This week has been like a textbook on how the greenies manage to miss every opportunity. There are three main methods they use for this:
1. Make enemies, and make sure that they stay enemies. Their favourite enemies are, of course, corporations. Greenies favour an uncompromising attitude. Generally, they show none of the understanding that Martin Luther King had when he said it was really difficult to do what he did, because there was no way that he could talk to black kids in the ghettoes in the same way as he talked to white middle-class people. Very few people can put forward a message of "we can work together, and we have to work together" while holding fast to their principles. And those who can were not allowed to rise in the ranks of most green organizations, because they sounded too moderate. Last Sunday I had to suffer a fine example of this: a girl that very soon into the conversation said that we obviously disagreed and there was no more reason to talk because of this. Let's only talk to people we already agree with. She relented a little in an email exchange afterwards, but she still maintains her attitude that all corporations are evil, every single one of them, can't help it, because they absolutely must put profit above everything else. Such faith in the capacity of law to create evil is almost touching.
2. Do nothing. It's so simple, yet so effective. Greenies have managed to be masters of inaction. Their proposals tend to be about stopping things from happening, almost never about doing something. This is perfect to create apathy, a feeling that the best thing to do, under any circumstances, is nothing. Last Monday I saw a perfect example of this: the Transport Group was supposed to meet, but things have been falling apart. The coordinator, that was never that keen to do anything, has finally decided he can't coordinate. The most active member has moved somewhere else. And I couldn't come to the last meeting because I was in Spain. The role of coordinator was temporarily taken in the last meeting by another guy that then proceeded to forget all about it and not mention to anybody that there was supposed to be another meeting last Monday. When I asked what happened, he replied that he would arrange another meeting... for way after Christmas. Three entire months of doing nothing at all. I just couldn't stand it. I sent an email out saying the next meeting would be on a stall I'm going to set up next to the shopping centre just before Christmas, because last time I checked, the Arctic was melting, Saudi Arabia was cutting production, and the economy was in a tailspin. Obviously the thing to do is to wait till Jesus comes. Hey, he can't take that long, seeing how close we must be to Armageddon.
3. Cling to your doubts. When people who want to do the right things are full of doubts, and those who want to do the wrong things are confident, it's practically guaranteed that the side with the wrong ideas will win, and the wrong things will be done. The green movement has been characterized by doubts and internal disagreements, while the rest of the world has been pretty much agreed with keeping things as they are. Hardly surprising that the greenies have failed to make many changes. This Wednesday I had a textbook case of this: I was supposed to meet with a that wanted to talk with us about windmills, being involved in it himself, and he cancelled at the last minute because he was included in an email thread that suggested we might not be ready for action yet. So, instead of pushing things forward and encouraging us towards doing something, he ferociously held on to his doubts and cancelled the meeting. I guess it's important to avoid the feeling you are wasting your time, more important than the odd chance of missing an opportunity.
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