Not sure why you would need other people's opinions to express your own opinion, Chris. The usual way is to express your opinion first, after which you will most certainly hear the opinions of others - hopefully expressed civilly.

I actually want to hear about ideas about how we can or cannot address the environment.

A number of OLO readers appear to have some expertise and sound logic from thought and experience, so I want to consider their offerings
on this one.

It is a forum after all.

Chris,

One scholar has stated that Western democracy and capitalism cannot achieve a sustainable environment. That it is only socialism that has the capacity to do this.

i certainly disagree with that.

if there are successful environmental solutions from such nations, please point them out.

if you have a society where all dissenting opinions are legitimised, then you are much more likely to address policy shortcomings.

in socialist societies, which nearly always operate as totalitarian regimes, dissent is hardly going to be tolerated and the truth is often hidden.

a lot of environmental reforms in China since 2011 were driven by public opinion mocking the government story about city pollution, as i will cite in article.

And look what happened after the invention of the printer.

The poor church and its reliance on a few books soon gave way to challenges from many new ideas that were read by many to rightfully challenge the status quo.

why else do supposed socialist societies try to curtail internet sources and the press? Their silly elites nearly always want to control the agenda.

I heard a stupid piece on the ABC a few weeks ago where they actually discussed banning global warming denialists who opposed the human activity link.

now that is a dangerous path to pursue.

Chris,

I agree with you that socialism is not the panacea for achieving a sustainable environment.

Problem with socialism is that it is just a much driven by the idea of progress as capitalism is, if not even more so. I assume everyone is used to seeing socialist workers depicted with their heads and faces lifted in the direction of progress, commonly depicted on propaganda posters.