tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post8382365343259751819..comments2024-01-22T03:02:52.051-08:00Comments on California Greening: What did I mean by that...Weshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15684763427526399228noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post-88110698312018209562007-11-10T07:32:00.000-08:002007-11-10T07:32:00.000-08:00What's So Bad About a Little Eco-Mythology?<A HREF="http://www.greencommons.org/node/848" REL="nofollow">What's So Bad About a Little Eco-Mythology?</A>Alex Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04961960096136588924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post-37721658705386571002007-11-04T08:03:00.000-08:002007-11-04T08:03:00.000-08:00Alex, as to your second comment, I understand the ...Alex, as to your second comment, I understand the way that you have framed the question. It is the way that environmentalists have framed the question for years. Man, standing outside of nature, living their lives outside the web of life that connects everything else. The idea that social justice (dealing only with the relationships of man) is somehow made up of only having a 21st Century, I-Phone delivered lifestyle appears very dangerous to those who hold both set of values. <BR/><BR/>I wrote here before about the <A HREF="http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2006/01/web-of-values-that-heading-is-play-off.html" REL="nofollow">Web of Values</A> that connects everything. The context of that post was very different, but the interconnection of social values and environmental action was very clear.<BR/><BR/>I tend to over-emphasize the ecological aspect of being Green for the very reason that it has been ignored in this party for far too long. At one time, the GPCA had an Ecology Working Group. When that was broadened to become a "Green Issues Working Group" the essence of Deep Ecology thinking was lost. Finally, the entire Green Issues Working Group has fallen away to next to nothing.<BR/><BR/>Those who would frame deep ecology as being in opposition to ideas of social justice are doing so for their own reasons and truly do not understand the ideas behind deep ecology. Maybe it is only a way to grab more bandwidth. When we understanding that humankind is part of the web of life, we do not abandon the idea that all humankind is connected (demanding social justice) but rather re-inforce it.<BR/><BR/>I have written from this viewpoint for a long time. It is only recently that I begin to see people like yourself joining the discussion.Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15684763427526399228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post-58126641155966482572007-11-04T07:36:00.000-08:002007-11-04T07:36:00.000-08:00Pragmatism, Alex, pragmatism. There is only a cer...Pragmatism, Alex, pragmatism. There is only a certain human bandwidth available to define the message and only a certain media bandwidth available to carry that message. Those two are current, immediate and permeate everything that we do.<BR/><BR/>Do you want to lower the cost of health care for everyone in California? Do you want to improve education? Do you want to reduce the worst prospects of global warming? How about doing all of the above? Then fix the problems of <A HREF="http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2006/185_airpollutionreport.html" REL="nofollow">air quality in the San Joaquin Valley.</A><BR/><BR/>A little over a year ago, I used this blog to provide a <A HREF="http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2006/06/what-are-we-talking-about.html" REL="nofollow">response to one of your emails</A>. The point of that post was "relevance". That is exactly your point here and it is still an issue. The entire purpose of what I am talking about is to help candidates find the language that makes the connections to local issues, in fact, to demonstrate the relevance of Green Party solutions and their candidacy.Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15684763427526399228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post-54740729497531308562007-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:002007-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00Dear Wes, in your post you wrote: There are two fu...Dear Wes, <BR/><BR/>in your post you wrote: <BR/><BR/><I>There are two fundamental concepts that are behind the Green Movement: an understanding of the truth of deep ecology and a strong sense of social justice.</I><BR/><BR/>What does "social justice" mean? in your long peroration you never mentioned it once. <BR/><BR/>This is not a trivial question. Some people say "deep ecology" and "social justice" are sometimes in conflict. If Americans say to poor people in the developing world: "For the sake of deep ecology, you cannot have the luxurious lifestyle that we Americans have enjoyed for half a century" that is going to be a problem. <BR/><BR/>Somehow it has to be shown that everybody has a "stake" in what we are trying to do and that the failure to implement a program based on deep ecology is, itself, an attack on justice. Thus, for example, it must be argued that the people who say environmental standards should be relaxed in poor countries so their economies can industrialize are the same people determined to exploit cheap labor in poor countries. <BR/><BR/>Again, it means that Greens have to "speak truth to power" and that ain't easy.Alex Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04961960096136588924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18497138.post-26951998872517723712007-11-04T06:09:00.000-08:002007-11-04T06:09:00.000-08:00Dear Wes, In your post you wrote: take a limited s...Dear Wes, <BR/><BR/>In your post you wrote: <BR/><BR/><I>take a limited set of issues... probably only 2... Global Warming and Water.</I><BR/><BR/>As a matter of practical politics, how can a Green Party candidate possibly win an election anywhere in California on just those two issues? If he/she is campaigning in the countryside the Republican agricultural interests will be gunning for him -- they'll say he's just a "tree hugger" from San Francisco. If he/she is campaigning in the city the Democratic labor interests will be gunning for him -- they'll say he's just a "tree hugger" from San Francisco. <BR/><BR/>Sooner or later you gotta confront the powers-that-be and to do that you gotta show how your issues connect to the daily lives of working families.Alex Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04961960096136588924noreply@blogger.com