Honorable Forum: Quite. However, many a do-gooder organization has been corrupted by fifth-columns. Once the roots are shorn (not to mention the mycorrhizae) or ignored, the top turns to s**t. Not to say that there aren't "good soldiers" soldiering away in the hopes of re-attaching them--or as a kind of self-deluding ego trip. And, a kind of "My Club right or wrong" hypnotic state tends to develop amongst the masses of "members" who, sans an incredible amount of schmoozing (to put it politely) time and money to work one's way into the upper crust, just keep on hiking and birding and reading the glossy magazines. Maybe they are smarter than we think?
The phenomenon is so widespread that I wonder if do-gooder organizations as a generic form are not now beginning to suffer the lack of credibility among those who care most deeply about the earth and its life, as they long have by the "Joe Six-Pac's" they have always shunned so self-righteously? This is not just at the membership and "boardship" level, it is perhaps most serious at the staff level. Professional lobbyist types have long seemed the same to me in such organizations, aiming for "success" at any cost, and will trample anyone who gets in the way. As a "tramplee" of another large conservation organization, I learned this the hard way a few years ago. I don't know what to do about this "regrettable burden of a free society," but it might be necessary to just keep growing new organizations to replace the sclerotic, necrotic, and ossified ones. Kinda like an ecosystem, eh? WT At 12:03 PM 4/25/2007, Wil Burns wrote: >Of course, La Follette only got on the board because it used to be possible >to get on the slate without Sierra Club HQ blessing. Sierra Club HQ >subsequently squelched the prospects for independent voices like La Follette >to get on the board by purging that provision. Now, the Club is certain to >only have "good soldiers" on the board, further ensuring the kind of group >think that debilitates all large organizations that fear dissent of any >sort. So it goes ... > > >Dr. Wil Burns >Senior Fellow, International Environmental Law >Santa Clara University School of Law >500 El Camino Real, Loyola 101 >Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA >Phone: 408.551.3000 x6139 >Mobile: 650.281.9126 >Fax: 408.554.2745 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >SSRN Author Page: >http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=240348 > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 9:29 AM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: new essay suggests Sierra Club is getting lost in "green" >consumer ism > >I think Stan is right about the Sierra Club. Give it credit for a numbe= >r of historic conservation victories, but it=92s marbled with big-moneye= >d special interests and a substantial portion of coffee-table membership= >. So it's not surprising that a draft position on economic growth made = >it through about 3 of 5 layers of the Sierra Club bureucracy and then st= >alled out. The Club is just as afraid of disturbing the 800-pound goril= >la as more "conservative" organizations. Yet there are strong supporter= >s for a Sierra Club position on economic growth, too, including for exam= >ple the Wisconsin Secretary of State, Doug LaFollette (who served on the= > Sierra Club Board of Directors). = > > <?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:o= >ffice" /> >Some are continuing the efforts toward a Sierra Club position and educat= >ional program on economic growth. However and more relevant to ECOLOG, = >others of us are retrenching and more focused on building the foundation= > of professional society position statements on economic growth. These = >position statements may firstly prompt the likes of the Sierra Club into= > action, and may secondly be referred to technically and stood upon poli= >ticallyused by the Sierra Club and other conservation NGOs. A position = >by the Ecological Society of America would serve as one of the cornersto= >nes of this foundation. = > > = > >Cheers, > >Brian Czech, Ph.D., President >Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy >SIGN THE POSITION on economic growth at: www.steadystate.org/PositiononE= >G.html . >EMAIL RESPONSE PROBLEMS? Use [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >-- stan moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >the fascinating article can be linked to at: > >http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=3D56&ItemID=3D1263= >6 > > >I have noticed, as I am sure that other have, that corporations have tak= >en = > >on a green mantle, often completely undeserved. But even mainstream = > >environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club, in their new plan,= > are = > >taking the "shallow green" instead of the "deep green" approach as descr= >ibed = > >in this article. Consumerism is promoted over "deprivation". Biomass i= >s = > >seen as an energy solution with no specified concern or mention of ecolo= >gy. = > >Etc., etc., etc. > >This seems an alternative form of "business as usual" and I don't believ= >e we = > >can make the urgently-needed degree of progress on our fundamental probl= >ems = > >with anything other than a radical transformation of our society, includ= >ing = > >its fundamental mindset. > > >Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >_________________________________________________________________ >Need a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps. = > >http://maps.live.com/?icid=3Dhmtag3
