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The Forum > Article Comments > It’s time the green message was aimed squarely at the heart > Comments

It’s time the green message was aimed squarely at the heart : Comments

By Brian Holden, published 19/5/2010

The greenies need to get their message into young minds.

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Does anyone know how 'carbon emisson units' will be calculated for a business apart from linking it to their electricity consumption ?
Posted by no_THIS_ismeBD, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 1:13:25 PM
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Goodness me, stating the facts is not having the desired effect so you want to ramp up the hyperbole instead?

"Humanising" other organisms, ecosystems or the planet leads to a very warped view of nature. Ultimately, if a person understands all animals as being cute little fluffy furred and feathered humans with the same gamut of emotional and intellectual experience, how then should they interpret the functioning of natural ecosystems founded upon predator-prey relationships?

No, it's not very nice for the owl that finds its home and offspring destroyed, but such is life for virtually every organism except for a minority of human beings. Such experiences are absolutely fundamental to ecosystems. Tell me, this poor, "anguish"-ridden owl with a mouthful of food... where did it get that food from? Was that dead mouse in its mouth not a member of a mouse family somewhere now also filled with anguish? In the same ecosystem will exist thousands of other predator-prey relationships, all of which have their winners and losers. That is nature's way.

This is why true environmentalists are right to focus upon the integrity of ecosystems and species, and not of individual organisms. And this is why animal rights advocates, ultimately, are the enemies of natural ecosystems and any animal that wishes to act out its natural role in an ecosystem--- including humans.

... which brings me back to hunters, who in my view comprise the majority of the now very small proportion of humans who play a full participatory role in ecosystems. As compared to spectators, participants naturally have the opportunity to attain a much broader and deeper understanding, and possibly more importantly they become stakeholders in those ecosystems.

"Take nothing but photographs", ultimately, is the opposite of what you need to be pushing if you want to foster a generation of people with an understanding of and a sense of stakeholdership in natural ecosystems. The latter is what is needed if you want to motivate truly protective behaviours--- not just pretty things to look at and a misleading guilt trip.
Posted by Russell Edwards, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 2:20:09 PM
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Fascinating proposition, Mr Holden.

But forgive me for pointing out that it is one that could only have been dreamt up by someone very much out of touch with today's "yoof".

Today's kids are all-but impervious to propaganda. Especially propaganda that comes from people whom, they believe, are primarily responsible for the immense stuff-ups they see all around them.

They see Al Gore, for example, mainly as the guy on South Park who emotes endlessly about ManBearPig, and tells everyone who will listen, that he is "serial".

From my personal observation, their cynicism of anything promoted by anyone over the age of twenty exceeds that of the the 'sixties - and those were the the times of Danny Cohn-Bendit, Alan Ginsberg, Jean-Luc Godard, May '68 and all that.

I also think Mr Holden has also forgotten that there were far fewer movies back then. There was just the one cinema in town, and the film changed every week, so the visit became memorable in a way that fitting "Robin Hood" in between "Avatar" and "Sex in the City 2" will never be.

And hey, it moves very quickly. YouTube is also useless to get generalized "messages" across. Great fun if you've filmed your mates, walking on water. But who is going to share greenie material? It will go the way of all video evangelists, whether they are spruiking Hillsong tunes or 9/11 conspiracy theory.

*Click*

He is absolutely right, though, in that awareness needs to infuse an entire generation, and all those that follow.

It's simply that he is offering a set of tools that is as effective in getting the message across as a slide-rule and a roneo machine.
Posted by Pericles, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 2:39:55 PM
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Long on emotion, short on facts. After some initial successes, it's clear that the Green movement is slowly sailing over the horizon to found its own private nation where somebody still believes in them -- Tasmania, perhaps? (Ava Gardner said that Melbourne was the ideal place to film a movie about the end of the world, but then she hadn't seen Hobart). The national flag will be a deer -- one of those nasty feral creatures destroying our national parks -- and every year all the inhabitants will move 50k south to escape global warming and 10m inland to escape rising sea levels. By the end of the century everyone will be clustered on top of the tallest mountain, praying for the Blessed Saint Gore to carry them off to eternal bliss in Disneyland.

Meanwhile the rest of us can get on with the business of keeping people clothed, fed and productive.
Posted by Jon J, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 2:45:01 PM
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Just a quick question for Spindoc - how long were you with the Hitler Youth?
Posted by Loxton, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 4:40:11 PM
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The Greens have clearly demonstrated that inward corruption leads to outward self righteousness. This was clearly demonstrated by the gw lies. Brian forgets that kids act like their parents. I think 'environmentalist' are often among the most indulgent. Many will not even keep their marriage vows and then they want to preach their own brand of 'righteousness' to others. Leave our kids to be kids.
Posted by runner, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 5:45:06 PM
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