damn hippies and environmentalists

[rapturedbyrobots]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/08

'Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset have taught us to substitute acts of personal consumption (or enlightenment) for organized political resistance. An Inconvenient Truth helped raise consciousness about global warming. But did you notice that all of the solutions presented had to do with personal consumption—changing light bulbs, inflating tires, driving half as much—and had nothing to do with shifting power away from corporations, or stopping the growth economy that is destroying the planet?'

this article from common dreams sums up their upper-middle class white progressivism (i mean white as a historical relation to capital, not necessarily race...though they do also happen to be mostly caucasian). its all about them and THEIR relationship to the environment.... forgetting that environmental problems are often really social justice problems that affect real people in real ways and require real organization moving beyond resistance. and that the responsibility (and target) lies with industry and capital...not me or you. not that you shouldn't be a hippie or an environmentalist. but don't pretend that driving a prius (what did you have to do to afford one anyway?) and not flushing the toilet are revolutionary.

[reggie the dog]

1. aside from voting Green and Socialist

like I do here in France, driving a car that gets sixty MPG, having a small condo heated to 67 degrees in the winter, what else can I do?

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. I think the things offered in the article actually FLOW FROM a sense of individual responsibility

I doubt that major shifts in industry or capital could ever happen unless the motivation to change is displayed and demanded by individuals.