Being Green Part II: The Politics of Envrionmentalism

"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side." Aristotle

Let's say you could predict the next big movement of stock on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. You've somehow secured credible information about an innovation in computer batteries that allows them to power laptops for three times longer than the average extant battery. Only one company has the technology and the brains to do it, and their salespeople have already secured 2.5 billion dollars in buyer-promises from computer manufacturers and businesses who provide technology to employees. Now they're looking for capital to begin production. Where do they turn? Stockholders.

What do you do?

This situation is such a rare find that no one really has the protocol patented to offer the correct advice needed to proceed intelligently. However, I don't think anyone will have an ounce of hesitation at the suggestion of buying as much of that stock as humanly possible. In fact, if you have the ability to finance the entire operation, it would be more than exciting to be able to do it; no thinking necessary. Own it all! Let the laptops of the world fuel your grandchildren's grandchildren's retirement!

Now suppose, for a moment, that that same type of thing happened with global warming and the push to ask the citizens of the world to be more environmentally conscious. Strange, I know. How could that information be exciting? What gain could come from that?

Think.

What does being more environmentally conscious and global warming require? Yes, like I said yesterday, responsibility, but there's something more. Change. Lifestyle changes, mindset changes, choice changes. It might also ask us to restrain and refrain. Start washing the dishes instead of buying styrofoam, start riding the bike instead of driving to run your local errands, start thinking before you simply discard.

Sound like torture? Of course it does. We've misdefined "freedom" as "carefree" and "consequence-free." We think it means doing what we want, when we want, how we want, without the intervention or regulation of anything other than our own self-serving minds. Obviously, the requests of those who would have us be stewards of our land sound too much like "being told what to do" and many will rebel just because they think they can.

Here's the kicker: What if you're a politician and you find out about all of this before the general poulation does? Could this benefit you to embrace? How can you become a hero with this information? Easy. Deny it.

Ignore science, history, research. In fact, ignore the short-sleeve t-shirt you're wearing in mid-November. Ignore New Orleans and call it the wrath of God. Tell America to keep doing what they're doing, and claim that anyone who asks them to do otherwise is attempting to enslave them in the bonds of communism.

Go even further by throwing God in the mix. Start saying things like "man cannot destroy what God has created" in spite of the Badlands Bighorn, the Oregon Bison, and the Southern Californian Kit Fox. Ostracize Christian Environmentalists because they are aligned with the liberal scientists who caught on to the trend. Tell them they believe in abortion and gay-marriage because they recycle cans and refrain from aerosol.

What have you done? You've politicized our home. You've created a list of beliefs and required that anyone who ascribes to one of them must surely ascribe to all of them: atheist, evolutionist, democrat, liberal, homosexual, abortionist, feminist, universalist, communist, environmentalist.

If the people believe you because of your political move, what have you done? You're a hero. Everything you say is right because you're defending freedom. There is no oil shortage and our economy can handle gasoline at $3.00/gallon without a raise in the minimum wage and an endless supply of money falling into the black hole of a war that is essentially against "evil." The people are on your side because you've saved them from responsibility. The corporations are on your side because everyone gets to make more money. And, God is on your side because you've defended the manner in which the Earth was immuteably constructed.

It's a brilliant move, right? Because we all know that quality of life is determined by what what we get to do while we're alive instead of the fact that we're alive.

Being a steward of the land? Come on. God just wants us to have well-managed, well-funded bank accounts so we don't have to ask him for so much. He can take care of his own stuff. After all, we don't ask him to take care of ours.

Guess what. You just got elected. And your platform is going to kill us all.

At least we'll be smiling.