Big Money Tends To Work Against Renewable Energy–How Controversial Is That?
It’s with sadness that one of my readers got really incensed on my post about Big Money and the Republican Party and unsubscribed. He notes: If you don’t like Trump then that’s fine; why don’t you keep it to yourself?
I wrote: I’m sorry I’ve upset/disappointed you. I knew some people would find this inflammatory when I wrote it, even though, as I’m sure you’re aware, most of my stuff steers clear of this arena entirely and focuses more directly on the technology and economics of renewables.
Having said that, it’s not too controversial a position to say that the politics of Big Money is one of the most powerful forces working against renewable energy and many other elements of social progress. That makes it important for me to include an occasional newsletter focused on political issues. Each time I do, it creates a flurry of unsubscribes, and that pains me, but it’s a cost I’m willing to absorb.
Yet at the end of the day, I understand your position; I’m sorry to see you go.
There is a way to write a piece and sound relatively balanced in an attempt to reduce the potential for conflict. It starts with an attitude.
It is the sort of attitude I maintain around friends who smoke. Some part of them knows it is bad for them. But they make excuses and continue on. There is this physical or psychological addiction that they can’t quite get past. In some way it fills a need.
Trump is a bit like that. I’ll confess that when I first heard him talking there was some appeal. I thought “here is someone who is different” and that was a bit refreshing. So I understand the initial fascination.
Most people don’t look too deeply into politics. They make judgements based upon the way they feel. Perhaps on some level the similarities between the rhetoric of pre-war Germany and Trump speeches is known, but there is a present appeal to the masses as there was then. Churchill said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We may be looking at one of those kinds of lessons. I rather suspect that being critical of Trump is similar to being critical of someone’s cigarette habit. You won’t change their mind you will only lose a friend. Somehow they have to find it for themselves.
In each case your friend doesn’t want to see what you are putting before them. It is the kind of ignorance we all might easily fall into from time to time. We are then essentially saying, “I have already made up my mind so don’t bother me with the facts.”
It is sad and it is frustrating. So I am sorry for your loss Craig, but while it is easy to blame yourself sometimes we just have to take solace in our commitments, our goals and our own moral compass.
Thanks. You are an extremely kind and enlightened person, and your thoughtful comments mean a great deal to me.