Who Are the Radicals?

By Jack Miller
Chapter Vice-Chair

Chris Hedges has written correctly, I believe, that “a consumer culture based on corporate profits and limitless exploitation and continued extraction of fossil fuels is doomed.” He has also written in the same vein that “the mania for ceaseless economic expansion and exploitation has become a curse, a death sentence.” While some may view these statements as “over the top” or radical, it is the exploiters, our corporate masters, who are the extreme radicals. For limitless profit they are changing the chemistry of the air breathe, the acidity of the oceans, the basic genetics of the plants we eat, and have blown up mountains to save a few cents on a ton of coal. They have contaminated the biosphere and each of us with more than 80,000 chemicals, most of which have never been tested. Please tell me who are the radicals?

            

As one who is in at least the “November of my years,” sometimes I wish I could just shut my consciousness off from what is going on around me and just become a mindless consumer which so many others have chosen to be. I’m not sure if it was the Sunday school classes from long ago, my family, my involvement in scouts, my education, or my life learning that won’t allow me to do this. While my faults are many, I know that at my core I feel I have a moral obligation to those who come after me. I feel that if I don’t fight for the future of my grandchildren then I can’t really say that I love them. I must do what I can to change the direction our nation and much of the world is heading. I don’t know what hope there is for this even though I am only one of many attempting to do so. We need a lot more people to join with us.

Courtesy of http://machimon.files.wordpress.com/

            

If we are to continue to have a habitable planet for our grandchildren, we must change the corporate/political status of our current government. We now live in a country which is much closer to a fascist state than a democracy. With their billions the corporations control much of what constitutes our government on all levels. With their hundreds of millions in political contributions, thousands of lobbyists, their politically motivated think tanks, and their old employees working as government regulators, they control most of what happens in Washington D.C. and most of the state capitols. In elections we often only have a choice of those with the best corporate financing when we enter the voting booth.

            

The corporations have learned to a great extent how to control our behavior. If you have ever seen any children’s TV you know that it starts at a very early age. We are a people who always want more. We are never satisfied. We are told over and over again what happiness just one more purchase will bring. Even though our electronics marvels work perfectly fine, we “need” to have that ever more marvelous gadget.  Even when our house is perfectly comfortable, we want ever more square footage or a new kitchen make over. We are driven to feed the corporate monster.

            

The corporations bombard us with how wonderful they are. Telling distortions and half-truths is their daily fare. After all, they are amoral, artificial creations. They certainly shouldn't have the rights guaranteed to individuals. Just think of all the ads touting the wonders of natural gas we all have seen filled with the lie that natural gas is clean energy. It may be cleaner than coal, but everything from the site preparation to the burning of the gas is dirty. Corporate dollars have been used to distort the truth with everything from smoking to climate change. Through their distortions they have been responsible for the death of countless thousands. They have given millions of people the comfort of living in ignorance of what we are doing to our planet and to our children’s future.

            

I know this is a very cynical view, but the ignorance of the general population seems pervasive. Level of education doesn't seem to always be the best indicator of an individual’s general knowledge.  With many it seems, that ignorance is a conscious choice. Too often, people change the facts to fit with their beliefs. The political right has chosen ignorance on environmental issues. If they accepted the facts on environmental issues, they would be forced to have the government take action, but they are more concerned with promoting the profits of their corporate masters who handsomely reward them financially. There are far too many on the opposite side of the isle who also have their hands out.

            

We all can make the decision to “clean-up” the mess we have made of our home planet. I know that for some fighting to earn enough to keep their families fed and under roof that time is very limited. But we as a country seem to have lots of time for sports, movies, TV, and our electronic gadgets. I know recreation is important, but most could give up some to help to do what needs to be done. We can all use just a few minutes to get out in nature to see what we will lose if we all don’t act. Consider that we may be doing more than destroying nature, we may be doing the same to human civilization. We must all begin to act now with whatever time we have. It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said “we are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”

            

Barbara Kingsolver has written, “Global commerce is driven by a single conviction: the inalienable right to earn profit, regardless of the human cost.” It is time that all of us disabuse them of this notion. While they have a right to make a profit, it must not be at the cost of our health, natural beauty, and the health of the biosphere on which we are all dependent. They must take on all their costs. They can no long increase their profits by externalizing their costs. They can no longer increase their profits at the expense of their workers’ health. They must no longer exploit their workers with inadequate pay while CEO’s have their pay increased by many millions of dollars.  

Sierra Club Statement on State of the Union

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 28, 2014

Contact: Maggie Kao, 202-675-2384 or maggie.kao@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club Statement on State of the Union

Washington, D.C. -- Tonight President Obama gave his 2014 State of the Union address.

Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director, issued the following statement in response:

“Tonight, President Obama laid out his vision of opportunity for our nation and made it clear that our children will hold us accountable for what we do -- or do not do -- to address climate disruption.

“The President has taken significant steps forward by committing to hold dirty power plants accountable for their toxic carbon pollution and to protect our public lands.  We’re also encouraged to hear his plans to help repair and modernize America's infrastructure.  

“Unfortunately, the sum total of the President’s commitments fall short of what American families need to ensure a safe, healthy planet for our children. We can’t drill or frack our way out of this problem.  There is far more potential for good job creation in clean energy like solar and wind, and common sense solutions like energy efficiency.

“Make no mistake -- natural gas is a bridge to nowhere. If we are truly serious about fighting the climate crisis, we must look beyond an ‘all of the above’ energy policy and replace dirty fuels with clean energy. We can’t effectively act on climate and \expand drilling and fracking for oil and gas at the same time.

“To fight the climate crisis, we must resist the temptation to trade away American jobs and public interest policies to foreign corporations. We must walk away from boondoggles like fracked gas. And we must seize on the opportunity and the obligation that the climate crisis has thrust upon us.”

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American Style Consumerism

By Jack Miller, Chapter Vice Chair

One of the greatest threats to our planet is American style consumerism. While the resources of the planet are limited, our appetite for more, newer, and bigger stuff has no limits. This consumer virus is spreading throughout the world. To meet our appetite for stuff we will need several more planet earths.

The corporations and their propagandist advertisers spend billions of dollars each year to keep us spending in search of that "new smell". They have so indoctrinated us that we equate life satisfaction with the acquiring of new stuff. It matters little if we have no need for these items or they replace perfectly good items. Through artificial devices like "style" the corporations create massive waste. Perfectly usable items now must be discarded. We seem to be unable to distinguish between real needs and the artificial "needs" that advertisers create. It seems that shopping is our greatest form of recreation. 

The basic economic measure of health used in this country is the Gross Domestic Product. It purports to measure the total of goods and services in a given time period. It is not a measure of our growth as a society. It gives equal measure to dollars spent on items that will shortly end up in the trash as to dollars spent on preventive immunizations. It gives equal value to money spent on insulation as it does for money spent for wasted heat and energy. It is a measure that the corporations love because it like them only cares about money spent and their profits.

American's desire for more stuff is nothing new. It was a major criticism of Henry Thoreau more than 150 years ago. He could not understand why the Christian Churches did not preach against their congregations' desire to accumulate stuff, when Jesus preached against the laying up of treasure's on earth where moth and rust corrupt. We hear virtually nothing from religious leaders today on American consumerism and its destructive results. Our blind consumerism is as emotionally destructive as it is environmentally destructive.

Before you go to purchase something, consider what all is involved. Probably the item was made from some natural resource that had to be destructively ripped from the earth. Then the factory had to use energy and cause pollution it its production. Then it was shipped to the retailer where the item is bought. Within 6 months 99% of all that went through this stream of production, sale, and use will end up in a landfill or incinerator. Pretty sober to consider before we buy. We can't forget the presence of so many toxic chemicals in the production and waste of these products.

We Americans seem to think that we are entitled to the resources of the world; none more than oil. One of the reasons we have over 700 military bases around the world is to have access to so many raw materials. We remain blind to the social and environmental damage we cause to so many people around the world including people in the sacrifice zones of this country. Most of these people are poor people who we exploit for our comfort.

We can never find real satisfaction by becoming part of the consumer society. After the new smell wears off we are forced to buy again. There will always be a new, bigger, fancier, and exciting gadget to be had and we won't be happy until we have one. Styles will change with each season so the only way to be in style is to buy again. It is a never ending treadmill that our friendly corporations have created.

We all must be consumers. There are real needs to be meet. There are also those "tools" that we use to bring ourselves some joy. If you love to play tennis you certainly need a tennis racket, but you don't need a new one every time a manufacturer comes out with a new model. The person holding the racket will determine the outcome of the match, not the racket! Being an environmentally sensitive consumer requires a lot of thoughtful action and often inaction.

The economic crash 2008 was primarily caused by the greedy, selfish, and criminal actors of Wall Street. I don't want to shift the blame from them, but many families suffered more than necessary because of their living the life of the American consumer. Beginning in the 1970's wages for middle class employees flattened. Even as productivity of each worker increased their wages did not increase as prices rose. The increased profits of corporations went to the already wealthy. To keep up with their past consumer habits, too many people borrowed more on their homes and when the economic crash came they found themselves "under water" with their mortgages.

It is time for the old time values of thrift and the purchase of quality products that are functional, meet real needs, and are durable. We should consider where the product is produced. What types of materials of which is it produced. Is it made of recycled materials? Can it be recycled or passed on to another user like an out grown child's toy? We can no longer be blind consumers brainwashed by corporate propaganda. Are we willing to give up something so that there is enough for others now and in the future? We must find real joy in living life. Joy can't be found by filling our attics, garages, and rental storage units with more stuff.