<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for How’d they do it in the ‘70s?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by GRLCowan http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/ Sun, 02 Apr 2006 09:28:24 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/1 Taxes

The environmental problems we want to solve now will be solved despite a considerable loss of the subsidy fossil fuel users now pay to government employees, contractors, and subsidy recipients. I think it was in the late 60s or early 70s that we began supporting this large class of petrolistas. (If anyone who has been driving for 40 years remembers when laxity in speed limit enforcement began, that would be the time.)

--- Graham Cowan, former hydrogen fan
B: internal combustion, nuclear cachet

]]> Taxes

The environmental problems we want to solve now will be solved despite a considerable loss of the subsidy fossil fuel users now pay to government employees, contractors, and subsidy recipients. I think it was in the late 60s or early 70s that we began supporting this large class of petrolistas. (If anyone who has been driving for 40 years remembers when laxity in speed limit enforcement began, that would be the time.)

--- Graham Cowan, former hydrogen fan
B: internal combustion, nuclear cachet

]]> Comment #2 by Born http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/ Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:22:11 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/2 Boria

Thanks for the link - if a bit off topic.

This is BIG NEWS: at least it was news to me. I have been anticipating something like this, research in some similar direction for a while now.

]]> Boria

Thanks for the link - if a bit off topic.

This is BIG NEWS: at least it was news to me. I have been anticipating something like this, research in some similar direction for a while now.

]]> Comment #3 by Born http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/ Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:39:10 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/howd-they-do-it-in-the-70s/3 Working both sides of the street: IRV anyone?

The illusion that we still have a two-party system died hard. I think it was no lesser than E. O. Wilson, in early 2001, who was still talking about the Republicans as approachable on environmental legislation.

Not only environmentalists, but also labor, feminists, and so on, loved the feeling of empowerment that came upon them when realizing that a determined minority interest group could achieve tremendous leverage by "working both sides of the street". Today, various African-American voices still find that theory appealing as they talk of escaping the 'taken for granted' trap that comes out of the Black vote being overwhelmingly Democratic - and that without even one African-American Republican in the House!

But to "work both sides of the street", you gotta have a real two-party system - which means that the party in power has to respect the system. Today, the RNC continues to pursue the goal of destroying the remnants of the old duopoly.

How about this? Let's turn this situation into an opportunity. PUSH FOR IRV, to open up the old duopoly and change "politics as uaual" for the better. NOW is the time to convince Democrats, at least, that the old duopoly wasn't so great after all - especially when half of it is committed to its destruction. With IRV, we would still probably have two major parties - but the center could shift much more readily. It would break up the silly 'liberal-conservative' paradigm, wherein "conservative" means the opposite of 'conservation'!
 

]]> Working both sides of the street: IRV anyone?

The illusion that we still have a two-party system died hard. I think it was no lesser than E. O. Wilson, in early 2001, who was still talking about the Republicans as approachable on environmental legislation.

Not only environmentalists, but also labor, feminists, and so on, loved the feeling of empowerment that came upon them when realizing that a determined minority interest group could achieve tremendous leverage by "working both sides of the street". Today, various African-American voices still find that theory appealing as they talk of escaping the 'taken for granted' trap that comes out of the Black vote being overwhelmingly Democratic - and that without even one African-American Republican in the House!

But to "work both sides of the street", you gotta have a real two-party system - which means that the party in power has to respect the system. Today, the RNC continues to pursue the goal of destroying the remnants of the old duopoly.

How about this? Let's turn this situation into an opportunity. PUSH FOR IRV, to open up the old duopoly and change "politics as uaual" for the better. NOW is the time to convince Democrats, at least, that the old duopoly wasn't so great after all - especially when half of it is committed to its destruction. With IRV, we would still probably have two major parties - but the center could shift much more readily. It would break up the silly 'liberal-conservative' paradigm, wherein "conservative" means the opposite of 'conservation'!
 

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