One of my heroes, Kurt Vonnegut, died today. He was certainly one of the most brilliant satirists ever, and without a doubt one of the finest of his generation. Not only is this a great blow to fans of his everywhere, but this is a major setback in the American political arena. Vonnegut had been one of the most outspoken and influential players in the anti-war movement dating back to Vietnam. His speeches, essays, and interviews over the last several years have been very critical of the Bush Administration and the atrocities going on in Iraq.I have read many of his works, but one of my favorite pieces by him is the short essay "Cold Turkey" which was published in 2004. It was a major turning point in some of my political views because I was new in college and had not developed much of a political identity. His message, interlaced with scathing sarcasm, really struck a chord with me and has helped shape my views to this day. I especially like the last part of "Cold Turkey" and will quote a little bit for you here:
"And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.
When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won’t be any more of those. Cold turkey."
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