Environmentalism Borders On Authoritarianism
August 19, 2008 9:58 AM Subscribe
Are pseudo-authoritarian environmental policies a necessary (or dangerous?) part of the future fight against climate change and dwindling resources?
When I was a kid, the environmentalists promoted their clean skies and antilittering agenda mostly through moral suasion -- with pictures of an Indian under a smoggy sky with a tear rolling down his cheek or the owl who chanted on TV: "Give a hoot, don't pollute." Such messages made you feel guilty about callously throwing a candy bar wrapper on the ground or feeling indifferent toward car fumes. Back then I was a devoted recycler, but not for sentimental reasons. It was the financial incentive: You got up to a nickel for every bottle you brought back to the grocery store. So I would scavenge the landscape to find unredeemed bottles to buy baseball cards and candy.
But now the environmental movement has morphed into the most authoritarian philosophy in America. The most glaring example of course is the multitrillion-dollar cap-and-trade anti-global warming scheme that would mandate an entire restructuring of our industrial economy.
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When I was a kid, the environmentalists promoted their clean skies and antilittering agenda mostly through moral suasion -- with pictures of an Indian under a smoggy sky with a tear rolling down his cheek or the owl who chanted on TV: "Give a hoot, don't pollute." Such messages made you feel guilty about callously throwing a candy bar wrapper on the ground or feeling indifferent toward car fumes. Back then I was a devoted recycler, but not for sentimental reasons. It was the financial incentive: You got up to a nickel for every bottle you brought back to the grocery store. So I would scavenge the landscape to find unredeemed bottles to buy baseball cards and candy.
But now the environmental movement has morphed into the most authoritarian philosophy in America. The most glaring example of course is the multitrillion-dollar cap-and-trade anti-global warming scheme that would mandate an entire restructuring of our industrial economy.
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This post was deleted for the following reason: this is not a great post for metafilter. It reads much more like a one-sided op ed than a look into something interesting you found on the web and the pullquote is really slanty and hectoring. -- jessamyn
Yes, necessary. People aren't getting the message, so hit them where it hurts: the wallet.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:00 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:00 AM on August 19, 2008
I reject the premise that the Environmentalist movement is the most authoritarian philosophy in America.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:03 AM on August 19, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:03 AM on August 19, 2008 [2 favorites]
Even if the article you linked to were written by hands less graceless, this would still be a terrible post. Better luck next time!
posted by invitapriore at 10:04 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by invitapriore at 10:04 AM on August 19, 2008
Hey, a likely-fictional anecdote leading into an unsubstantiated claim blurring into a completely ridiculous statement. LOOKS IRONCLAD TO ME.
posted by Damn That Television at 10:05 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Damn That Television at 10:05 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
"we now live in a society where Sunday church attendance is down, but people wouldn't dream of missing their weekly trek to the altar of the recycling center."
Heh. Good.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:07 AM on August 19, 2008
Heh. Good.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:07 AM on August 19, 2008
Are posts that frame themselves as editorial questions doomed on MetaFilter?
Stay tuned to find out!
posted by loquacious at 10:10 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Stay tuned to find out!
posted by loquacious at 10:10 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Who made the graphic that goes with the story? The guy wearing the recycle bin is supposed to be rendered poor by improper recycling, but the cop peering (or peeping, really) into the bin looks like he is writing tickets directly onto cash which is piling up around the errant recycler.
posted by mikepop at 10:10 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by mikepop at 10:10 AM on August 19, 2008
I like how he complains for the majority of the article about infringement on individual liberty, but then says that the most glaring example of this trend is a plan to regulate industry. So, is he suggesting environmentalists use moral suasion on industry to prevent them from polluting? Who is it that always makes the argument that corporations, by their very nature, must base all their decisions on what is in the best monetary interest of their shareholders and thereby should never make decisions on the basis of what is right and wrong? Oh right, these exact same assholes.
posted by ND¢ at 10:11 AM on August 19, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by ND¢ at 10:11 AM on August 19, 2008 [4 favorites]
Dudes, we must win the global war on the environment. Right now it is kind of kicking our asses.
posted by Mister_A at 10:13 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by Mister_A at 10:13 AM on August 19, 2008
MeFi ProTip™: "via Fark"? Don't post it.
posted by nasreddin at 10:13 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by nasreddin at 10:13 AM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Lexus liberals
Ha! *starts up BMW and tunes radio to NPR*
posted by desjardins at 10:14 AM on August 19, 2008
Ha! *starts up BMW and tunes radio to NPR*
posted by desjardins at 10:14 AM on August 19, 2008
So, just how easy would it be for me to cram a few glass bottles and aluminum cans into the garbage can of my neighbor who has a tendency to park in such a way as to block my garage?
Or what if he did that to me because I keep complaining to him about parking in front of my garage?
Though well-meaning, it is precisely this kind of solution that is ridiculous. Trying to coerce compliance through extreme fines is the exact wrong way to solve the problem.
The right way to solve the problem is to make sure that the true cost of goods is reflected in their price.
posted by chimaera at 10:15 AM on August 19, 2008
Or what if he did that to me because I keep complaining to him about parking in front of my garage?
Though well-meaning, it is precisely this kind of solution that is ridiculous. Trying to coerce compliance through extreme fines is the exact wrong way to solve the problem.
The right way to solve the problem is to make sure that the true cost of goods is reflected in their price.
posted by chimaera at 10:15 AM on August 19, 2008
Can authoritarianism be "pseudo?" It seems to me that a policy or government is authoritarian or it's not. If it's a fake sort of authoritarianism, then can the people just ignore it?
posted by NoMich at 10:20 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by NoMich at 10:20 AM on August 19, 2008
Enough of the bullshit anecdotal evidence. This article is a butt article. Yes, butt.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:20 AM on August 19, 2008
posted by dunkadunc at 10:20 AM on August 19, 2008
"A few weeks ago I was at the house of some friends, and I accidentally tossed a plastic Gatorade bottle into the glass recycling bin. You would have thought that I had made a pass at their daughter."
"I almost spilled my latte in my lap when I read this on the front page of the Chronicle..."
I nearly had a stomach reaction similar to the time I drank a test tube of H. pylori when I tried to digest such exaggerated hyperbolicisms from the article's author.
posted by mikepop at 10:21 AM on August 19, 2008
"I almost spilled my latte in my lap when I read this on the front page of the Chronicle..."
I nearly had a stomach reaction similar to the time I drank a test tube of H. pylori when I tried to digest such exaggerated hyperbolicisms from the article's author.
posted by mikepop at 10:21 AM on August 19, 2008
How about this? How about we give the author of the article all the unsorted trash and he can deal with it. Then he can decide whether or not trash sorting is authoritarian.
Also, why is this guy not railing against stop signs or anti-smoking ads? Authoritarians!
posted by GuyZero at 10:22 AM on August 19, 2008
Also, why is this guy not railing against stop signs or anti-smoking ads? Authoritarians!
posted by GuyZero at 10:22 AM on August 19, 2008
Yes, taxes against environmentally destructive practices are the most authoritarian of possible futures. I don't think that anyone proposes monitoring how much everyone eats, drives, flies, etc. since it's much easier to get those at the fuel distributor level.
Ah, Murdoch's WSJ , true bastion of intelligent discourse.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:23 AM on August 19, 2008
Ah, Murdoch's WSJ , true bastion of intelligent discourse.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:23 AM on August 19, 2008
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