Watch me offend SUV-owners, Hummel collectors, eco-moms, rich people, and pretty much the whole green consumer movement. Not my most tactful blog post ever.
Update: Russell Arben Fox makes me feel smarter by tying my rant to "pioneer truths." I’m going to come back to this debate next week. I want to address one of Doug’s comments.
Apt. 11d 
The Times article WAS pretty cliche-ridden and kind of snarky about it. But I think they missed the main point that I get out of the movement: People who “need” to be green really “need” therapy and now they’re going to get it!
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Your post makes a lot of sense–no complaints here. But just out of curiosity, isn’t Pajamas Media basically known to be right-wing? Just curious about how you got involved with them…(or let me know if my assessment of their politics is off).
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Yeah, Pajamas Media is right-wing. And I’m not. On economic issues, I’m actually really far to the left. I’m friends with one of their editors. She picks through my posts and tells me to revise the best ones. They haven’t asked me to pull back on my politics. My friend edits my posts, which I appreciate. I like learning how to improve my writing. And then they pay me, which is a nice thing. Some of their commenters are a little nutty, but nutty can be entertaining.
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I think you should make t-shirts that say “Want to be green? Don’t buy shit.”
But then you’ll have to give the shirts away so we can wear them in good conscience.
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Isn’t there a term (greenwashing) for companies falsely pushing their products as earth friendly? Reading home magazines, I’ve seen just about every material described as earth friendly, from concrete to tropical hardwoods to cedar siding. I suppose a case can be made for just about anything, but a lot of the claims I’ve seen are pretty hard to swallow. And let’s not even talk about the new hybrid Tahoe. So, consumer beware. I think Laura has made some very good points about the unglamorousness of real conservation–keeping old stuff as long as possible and limiting purchases of new stuff. You’re not going to sell a lot of magazine ads with that message. Another rule of thumb is that if a “green” prouduct is expensive, it may be the market’s way of telling you that it involved a lot of inputs and energy consumption, and that those resources might have been better spent differently.
As an evil conservative, I’m skeptical that global warming is either caused by humans or something that humans can stop. However, running out of oil is a big deal. I’m sure that some sort of energy fix will have been discovered in the next 30, 40 years, but in the meantime, there’s going to be some discomfort.
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This article was brilliant; sent it off to my mum. Hope it makes her laugh as much as it did me.
Great point, too, about the un-hip Grandmother being more eco-friendly than the hipster. My packrat gramma is certainly more environmental than my green-obsessed friends without even trying.
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Hi,
I’m Laura’s friend and our politics are pretty similar. Yes, PJM tends to leans “right” as the ‘sphere defines it (Instapundit, Roger Simon) but our goal is to be as non-doctrinaire as possible -either left or right, extremely open-minded and run articles from all points of view – and some of the bloggers in our network are left-wing – Balloon Juice for example.
We’re willing to criticize anybody – and we usually do.
We’ll run anything that is tied to the news – the quicker on the draw the better – is well-reasoned, and well-written. We favor strong opinion and things that are different than what you’re going to read in the mainstream media – we want to be professional, yet “bloggy” – so Laura fits us really well.
Anyone reading this who wants to contribute, please be in touch – we are always looking for new voices. As Laura will tell you, we don’t pay a lot, but there’s nothing wrong with a little extra cash for shoes and Starbucks…
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Laura, last year I was in an online writing class with adult students from all over the US. We critiqued one another’s work. One guilty ecowife wrote about her neighbor who rides a bike and composts and how “the average person doesn’t do enough for the environment.” I checked her student bio and found out her husband was an airline pilot and she used to chauffer kids around to athletic meets. My reply to her was that the average person, by definition, isn’t that wasteful because they can’t afford a big SUV like a Cadillac Esplanade because their income is…average. She then admitted one of the neighbors on her block drove an Esplanade.
In a second class exercise submitted by a second ecowife, a vague argument was made that hinted our water treatment plants weren’t creating pure enough tap water. To this I replied that the ecologically conscious scientists who chose to work at those plants (with their families living nearby) were probably doing a diligent, consciencious job of cleaning up the water. I also stated that her writing implied a premise of there being a Golden Age Health via Pure Water in the 19th Century. But the 19th Century was characterized by a very high birth mother and infant mortality rate which even took the life of the wealthy Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife.
Whatever problems we have today, will not be solved by Greenpeace arranging ecoguilt trips.
After criticizing these two women, I also want to state that the fault lies with the Green Movement’s guilt trip trumpeted in television, magazines, political parties, Al Gore’s movie, etc. They all have conspired to make these women feel guilty and not good enough Daughters of Mother Earth. These women need a champion like you, Laura, to tell them they are OK and worthy human beings if they don’t sew their own teepee and wash their family’s clothes in a stream with homemade soap, like Martha Stewart seems to do (if you believe every image you see on television).
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The Greenpeace ecoguilt trip comment should have been placed at the end of my last comment.
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It’s good to know that I’m not the only one annoyed by the NYT’s Style section. However, I am extremely unhip and not particularly good for the environment. Sure, I keep stuff as long as I can. We’ve never gotten rid of a car that was less than 11 years old and we used cast-off TVs for years. But, it wasn’t a lifestyle choice. Just a way to save money for the new SUV. When you go from a 96 Neon to a new Jeep, you really appreciate the new Jeep.
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Allison, I really do appreciate your feedback and editorial efforts. It’s good for average bloggers to fine tune their writing and produce more professional opinions. It’s good to get more exposure. It’s too bad that the early publicity about PJM was that it was going to nurture only conservative bloggers. I think that there’s a place for an organization that hones the work of average bloggers of all political stripes. The problem with Huffington Post is that it is about celebrity opinion. I don’t really give a crap about what Billy Baldwin has to say about Darfur. There are a lot of good bloggers out there who could be getting more exposure and could benefit from a little editorial tinkering. I’m not sure that most bloggers are aware of the new mission behind PJM, Allison. You guys could use some more publicity.
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I think the hybrid Tahoe is good idea. Fuel efficient cars have been around for a long time and lots of people still bought SUVs. The hybrid Tahoe is a looong way from perfect, but it may be better than a non-hybrid. (I don’t know if it is, but it might be.)
My sister has four kids, with three in car seats. She and her husband have an SUV and a minivan to fit car seats and her kids’ friends. She’s not going to buy a Prius, but she might buy a hybrid minivan or hybrid SUV.
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I see the utility, but I’m holding out for the hybrid Hummer.
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Heh, I refuse to buy a minivan. It’s misguided, I guess, but I just won’t do it. We have a station wagon, but I’m finding the Saturn sedan we inherited from my in-laws does us fine, too. I don’t think I could buy a hybrid for one reason: I don’t buy new cars. Biggest waste of money ever.
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Speaking of new cars and hybrids, some people who I will not further identify have been considering a hybrid with a $900 a month lease (that’s Canadian dollars–I’m not sure what the exchange rate was when we had the conversation). Can they really be so monstrously expensive?
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Laura,
PJM’s mission isn’t really new – it’s just that the blogosphere has this inexplicable need to polarize as much as possible – especially the left when it comes to the right.
And I have to say it’s worse on the left and the right. The irony is that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy – I often ask people with lefty points of view to write for Pajamas and they’re like “Oh, no, I couldn’t be see writing for you, you’re too conservative, I’d be shunned. I can’t be seen writing for the neo-cons.”
And yet I see HuffPost doesn’t have any problem getting conservatives to write for them…
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This is a bit OT, but Allison, you’ve seen the 1990 GOPAC memo “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control”, right? If not it’s here.
From that document: “As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: ‘I wish I could speak like Newt.’
“That takes years of practice. But, we believe that you could have a significant impact on your campaign and the way you communicate if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases. …
“Often we search hard for words to define our opponents. Sometimes we are hesitant to use contrast. Remember that creating a difference helps you. These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party.
# abuse of power
# anti- (issue): flag, family, child, jobs
# betray
# bizarre …
# destroy
# destructive
# devour
# disgrace …
# obsolete
# pathetic …
# shallow
# shame
# sick …
# steal …
# threaten
# traitors …
# waste…”
I’m sorry you’ve gotten caught professionally in the crossfire because you seem like a nice person here. But increasing polarization has been a key and deliberate strategy of the very highest leaders of the right in the US for at least twenty years. Pushback is long overdue.
Back on-topic, Bruce Sterling’s been writing about issues of greenery and materialism for quite some time now. His basic take is that fighting consumerism is a losing battle, and the only real way to help is to make green products the sexiest, most desirable, most prestigious ones around.
Sterling’s flip side is the following principle: ” The Viridian Grandfather Principle
When a particular course of green action is suggested, ask yourself if it might not be done better by someone who is dead. For instance, conserving water. Is your deceased grandfather better at conserving water than you are? He is, isn’t he? He’s even better at boycotting ExxonMobil. These may be worthy efforts, but they are not Viridian. Viridians prefer to carry out green activities that living people can do well.” (The Viridian Design Movement is the was the focal point of the manifesto.)
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How is Newt Gingrich’s political career doing, anyway?
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Allison is probably thinking of the immediate post 9/11 era, when the blogosphere was one big happy family (so to speak).
If we were talking about US politics as a whole, rather than the blogosphere, presumably things have been fairly heated at least as far back as since John Brown, or looking further back, since the first time patriotic Americans tarred and feathered a Tory and ran him out of town on a rail for loyalty to the King.
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“How is Newt Gingrich’s political career doing, anyway?”
Memo published in 1990, elected Speaker of the House four years later, ending 40 years of a Democratic majority in that chamber. In office for 20 years, pushing polarization served him personally very well.
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Doug,
I hadn’t heard of that principle before, so thanks. Frequently when I hear people talking about the need to control carbon emissions and what not, similar thoughts go through my head. Long ago, I decided to ignore anybody espousing an ethical principle that, on its face, seems to be saying the highest aspiration possible is to have no impact on the world. I haven’t forgotten the Parable of the Talents.
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If he had played his cards differently (both politically and personally), Gingrich would be president right now. That’s why I can’t really see him as being a huge success–whatever he has now is so little compared to what he could have had.
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Unity in politics is over-rated. Pittsburgh has had one-party (Democrats) in power since the 1930s. The city was run by a traditional patronage machine. It worked O.K. while Pittsburgh had the mills to pay for it all. But, a party that can’t lose also can’t tell its own members that they have to change with the time. So, 30 years after the mills are gone, we still have the same patronage machine but without the economy to pay for it. So, we have high taxes, huge debt, horrible infrastructure, and a rapidly declining population. If Pittsburgh had someone who could produce political polarization, I’d at least have some reason to hope that things could change. As it is, I think the only solution will come from the state (they already took control of the budget) and that it won’t happen until Pittsburgh has already lost its middle class.
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MH, are there factions within the local machine? I think that the classic study of varieties within one-party politics in the US is still V.O. Key’s Southern Politics in State and Nation (1949). It looked at the South when the electorate was still virtually all-white and when the Democratic party primary was tantamount to the general election; the second part of which seems to apply to your local politics. Anyway, he found several different kinds of competition within something that looked like a one-party machine. None of it was as good as real competition, of course, but have a look under the hood in Pittsburgh, and I’d bet that something similar is goind on. People disagree, as we all know, and fight for position, even if it all happens within one party. (Bavaria, where I live now, has also had one-party rule at the state level for about half a century now. But the factional fights can be fierce.)
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“so little compared to what he could have had”
Rich, influential, and remembered as someone who orchestrated a historic victory for his party, whereas on the other hand he could have ascended to the heights of Franklin Pierce and Chester A. Arthur?
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“Rich, influential, and remembered as someone who orchestrated a historic victory for his party, whereas on the other hand he could have ascended to the heights of Franklin Pierce and Chester A. Arthur?”
Gingrich could have done a lot more if he hadn’t got in his own way. The 1994 revolution was over very quickly. Welfare reform is the one lasting contribution I can think of without looking things up (not that that’s chicken feed).
MH, do you think Doug’s suggestion about factions taking the place of parties makes any sense, at least in the Pittsburgh setting?
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Having gone through the all-Dem King-Dukakis wars in Massachusetts, I can vouch for factions!
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Just come to Illinois if you want to see how within-party factions can lead to total and absolute gridlock for years on end. We’re just about ready to start the annual budget process once again. We’ll see if the idiots in Springfield manage to completely shut down the government yet again. (They just about shut down the Chicago Transit Authority last month.)
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Of course there are factions in the Pittsburgh Democrats. But they are mostly geographic (i.e. neighborhood) or personal. The machine is full of people trying to get their guy in this or that office. The local party committee gives endorsements for the primaries and in the vast majority of races, their person wins the nomination (and the winner of the nomination always wins in the general). The committee, which is huge, is riven with faction, but it is hard to know what is going on there unless you are on the committee. The best way to get on the committee is to have parents who were on the committee. The best way to get endorsed for a nomination is to be blindly loyal to the committee (and to have had parents on the committee). In short, typical patronage machine. I really only pay attention to the reform faction, which is centered on Councilman Peduto. He gets his support from the young, the college educated, anybody progressive, and all of the people opposed to the machine. He is usually right in his policies and has about as much of a chance of getting the machine’s endorsement for mayor as I do. Though I hope I’m wrong, I also think he has no chance of winning any real reform because he lacks the stomach for a knock-down fight. He dropped out of the last primary after not getting the endorsement. Our previous mayor died only a few months after his election and the machine endorsed the city council president who took over the mayor’s office. In that race, the Republicans had their best showing in decades and I think Peduto missed his best chance.
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MH,
Good lord. Is there any way you can get a visa and escape this ice-bound banana republic? (I loved it for four years, but I didn’t have kids at the time and wasn’t paying property tax.)
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Key, if I’m remembering right (and it’s been close to 20 years, to say nothing of the alcohol consumed during college and the fact that Southern Politics met at 8am) had a typology of factionalism going. What MH describes was one, there was another where you had two big factions (maybe geographically driven or pesonality driven or what have you), and some others as well.
(On checking, I see that there’s a reprint edition that’s in stock at Amazon. And the .de site will take a mere one to three weeks. Hmm, we’ll see.)
Any other poli sci types around here know of models of intra-party competition?
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I have my days where I am less down on Pittsburgh (or I’d have moved to the suburbs already). Housing is cheap (you can buy or rent for about the same monthly cost) and the extreme parochialism has protected several old-style walkable residential neighborhoods. Not modernizing preserved much of the good along with the bad. Talking about politics with people who aren’t from your social/demographic peer group is a real eye-opener in this town. If you live in Pittsburgh and can get a job in something for which the job market is national (so you can demand better than local wages), you’ll do fine. Its just that you will lose what you save on housing costs to taxes and private schools.
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Doug,
As for models of intra-party competition, I doubt anyone with enough information to complete the model would give that information to anyone from outside the group.
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Well, I don’t know about models, but in Mass., it was the Birkenstocker goo-goos against the traditionals. The Globe was run by goo-goos, Dukakis was their guy. The close-in suburbs were full of traditionals who were furious about school busing and abortion. And the Reeps were mostly sweet and ineffectual guys whose ancestors had come on the Mayflower.
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Random amusing factoid:
I was in my teens until I realized that there was an election in November. In my home county, the “real” election–the one with campaign signs and newspaper ads–was the Democratic primary in August.
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Speaking of Birkenstocker goo-goos (since this started out with a post on envirnomentalists), I have often wondered if they wouldn’t be doing more for the planet if they worked to improve urban governments instead of trying to get the city to mandate “green building standards” and whatever else they are doing. I can’t be the only one sitting it a city trying to figure out if I should move to the suburbs or not. If the city’s problems get bad enough to impact our standard of living or if it looks like the rest of the middle class is about to leave, I’m off to the suburbs regardless of what I think about global warming. And any move to the suburbs is likely to double or triple our energy use. Multiply that by a few hundred families and governmental incompetence becomes a green issue.
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I’ll be interested to read your response to Doug, Laura. Don’t let your house projects keep you away too long.
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Hi, good day. Wonderful post. You have gained a new subscriber. Pleasee continue this great work and I look forward to more of your great blog posts.
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