George Carlin - Saving the Planet

Dadniel2 HN recommenders · 2014–2024
12.3M views · comedy · evergreen · Uploaded 2007-10-21

George Carlin's stand-up routine arguing the planet will be fine and it is people who are in trouble. It mocks the idea of saving the planet.

HN quotes it in environmental threads as a famous, darkly funny take that the planet will outlast humanity.

Watch on YouTube

12 comments from Hacker News

@pavanred2014 · in “Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice”

Not sure if you based it on this, but it's a very famous argument made by George Carlin [1] [1] [VIDEO]

@codeshaman2015 · in “Wild bees are recycling plastic, study finds (2014)”

The planet will be here a long long time after we're gone.. And it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, because that's what it does. It's a self correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm - the Earth plus Plastic. The Earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the Earth. The Earth probably sees plastic as just another one of it's children. Could be the only reason the Earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us.. Could be the answer to the age old philosophical question "Why are we here ?".. Plastic, assholes! :) --- George Carlin [VIDEO]

@mdekkers2017 · in “Earth's sixth mass extinction event already under way, scientists warn”

When it will come down to the last 1000 people on this planet, 400 will be arguing about whether or not humans really have a bad impact on this planet; 50 will be trying to lord it over the rest, using another gullible 150 as muscle; 200 will be looking for ways to turn a profit out of the situation; and the rest will weeping somewhere in a corner. [VIDEO]

@badosu2017 · in “Scientists have signed the largest-ever warning about Earth’s destruction”

Could not resist mentioning "Save the planet" from Geroge Carlin: The planet isn’t going anywhere. We are! We’re goin’ away. Pack your shit, Folks, we’re goin’ away. We won’t leave much of a trace either, thank god for that. Maybe a little styrofoam, maybe, little styrofoam. Planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake, an evolutionary cul de sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas, a surface nuisance. You wanna know how the planet’s doin’? Ask those people at Pompeii, who were frozen into position from volcanic ash. How the planet’s doin’. Wanna know if the planet’s alright, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia, or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. How about those people in Kilauea, Hawaii who built their homes right next to an active volcano and then wonder why they have lava in the living room. The planet will be here for a long, long, long time after we’re gone and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself ’cuz that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it’s true that plastic is not degradable well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as jus

@rasengan02018 · in “There Might Be No Way to Live Comfortably Without Also Ruining the Planet”

It's nice to know we're all gonna die with generational suffering down the road. I'd like to know what Vietnam is doing and how might that model be improved. Data --> ML --> policy, etc With all this bickering on who's right or wrong, it is no wonder that nothing will change and humanity will go the way of the cynical comedian: [VIDEO]

@cornholio2018 · in “Taiwan ban single-use plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils by 2030”

By that metric, what is the environment and why is it important to protect it? On an abstract enough scale, we and our plastic are simply evolutionary products and the fact that we are wiping out species and cataclysmically heating the planet is just a geological event that might be called The Great Human Extinction by some distant inteligent race. As George Carlin used to say, the planet is just fine. It's the people who are f*ed: [VIDEO]

@subcosmos2018 · in “Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt”

This is getting absolutely rediculous ... Epoxy resins may very well have created the Diabetes epidemic, with genetic data backing it. [LINK] And the chemical used to make Teflon was dumped into the Mississippi river valley for years, leading to a spate of birth defects and other more common medical problems. Dupont paid hundreds of millions : [LINK] Carlin had it right .... [VIDEO]

@radiorental2019 · in “Insect collapse”

I view our success as a product of evolution. It is the driving factor that got us down out of the trees, cultivating our food and to where we are today. Would we be putting a little less pressure on the environment without people like Edward Bernays, possibly. However, I think our collective consciousness can put itself a little at ease. As we enter the 6 mass extinction event, it's a natural cycle and if it wasn't us, some other species would dominate the planet. It's never a bad time to listen to George Carlin's "saving the planet" [VIDEO]

RecommendsView on HN
@346792020 · in “How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled”

George Carlin: "And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?” Plastic… asshole.” Full text: [LINK] Video: [VIDEO]

@kbr20002020 · in “Sir David Attenborough makes stark warning about species extinction”

Hey, you can be proud for having spent time thinking about it to start with. And for having tried! Feeling responsible for it yourself alone is not necessary, it's bigger than that. Here's a thought or two by Attenborough on overpopulation, one of the drivers of these problems [0] The problem will solve itself however (with certainty), and I cannot explain it better than George Carlin [1]. Enjoy! [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

RecommendsView on HN
@Gravityloss2022 · in “Antarctic sea ice hits lowest minimum on record”

Now have time for a longer reply. There are a few different phenomena. First is that "fear" and "anxiety" are indeed used by the news media or politicians to get more attention. There I agree. It is cheap, unsustainable and harmful. But there's more to glaciers than news fearmongering. The second concept is "the planet doesn't care". George Carlin has his famous skit. [VIDEO] Of course life will continue on earth, after relatively large temperature swings or 10 kilometer asteroid hits etc. That doesn't mean we don't need to care about anything. His skit can be seen as a wake up call (which he might or might not have meant). Why would we do anything? Why would you recycle instead of dumping plastic bags in the river? Why would you put the safety on in your gun? The planet will be fine even if you blow your leg off. But you will be affected. It's the people that are f.... That's the punchline. But I also disagree about his "don't meddle with nature, let the species die". If we change something, let's say, dump cyanide or mercury in a river, it's not "natural" for animals to die downstream. It's not "nature doing its thing". It's our responsibility. It's an untenable philosophical position to do something and then act as if the consequences don't have anything to do with the deed. But that's not the core point of the skit. So about caring. If there was an asteroid headed towards earth, I'd care. Yes, it's happened before, and life has survived. But I still care. It would have gr

@latexr2024 · in “Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid”

> It will solve itself, nature adapts fast Indeed. The first step is for the planet to get rid of the pesky pollutants, perhaps by way of launching several “natural disasters” such as mighty strong winds, excessive floods, and particularly pesky deathly organisms. Then it can deal with plastic at its leisure. [VIDEO]