WF7I
10-28-2004, 04:53 PM
I am usually left of center on most topics, but when I see BS I tend to call it out for what it is, regardless of party affiliation.
This political season has brought to mind a tactic I've seen used by those on the left of the spectrum. Not that the right doesn't have their own set of tricks, but that's another issue.
I was once a member of the Sierra Club. Most (maybe all?) members were violent left-wingers, so far to the left that I wouldn't be surprised if they waved a hammer and sickle flag at home. I support the environment, but they were too far to the left for me. And a tactic they used, which I've seen employed in the political arena, was to over-emphasize a problem to make it seem hundreds of times worse than it actually was. By doing this, they could get people motivated to sign petitions or nudge a congressman one way or the other. A few people at the meetings would indicate protest, that this was not very honest. The reply was something like, "well, if we don't exaggerate the situation, NOTHING will happen, and the forest will be cut/beavers be killed/etc etc bad things happen."
Often times, these bad consequences were also over-hyped and spun. It made me sick. The other thing that pissed me off (and made me leave their group) was that members were not allowed to have a say on what the "official" Sierra Club position was on any given issue.
I've since seen these same tactics (over-exaggeration, fear mongering) used in the left's political discourse. Emphasis is always on sky-is-falling and protest, rather than a vision for something positive. There is also this "guit trip" they lay on you. For example, if you don't want to paint a shed in a dangerous slum part of town, for fear of your personal safety, they look at you like you're Satan, won't talk to you, and generally show disgust at what an uncaring jerk you are! It's rediculous. And again, I'm not a conservative, at least not generally, and even I got this treatment.
I think groups like this and these sorts of tactics turn people off of the environmental movement and also to politics. Politics, to me, is synonymous with lying and spin. It's disgusting and frustrating. There are few politicians out there who don't seem to be AS BAD as others, but in general, it's pretty dispicable, and it's definitely on both sides of the aisle.
This political season has brought to mind a tactic I've seen used by those on the left of the spectrum. Not that the right doesn't have their own set of tricks, but that's another issue.
I was once a member of the Sierra Club. Most (maybe all?) members were violent left-wingers, so far to the left that I wouldn't be surprised if they waved a hammer and sickle flag at home. I support the environment, but they were too far to the left for me. And a tactic they used, which I've seen employed in the political arena, was to over-emphasize a problem to make it seem hundreds of times worse than it actually was. By doing this, they could get people motivated to sign petitions or nudge a congressman one way or the other. A few people at the meetings would indicate protest, that this was not very honest. The reply was something like, "well, if we don't exaggerate the situation, NOTHING will happen, and the forest will be cut/beavers be killed/etc etc bad things happen."
Often times, these bad consequences were also over-hyped and spun. It made me sick. The other thing that pissed me off (and made me leave their group) was that members were not allowed to have a say on what the "official" Sierra Club position was on any given issue.
I've since seen these same tactics (over-exaggeration, fear mongering) used in the left's political discourse. Emphasis is always on sky-is-falling and protest, rather than a vision for something positive. There is also this "guit trip" they lay on you. For example, if you don't want to paint a shed in a dangerous slum part of town, for fear of your personal safety, they look at you like you're Satan, won't talk to you, and generally show disgust at what an uncaring jerk you are! It's rediculous. And again, I'm not a conservative, at least not generally, and even I got this treatment.
I think groups like this and these sorts of tactics turn people off of the environmental movement and also to politics. Politics, to me, is synonymous with lying and spin. It's disgusting and frustrating. There are few politicians out there who don't seem to be AS BAD as others, but in general, it's pretty dispicable, and it's definitely on both sides of the aisle.