Thank Goodness: Lots of People Are Pushing for a Better World
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo, who believes in the sanctity of free market economics, remarks on an optimistic post by my colleague Cameron Atwood: You live (in) a little world of your own ideology, don’t you?
I would hardly call it a “little world.” Fortunately for us all, Cameron’s ideology, i.e., promoting environmental and social justice, is shared by more than 200,000 groups around the world: some huge, e.g., The Sierra Club and Greenpeace, and some far more modest, e.g., the subscriber base to 2GreenEnergy. It’s difficult to imagine where our world would be today if it weren’t for people of conscience who have worked through the ages to protect the interests of human rights, environmental sustainability, etc.
Thanks, Craig, i appreciate your cogent observations as always.
I think that marcopolo quite serves this site well as an excellent illustrator of his perspective, so that all your readers can draw their own conclusions.
Thanks, and yes, I agree. I’m hoping to meet the man some day….
Craig,
You have taken my comment to Cameron out of context.
It was a reply to Cameron’s assumption that since I was skeptical about the validity of his vague and impractical proposals, I must be :
1) “A defender of greed”
2) “an advocate for Fossil Fuels”
3) ” Opposed to Electric vehicle technology”
He also made the claim that his views represented the ” people”.
My observation was intended to illustrate how easy it is for even well meaning people, to become deluded by enthusiasm, and make assumptions without any basis.
I fail to understand how making impractical, unsubstantiated claims aids the cause for “social justice” ?
It’s my contention that such claims have a counter productive effect and damage the credibility of progressive causes.
Nor do I believe in “sanctity of free market economics “. The evolution of free market economics is not a religion, simply a basic, age old, method of conducting the economic trade of surplus in every modern society. It has no other agenda.
Craig, if simplistic sentiments solved problems then ” World peace ” would have been achieved long ago at the urging of Beauty contestants ! Just wishing for something doesn’t make it true, or even achievable.
Cameron’s ideology is his own, you are wrong to assume that he is in accord with ” 200,000 groups around the world promoting environmental and social justice “.
By implication you are also wrong to assume that more practical moderates, (like me ) are opposed to human rights and social justice.
It’s all very well to sit around like the ancients Greek philosophers (or modern ones for that matter:) discoursing on social justice and philosophy, while the slaves do all the work !
An excellent example of this is Cameron’s claim that fossil fuels are inherently evil and should be immediately abolished and are only retained because of the corrupt influence of greedy evil doers.
When if his principles would mean he wouldn’t call an ambulance, fire-engine or other emergency vehicle powered by diesel, he condescendingly replied that these could easily be replaced by EV technology.
Now, that’s just beyond the ability of current EV technology ! Hopefully, one day in the future it may be possible, but right now it’s not.
So my comment that “Cameron lives in his own little world “, is quite valid. By his own claim, he lives in a world of delusion where he can call a 30 ton EV Fire Engine capable of traveling long distances, at high speed and operating energy intensive equipment for hours in emergency situations !
These sort of Utopian claims, only make it harder for those with practical progressive improvements to gather public support.
So, and with respect, I would ask you to consider again my observation in it’s true context, or do you share “your colleagues ” , belief in the existence of 30 ton EV emergency vehicles, or that “social justice” and ” human rights ” are aided by the claims that unicorns exist ?