Reason. Compassion. Forbearance. Selflessness. These are not the hallmarks or our time. 6

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1. 

   janinsanfran Posted 6:16 am
   29 Aug 2006

   YesJust read through the whole series. Nicely done.
   It ought to exist somewhere as one article.
   
   Can It Happen Here?

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2. 

   Tod Posted 6:43 am
   29 Aug 2006

   Fear IS effectiveDavid,
   With all due respect, and I do mean this as your writings always inspire me, I have to disagree with you on this one.
   First of all, you seem to equate fear with violence. There is no direct connection. Certainly, one can make a jump from one to the other and back, but one can do that with any two states of beings. There are myriad threads that connect all actions. Fear does NOT imply violence. Rather, it can compel cowardice, heroism, anger, sadness - you name it.
   More importantly, David, you must rememeber that we are running out of time to make changes. We should not rule any weapon out of our arsenal. Our greatest leaders, from Ghandi to Malcolm X all used fear, in some way or another, as motivators. The fear of falling behind, the fear of being usurped, the fear of the consequences of failing to radically rebel against an oppresive system. Not to get too political, but this is the failing of Dems and their pocket orgs, like MoveOn - they don't use all of the tools because they don't seek to lead the citizenry. Rather, they seek to coerce and co-opt. Understand that I'm far to the left of the Dem party and MoveOn, so I don't judge them for their failings, they are, to me, ineffective and will play no large role in the coming economic and lifestyle revolution that we will either engineer or will be forced upon us by nature. As with the equal rights movements of the 20th century, the Dems did not propel either, they simply followed along when the public pressure became too great. By this time, far too much suffering had transpired.  My point, FEAR can be a proactive agent, can inspire radical change. I FEAR what my son will live through, and his children as well. I FEAR not doing my part to right things. I FEAR many things that are very much worth fearing, and this keeps me active and on my toes, both intellectually and physically. This is not to say that I live my life in fear, but fear is certaily an essential component among my daily motivators.
   Do not cast aside fear. Do not fear fear. Yes, it is often wielded recklessly, but this does not mean that it is a faulty mechanism. Again, our greatest leaders provide concrete examples of proper useage. Look to them, not the Republicans, for examples of how to use this tool.
   Again, David, thanks for your writing on the subject. It is a very necessary item for us all to analyze.
   
   "Because the world doesn't matter if you don't have the strength to go ahead and choose something that's really true." - Julio Cortazar, Hopscotch

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3. 

   katesisco Posted 7:02 am
   29 Aug 2006

   future environmentalismRead WHEN THE RIVERS RUN DRY, exceptional book.  Europe has gone back to allowing flood plains for their rivers after the extraordinary flooding in the past years.  Dam problems are clearly identified:  silting, overstating of enery production, elimination of thousands of productive fields flooded by the retainment pond, unnotified release of waters during flood to save the dam, methane dissemination over decades, not years,  etc.  Huge water diversion projects: Khadafi's Great Man Made River, the diversion of river waters to create crops for export profit at the expense of traditional crop methods.  
   The answer is a return to the local, the small and managable as in the Indian tankas, the quants, the formerly productive shallow wells that were destroyed when tube wells were sank by the Peace Corps, non-profits, at the direction of the World Bank.  Huge rises in fluoride and arsenic poisoning due to this thoughtless procedure.  A return to catching the monsoon rains into ponds, rooftops are necessary.  
   Never has the gap between the stated goals of capitalism and its actual results been so clearly identified.
   This 'beating of the drum' for a new alternative smacks of the same tired old argument of the next 'new thing' in education.  We do not need any more experimentation, surely that is plain.  We do not need more management, we need less.  We do not need to lable things as either brave or cowardly.  We need only to see clearly that profits have created the destruction of our families and the land we so desperately need to work in harmony with.  
   And, Yes, we are manipulated by fear, by patriotism, by any number of our human failings.  but, as the damage clearly seen by the sinking of the tube wells, by the 'green revolution' that need more and more fertilizer, by the GM crops that appear to yeild large but in truth lack the essential minerals smaller, non genetically modified crops do have, by our quest to improve things we have done as much damage as the wars of the world.  
   We have taken the prevailing view of the dominant culture (first Britian, then America) and applied what works here to there and the results are dismal.  Even in trying to help.  
   Do you think it is because of the "we know best" mind set?  It's their land but we know best how to dam the river that in their land carries essential silt to fertilize their river side fields.  And of course, we make a profit of selling the dam technology and coincidentally we site our American mining firm next to the dam to use the electricity that was advertised as a way to instill a productive economy-------and on and on.
   We have yet to work with Mother Nature and seem destined to end our days as a footnote of yet another failed civilization that the future will delve into to explore why we failed----silted up canals like the Kymers, salt encrusted fields such as the Aztec, over use crop land without maintainence of crop rotation, etc.  
   And the most damaging--------endless wars.    

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4. 

   redjenny Posted 2:00 am
   30 Aug 2006

   Excellent PieceI agree that fear inspires little or nothing in the way of positive action because it more often than not saps hope and will. Survival as a short term goal takes precedence over long term goals. What progressives, especially in regard to environmental issues, need to focus on isn't fear per se. Reality is frightening enough and every truthfully scary message needs to be accompanied by hope and steps for action.

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5. 

   Wells Posted 4:44 am
   31 Aug 2006

   Even moderates use fear tacticThis country's political divide, Right vs Left, has an artificial dividing point, republican on one side, democrat on the other. The truth is that many issues near the center of the political spectrum are shared by both and even most political persuasions.
   My political strategy for reaching obstinantly closed-minded republicans is to find those commonalities, and convince them that their leaders are not fairly representing majority interests, including their own.
   To be such a moderate is like climbing this dividing wall and becoming a target for attack from both sides.
   For exampls: When I'm trying to explain the complete futility of hydrogen fuel cell cars, those on the Left who've placed their hopes in such technofixes, will not hear it and may suspect such viewpoint as right wing propaganda. Those on the Right may be surprised to learn pertinent facts about Bush's fraudulent advocacy for hydrogen, but may be disuaded from in depth examination because the intellectually incurious on the Left matches that of their own.
   I have a small, measured amount of optimism that the industrial age can reduce its toxic impact. But, if the Left remains as closed-minded as the Right, the fear of an inappropriate technofix is a reasonable and legitimate political tactic.
   
   

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6. 

   tbelford Posted 1:20 am
   08 Sep 2006

   FearWhat a thoughtful series ... well done. Inspired us to this post, with a mild dissent:
   http://www.theagitator.net/index.php?/archives/266-What-I...
   We think fear is a given of the human condition. We've got to acknowledge & deal with it. The challenge for communicators and advocates is to channel it constructively (while not promoting it ... an important distinction).
   
   Tom Belford
   
   TheAgitator.net

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