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Registered: 12-2008
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posticon ECO - IQ Do we really know how to be green? Maybe not!


A show on PBS last night opened my eyes to more than a few things about being green. Theres a lot we dont know. We think we are making wise choices (from advice we recieve by those who are supposed to know about such things as measuring our ecological foot print) but are we really?

Id like to share the transcript from that program but its too long to post here so Ive posted it at our google site.
http://groups.google.com/group/envirows/web/eco--iq
I think you will be suprised at what you read. If you have any comments please post them here.


Last edited by AgnesW, 5/21/2009, 6:47 pm
5/16/2009, 1:28 pm Link to this post   Blog
 
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Re: ECO - IQ Do we really know how to be green? Maybe not!


Theres a documentary about saving the planet that can be viewed HERE

Its titled Planet Earth: The Future Saving Species

It raises profound questions about which species should we save. How can we do it properly. What does sustainability really mean. It questions everything we thought we knew about being a good activist.

This is the first of a 3 part series but its the only one available online so far. The video isnt the best but the message is clear. This is a one hour presentation. If your not serious about learning some hard truths about the activist community dont waste your time but if you would like to learn why we havent achieved success after many years of trying, this is well worth the time invested.
5/20/2009, 7:09 pm Link to this post   Blog
 
HOMBREDELATIERRA Profile
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Re: ECO - IQ Do we really know how to be green? Maybe not!


1- A Paradigm Shift in values in required. Learning to see others as important as ourselves (Jesus' parabole of the vine and the grapes). Learning to see ourselves as part of a greater whole (ecosystemics). Our civilization has gone off in a terrible direction: we have become lost sheep. The neocon idiotology is the expression of that hell state of consciouness..

In this context poverty has to be dealt with. Otherwise conservation must fail. Why? Because starving Africans are going to feed their kids with wild game or sell animal penises to the Chinese for $$$. What do you expect them to do? This is why Sustainable Development (SD) which benefits the LITTLE PEOPLE is so much more important than gandiose megalomaniac mega-development projects which benefit only the upper crust of 3rd world nations (and the occidental engineers, bureaucrats, and construction companies who built them with western tax revenues..) Our concepts of development are not sustainable. Again, we need a paradigm shift in values!

2- Will nature die off before we do? I doubt it because we depend on nature so if we destroy nature we kill ourselves off but part of the natural will survive to start over. In reality, man and other vertebrates are "biological luxuries": if things get really bad, we will be among the "cream skimmed from the top" to die off first. In the final analysis, from a biological perspective, bacteria and plants are vastly more important than we are. So, if push comes to shove, the bacteria will devour our corpses..

The roaches are going to get us all !! emoticon
 
3- Our educational system has failed us terribly. This is made worse by a perverted feedback loop inflicted by the neocon idiotology: cut backs in public school funding lead to dumbed down masses and lousey schools. Then, because the schools are lousey, the bourgeois pull even more of their kids out and futher reduce their funding which makes the schools even lousier.. The public educational system spirals down, the masses dumb down even more and become even less capable of making intelligent decisions on URGENT matters like SD, environmental quality (not Irak or Afghanistan!) Why is the environment more important than the "war against terrorism"? Because "only" 3000 died on 9-11 which is only an infinitesimal drop in the sea of death that global ecosystem collapse will produce. Once again: our values and priorities are all buggered emoticon

The education thing is really critical! For democracy to work, the PEOPLE have to be informed and empowered to act on that knowledge, neither of which conditions prevail at present in the west. To survive, we have to take our democracy back.. Here! Here! emoticon
5/21/2009, 7:49 pm Link to this post Send Email to HOMBREDELATIERRA Blog
 
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Re: ECO - IQ Do we really know how to be green? Maybe not!


Frank,

The link in post #1 has a small transcript about a wonderful little film made to introduce elementary school children to environmental issues. However, the outcome is heartbreaking. Idiotology rules.

The video, on the other hand, should be a wake up call to enviros that we must take into account both the positive and negative results of any action we contemplate, before, rather than after any plans are implemented. The suggestion, that protecting the environment must also be accompanied with a plan to enhance the lives of the poor who will inevitably suffer if their livelyhood is impaired by such actions, can no longer be ignored.

One thing that was mentioned was the ability of undeveloped nations to use tourism of preserved areas to provide income. Is this really a good thing? It has already been demonstrated that the Antarctic has had negative impacts from the tourism industry. I feel that some places on earth should be left free from the intrusion of man.

also

The website that is recommended in the interview has information that we as aware consumers should take advantage of.
5/26/2009, 9:31 am Link to this post   Blog
 


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