Even before Pope Francis released his encyclical, Laudato Si', there were many who were expressing concerns over its possible contents. They feared it would be a throwback to the early 70s in which movies like the Wilderness Family trilogy and The Sea Gypsies beckoned us all to abandon the cities and return to the land, that all Catholics everywhere would be required to alter their lifestyle and become like the Outdoorsters from When Nature Calls…
I hope you managed to make it all the way through to the last minute where it got really, really terrible.
Anyway, it would be nice to say that once Laudato Si' was published, everyone calmed down some. But the truth is that after word began to spread how the document included stuff like a critique on the use of air conditioning, the wails of protest just grew larger. To be honest, I haven’t read the whole encyclical yet (that’s what other, smarter people are for), but my curiosity was tweaked enough to look up the paragraph about air conditioning, and truthfully, I just didn’t see the big deal. The Pope wrote…
“People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more. A simple example is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning. The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behaviour, which at times appears self-destructive.”
If I had to guess (which I do), I would surmise the Pope’s concerns are likely based on such sources as the article over at Yale’s website which documents the possible ecological dangers inherent in more and more of the world becoming air conditioned. Maybe I’m over-simplifying, but It seems kind of common sense that as millions of more people cut on air conditioners, a lot more chlorine-filled fluorocarbons will be pumped into the atmosphere. Nobody wants that. The trick is, though, that countries with lots of air conditioning prosper more than countries without, so nobody is in any hurry to turn them off.
Besides, it’s hot out there. I live in North Georgia and recently spent three days with a broken HVAC. Trust me when I say, going without AC is an experience I don’t intend to go through again anytime soon, especially not voluntarily. But I’m not convinced that’s what the Pope is asking anyway. I believe his point is along the lines of what the Catechism is getting at when it instructs us…
“The development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the needs of human beings. Economic life is not meant solely to multiply goods produced and increase profit or power; it is ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire human community. Economic activity, conducted according to its own proper methods, is to be exercised within the limits of the moral order, in keeping with social justice so as to correspond to God's plan for man.”
From what little of Laudato Si' that I’ve read, it appears the Pontiff is only reiterating the fact that everything we do, even the simple act of cutting on the AC, has a moral dimension. As Catholics we should know that, but sometimes we forget. So, is it really too much for the Pope to suggest (not require) that we consider raising our thermostats a few degrees to compensate for the growing use of air conditioning in third world countries? I mean, it’s not like he’s telling us to become The Outdoorsters. He’s simply providing an example of a relatively small act which could help keep fluorocarbons down while allowing poor countries to get a little richer. I don’t know, maybe there’s other, more damning stuff buried inside the encyclical, but that part sounds reasonable to me.
6 comments:
I agree. I live in Houston. My son Patrick cuts our grass, and earlier this week came in with beet red face and sweating. Instead of sensibly getting up at 7AM, he waited until 1PM and 101 degrees. His suffering was evident. But I do truly appreciate that everything in life has consequences. We regularly invite my college friend Alice, now living in a nursing home. She loves the frenetic activity of 8 people but the cool A/C. We play board games and watch terrible movies, and throw popcorn. I hope that our cost for A/C is offset by sharing. It can be a tool of evangelization!
I've never been hotter than when I lived in Texas. Siesta wasn't laziness, it was survival.
1. Texas is like that blast of heat you get when you open the oven door.
2. I camped across Texas during July in '92 in a jeep without air conditioning. It was indeed hot, but I have to say, I got used to it. We stank. But it didn't feel that hot after a few weeks of living in it continuously.
3. Where did you find that movie? Was this done after Vacation? It seems like a Sid and Marty Kroft version of that movie, complete with the girl playing ten years under her age.
When Nature Calls was released by Troma (explains a lot) in 1985, so there's probably some Vacation influence, although the segment with The Outdoorsters itself parodies films from the 1970s. The whole thing is actually a comedy sketch movie along the lines of The Groove Tube or Amazon Women on the Moon with The Outdoorsters being a film within the film. Troma put it up for free on YouTube if you feel absolutely compelled to see it.
Wait a minute...is We're the Outdoorsters the one where there is an intermission where the concession candy march out and use drugs and do nasty things to each other?
Had to go back and fast forward through the thing, but yes, this is the movie you remember. And probably wish you had forgot! Early Troma, but Troma nonetheless.
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