Does anyone else feel like fireworks are a complete waste of money and a ridiculous amount of unnecessary Pollution?
300 million lbs of fireworks and 2.7 billion dollars gone in a cloud of smoke.
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300 million lbs of fireworks and 2.7 billion dollars gone in a cloud of smoke.
Fireworks are a funny one because you're completely right and also not completely right I think. It's one of those unresolvable dichotomies of life where two opposing ideas are both true at the same time. I've often thought fireworks were the most obvious way to set fire to a lot of money that could be better used somewhere else. However, what is also true is that humans have a deep need to celebrate and to come together in large groups and have shared experiences. Fireworks are perfect for that. You can put a million people together and launch a massive firework display and they will all immediately connect with each other through the shared experience of going "Oooooohh" and "Aaaaaaahh" :) Fireworks are awesome and also, personally I feel they remind me that there are bigger things out there than the daily grind of existence.
Isn't that what parades are for?
There are other ways to get that. The universe is huge, look up on a quiet night with little light pollution.
Kinda. Parades are also for showing off nuclear warheads and how precisely your soldiers can march.
Fireworks are a more non centralized version of it. Everyone can participate in the fireworks, not just stand there and watch.
Also they burst in air, giving them better visibility than something that just flows down the street in front of you.
Don't we just stand there when we watch fireworks too 🤣
"Your existential fulfillment is wrong, do it my way instead."
It's a huge environmental hazard too.
But parades are boring
People need novelty in life, if it's there every day it's not special.
That's fair, I just think there are ways to get that besides blowing things up once a year, especially given that fireworks produce a lot of unnecessary waste and pollution in the environment.
I mean, I think it's good that people get to safely experience explosions, something most people probably wouldn't experience in their lives otherwise.
I wouldn't say it's necessarily safe, ERs are full of people who almost blew off their hand or other appendages around 4th of July.
Stairs are relatively safe, tens of thousands of people still die from them every year.
Only one of those things is completely optional.
Buildings could be designed with limited usage of stairs
Fair enough, but why does every single person need their own firework? That connection is conpletely lost then
I obviously can't speak for everyone, but whenever we do fireworks on the 4th or New Year's, it's with a group of a solid 15-30 people. I don't think we'd ever set off fireworks by ourselves
Yup, we have a solid 30 people put together a show. It catches on fire every year and it is awesome!
Every single person needs the opportunity to get their own firework and contribute. We’ve never had a rule like “everyone needs their own firework”.
Everyone needs the option. That is important. It’s not important that everyone takes it, but it’s important everyone is given the option.
I just don't get it. It terrifies people's pets, and the wildlife outside, it's incredibly noisy (meaning you can't get away from it if you live near someone doing it), and it produces tons of waste and pollution. Can't we just have a big BBQ like we do the rest of the year when we celebrate stuff?
Why is this important?