Thursday, August 05, 2010

Old Green lament

I was once a proud green before the watermelons took over. Many greens are genuinely concerned about real environmental issues but the education system has taught them that the only solution is government, taxes and removing humanity from the ecosystem. 'Reducing the human impact.' 

The old idea that there might be free market solutions to these problems is totally alien to them. If David Holmgren and Bill Mollison were trying to kick off Permaculture today the greens would be their major opponents. They would be classed as greenwash. Some of the older greens in the 1970 were Christian conservatives and anti-homosexual. One was still helping with organic farming field studies in the 1990's and got in fights with lesbian students.

Some greens are disillusioned humanists, past technophiles who thought green technology would solve all things. They have seen the failure of the technology they love. They have become semi-Luddite rejecting technology as technofixes. It really wasn't the technologies that failed but the big government and subsidies approach to deploying it.

There is good news to be had. Some greens are becoming active out side the green movement like Bjorn Lomborg. Others are linking up with the liberal party, etc.
And best of all when more that 4 greens get into a Parliament they tend to split on things a lot. Giving them some power is the most effective way to destroy them. 

Or at least force them to realise that you can't save the world by ending civilisation and modernity in all its forms. 

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