[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>It seems we have all these critiques of capitalism, but no one can come
>up with a better solution. And this is why the environmentalists are
>eventually going to become authoritarian. Since they can't stand how
>things actually work, and they can't come up with a reasonable
>alternative that most people would adopt voluntarily, they are going to
>have to use violence to change things.
>
>Which of course means that most of their goals will never be fulfilled,
>since violence will be met with violence, and the environmentalists
>will be discredited. I'm always astonished by how many
>environmentalists turn to authoritarian solutions by reflex. It just
>makes no sense to me. The first thing authoritarian governments do is
>to eliminate challanges to the government. As world history has shown,
>it really makes no difference what ideology authoritarian movements
>have before the achieve power, they are all pretty much the same
>afterwards.
Personally I found this authoritarian bent in the environmentalist
movement the most frightening and dangerous aspect. The embittered belief
that people *must* be told what to do seems to occur to all
environmentalists sooner or later. I hate it.
I don't think people need to be *forced* to be good. Convinced, sure. In
the case of certain hardcases (no names please <grin>) the temptation to
convince with a baseball bat is strong, but should be resisted.
The hard part seems less to be convincing *people* than convincing
companies. Since companies are made up of people this doesn't seem very
logical, but one always seems to hear "I'm just one person in a big
company; there's nothing I can do." It's one reason why I really feel
like capitalism is becoming undemocratic, and in fact making democratic
nations undemocratic. The answer is no longer "I'll vote for this" "I'll
vote for that" "I'll work for that" but "There's nothing I can do to
change company policy/ government policy". Rather than making people
believe that they can succeed on their own, companies seem now to be
intent on grinding down the independence of their employees and
convincing them that they are a replacable cog in a machine. Personally,
I find this just as devistatingly terrible as the increasing
environmentalist view of people as sheep.
I don't want a authoritarian government; I don't want a socialist
government; I don't want a capitalist government. In fact, I don't think
the solution to the environmental problem lies with the government *or*
the economy. I think it has to do with *people*. The rest will follow as
it may.
Kat Feete
------------
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much
as you please.
- Mark Twain
