Having read Michael Callaways excellent article entitled It’s Not Easy Being Green, I thought that I would weigh in on my own recent thoughts concerning the alleged climate crisis, and the emergence of green technologies that have resulted from this alarmist sentiment. Let me state out right that I am a conservative. I am also a capitalist. While I don’t believe that capitalism is perfect, I do feel that it is one of the best practical modalities for promoting fairness in society. I wrote a previous article on this topic, so I won’t go into my reasoning. Let it stand that I am a proponent of capitalistic society.
That being the case, I am confused by many similarly minded individuals rejecting any kind of green technology. While I may agree that the climate “crisis” is by and large a lot of hyper inflated nonsense, I have no philosophical qualms about supporting green technologies. The beauty of capitalism is that if a product or service is better, it survives, if its inferior, it gets plowed under.
Green tech has a lot going for it, and a lot against it. Let the market decide the fate of green technology, and leave all of the politicking out of it. What we absolutely DO NOT need is a whole lot of red tape corralling us into using green technology. There is no quicker way to destroy a great idea than to remove it from any form of competition.
Michael mentioned in his post the fact that the mercury and nickel in many of today’s green tech will do far more harm than good, and he’s right. The solution to that problem is to continue to expose that industry to market forces. The market will figure out that using toxic substances in its products is not good for sales, and will work out a solution.
My fear is that the powers that be (perhaps Michaels “They”?) will create a stagnant, government subsidized pit in which nickel and lead filled technologies can languish forever. Free from the impetus to change that is competition. All of these attempts to legislate our environmental morality are merely the latest form of the ivory tower socialistic worldview. That worldview is that we the people are idiots and we need the government elite and the academia to legislate our lives in every conceivable manner.
The truth is that we the people are much brighter than the elites give us credit for. We recognize the usefulness of green tech, and we want to be good stewards of our home. If we are allowed, I feel that our money will speak for us, and a healthy, dynamically improving green tech industry will be the result.
But for the sake of all that is holy, don’t remove the competition!
I’m going to disagree with you on this one, though I appreciate your point of view. I do NOT think that we the people are smart at all. We’re idiots, actually. We shop at Walmart (the epitome of soulless profiteering). We bathe, eat, and medicate ourselves with toxic chemicals (many of which won’t be FDA banned until a generation of people have died off from a hundred different cancers and conditions that practically didn’t exist 100 years ago.
No, I believe that the masses are rather ignorant. Look at pop culture. Look at what sells. Look at how movies are getting more sensationalized and less content rich. Our need for satisfaction and self-gratification leads us further down the destructive slope.
Who are the voices of reason? Perhaps they’re not the government, but they’re definitely not the masses either. They’re the few; the ones who care; the ones with principles everyone else laughs at and scorns as they stuff their faces with frosted flakes and doritos until they have massive coronaries.
My response is extreme for a reason. What is profitable WILL win out, to be sure. The only reason there is a push toward green energy is because there is a lack of oil. Our resources are running out. In 30 years, we’re going to be totally screwed, and most people don’t want to deal with that reality, so they mock it or push it to the back of their minds.
Capitalism = supply and demand. That we’re going green(er) is simply a result of dwindling supply. Whether you worry about global warming or not, oil supply WILL run low. Natural resources are not infinite. If for no other reason, there needs to be an orchestrated push towards alternative fuel sources because we soon won’t have an option (or any mass consumable energy). It’s all about supply and demand. If we weren’t running low on oil worldwide, we’d never pursue green alternatives on a large scale.
I love the begining of your blog, I think that Michael Callaway fellow is great too.
Daniel: you have a valid argument there, my friend. It does seem that the masses can seem idiotic. However, I think you really hit the nail on the head when you used the word ignorance. I don’t think that the majority of people are stupid so much as they are ignorant. At times that ignorance is willful, but mostly I think its just what they know. If that is the case, then education is answer, not regulation. Governments regulation of “ethical” issues such as what to do with our waste and how to eat right just won’t work. The reason they wont work is because regulation demands no understanding from the average person. It fosters ignorance, and takes away personal responsibility. Its like a governmental “because I said so”, and as we all know, laws that we don’t understand the reason for are the first to be broken. A 35 mph sign on a straight stretch of road is rarely heeded unless there’s a high water sign next to it. So perhaps some regulation would be in order, but In my mind, education is the key.
Michael: Yes, you are amazing. A heartily enjoy your posts, keep it up.