Taking Good Ideas In Cleantech Forward: One Can’t Please Everyone

I hope readers here check out the comments as well as the posts themselves; there really are some good ones.

Frequent commenter “MarcoPolo” has some pretty right-wing/libertarian beliefs, and, as I’ve told him, “We just need to “agree to disagree” on most points in terms of political philosophy—and even most of the science associated with sustainability.”

Having said that, I normally try to read all comments carefully, especially when they counter my beliefs, to see if there is some concept from which I might benefit.  We learn most from our efforts to disconfirm our beliefs, rather than hunting around for things that support what we already think.  I was intrigued with what he wrote in response to my post In Terms of News and Ideas, Most Americans Live on a Bizarre Little Island:

There’s always a small, divergent elite, claiming a ‘moral’ or superior ‘high ground’, who sneer at the belief’s and interests of the broad mass of citizens. It’s kinda curious how that same, self-appointed elite, always claim to represent the ‘people’, whom they despise. (In turn, the people have no interest in them !).

There may be a great deal of historical truth to this.  And it may represent a certain truth in my own life: I do claim a moral high-ground re: my positions (or I wouldn’t have selected them).  And it’s obvious that I bear a certain level of resentment against the sensibilities of the common American.  It’s also true that they don’t exactly idolize me.  I have to admit, you’re on a roll here. 🙂

But what’s your point?  That the people I’m trying to protect (all seven billion of us, btw) don’t connect with me at a personal level and vice versa?  That’s true, but I don’t care.  This isn’t a beauty contest; I’m not running for Mr. Congeniality.  I’m just doing my thing, taking good ideas in cleantech forward (one of which is pictured above), whether people like it or not.  Some people think that’s cool; others think it’s arrogant; others think I’m wasting my time; I can’t even imagine what some others must think.  I try to take the viewpoint that Socrates had on all this: complete indifference as to how he was regarded by the people around him.