Greetings to all, I'm not sure whether Paul is saying the following tongue in cheek or not, but
"I'm not so sure. Seems to me the ecological footprint of a Ph.D. scientist or ecologist is very large. They have high paying jobs and because they commonly marry other professionals, they commonly end up having $100K+ per year household incomes. So what do they do with all that money? They consume resources in a big fashion by having 2 kids, buying a large, upscale home in the suburbs and buying a SUV that gets only 20-25 MPG, and buying myriads of consumer electronics and appliances. They also use a sizable chunk of their income to regularly shop at the giant malls and retail stores that are consuming so much of our open space. Another sizable chunk of their income is used for recreation; i.e. to patronize airports, ski resorts, amusement parks, zoos, and so forth which are also consuming our resources and open space. Still another sizable chunk of their income goes to pay lots of government taxes which in turn are used to build more and wider roads, expanded water and electric services, expanded wastewater and garbage handling facilities, expanded schools, colleges and expanded $75,000+ a year government job career opportunities for Ph.D scientists." I do believe some of his statements are not necessarily true. My wife and I are both professionals, but we barely made 85K at max salary, live in a modest home, heated mostly by wood that I've gotten mostly for free by scrounging along the road-sides, have a Forester SUV that gets between 25-30 mpg, rarely go to a mall and even more rarely go to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, support museums and zoos because they have more return than supporting foreign invasions and minimize our taxes by giving large charitable donations. I also usually walk to and from work (about 8 miles roundtrip). We do travel more than most, but try to minimize our costs and maximize our encounters with local folk so as to increase our understanding of international affairs(this includes a full year in China and four months in New Zealand). Maybe things are different in California than in NH, but I do wish respondents would watch more carefully, their global statements and not castigate all their peers. Larry -- Larry T. Spencer, Professor Emeritus of Biology Plymouth State University ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
