy} In fact, I think your point about “the world” (how you describe it as “our actions, thoughts, needs, desires etc.”) is a great way to highlight the terms abstractness. Perhaps (and this is a big leap) {Very fucking big indeed} you could make the analogy: the planet/earth is to our conscious and the world is to our unconscious. {No comment. Too fucking ridiculous to try, I am laughing way too hard}

Anyway, this is a great piece and I love the discussion/thinking it sparked {You only sparked the following in this order: confusion, fear, fear leads to anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side, pant-shitting-laughter}
-Alex Baum March 12th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

Alex, got your point…. YES, it is a great piece to provoke thinking, and a much required enquiry into language being used. {That was a nice way of him saying that he owned your ass. I'M ON A BOAT}
-Smarter than Baum guy
March 13th, 2009 at 3:48 am