Oh dear, Boazy's back. There goes the neighbourhood.

Which insult was that, rpg?

>>Just a quick question for Loxton - how does your insult to spindoc contribute to the discussion?<<

Loxton's question was:

>>Just a quick question for Spindoc - how long were you with the Hitler Youth?<<

I thought that an entirely fair question, given that spindoc had already confessed, in his own words...

>>I seem to remember a similar approach with the Hitler Youth.<<

He probably joined up by accident, though. Like Ratzinger.

Brian Holden, are you following these comments?

It would be interesting to have a genuine discussion about your article instead of just seeing the comments page hijacked for continuing the shallow bickering of the OLO peanut gallery, as usual.

Brian, your supporters on this thread have complimented you, “a lovely article”, “clear and simple”. Sadly not one of them was prepared to comment on the main theme and title of your thread, which is the proposition that the greenies message should focus on young minds.

Instead, they came out like a pack of snarling hounds to attack those who dared question your proposal rather than to support or justify it. They won’t go near it because they are too busy savaging their pet distractions. So whilst they are off somewhere in the doggy Park, salivating and shredding the “raw nerve” baits offered to them, we can discuss the basis for your proposal in a little more detail.

Why would you wish to impart you message to young people?

Because they are vulnerable, you can bypass parental influence, they will become tomorrows eco-warriors, you have failed to get the required traction with adult minds, you can’t win today so you are preparing tomorrows battle, your ideology is unsustainable, you are feeling increasingly isolated, public support is in decline and you are incapable of accepting this reality.

So the plan is to use the “Jesuit” approach, “give me a child until the age of ten and I will give you a Catholic for life”

Excellent, so now you can deal with intellects of a lower order than yours, you won’t have to face any questioning and you no longer need to use facts or substantiate anything. You can bury your message in children’s stories and whip them up into frenzy at some future date to promote your cause through the ballot box.

I’ve got news for you, this is not new. All totalitarian aspirants use the same model.

Whoops, have to go, your doggies have finished with their distractions and can smell the essence of this post. They are going for the bait again

Nice post Spindoc.

May I add that things have already got right out of hand with the eco-morphing of young minds by Blinky Bill cartoons, no-tree no-me koalas, Lefty eco-idealists at the local primary school serving off-curriculum enviro-twaddle to vulnerable minds.

But it's been around a while, with the current crop of older enviro-worriers still read themselves as reincarnations of Carson and Ehrlich, wilfully or ignorantly distorting the public sphere with their idealogical atavism, praying to wind back the clock to whatever stage was ideal at the time their teachers got to them.

A better course is to engage the kids as participant in nature, not just observer thereof - this will help them understand pain, cruelty, destruction and regeneration and to come to terms with the inevitable environmental footprint that results from their existence.

This will leave them with the practical skills and emotional maturity to make the calls later in life for themselves, rather than responding to the clarion of this or next week's eco-mullah.

“You can bury your message in children’s stories and whip them up into frenzy at some future date to promote your cause through the ballot box.”

What a sad man is Spindoc et al who see a totalitarian plot in children’s stories whose authors promote respect for the bush and its inhabitants.

Only yesterday, I informed my grandies of the horse shot twice with a crossbow (last week in the UK) by callous vandals but who survived after four fellow mares spent three hours taking turns to lick the wound clean.

The four other horses saved their companion’s life by nuzzling her for comfort and keeping the wound free from bacteria.

But Spindoc et al no doubt sees the totalitarian indoctrination of an entire generation of Australians who were fortunate enough to own May Gibb’s Snugglepot and Cuddlepie – a magnificently illustrated book that has been handed down to three generations of my family – including those who went on to become Liberal politicians – dear me! How on earth did I get it so wrong – spawning conservatives? Eeekkkkk! My “idealogical atavism” greenie plot has been an abject failure!

The anthropomorphic May Gibbs, the author of Gumnut Babies, lived a rewarding life until she turned 92, going to ‘God’ in 1969. She did not will her estate to the Bambis, who’ve escaped man's bullet, the diabolical traps or heinous forestry and agricultural poisons, but to the Northcott Disability Services, the Spastic Centre of NSW and the UN's International Children’s Emergency Fund.

The ‘bad Banskia men’ who bear a resemblance to Spindoc et al politicise the endeavours of those who teach children the value of conservation, respect and protection for non-humans. The far right-wing "Banksia men" are spawning sadists and remain intent on squandering our inheritance – the bush, once a guaranteed source of nourishment and survival for our native species.

Now massive tracts of bush - tens of thousands of kilometres of our native and state forests (and massive subsidies) are being given over to the mining industry while our primitive eco-vandals and their children - the mini-capitalists, rejoice!