Evil, not hypocrisy

Pick on the bad guys, not the kinda bad guys who claim to be good.

Posted by David Roberts at 12:57 PM on 14 Jul 2005

I've said before that the unremitting negativity of the environmental movement toward corporations bugs me. I'm fully aware of the evils committed by corporations, but the tactic seems to be to find those that are talking about green issues and accuse them of hypocrisy, thus creating a massive disincentive. The lesson for corporations is: keep quiet.

But don't we want them talking about green issues?

The example I always use is Ford -- Bill Ford is, by all accounts, a committed environmentalist and has been pushing against the massive inertia of the Ford bureaucracy to do some good things (yes, yes, with limited success). But because the Ford fleet overall still has poor fuel efficiency, Bill ends up getting compared to Dick Cheney. Could anything be more insulting? The lesson for Bill -- or rather, for the Ford board of directors -- is: lower our profile on environmental issues. Don't draw the attention of the greens.

Yeah, so, that bugs me. And yet for some reason, this bugs me too. I guess the lesson is that everything bugs me and I should relax. Perhaps drink more.

Oh, wait! Here's something that doesn't bug me: ExxposeExxon, the new coalition trying to put together a boycott of Exxon. (Okay, the spelling bugs me, but ... baby steps.)

The problem with Exxon, you see, is not that they're saying one thing and doing another. It's that they're doing malignant things. Evil, not hypocrisy, is Public Enemy No. 1.

For story: Evil, not hypocrisy
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Credit where credit is due?

Seems to me the Sierra Club -- one of the sponsors of ExxposeExxon and the "shiller" of Ford's new hybrid -- should get DavePoints (TM) for being able to tell the difference.

by Katharine Wroth at 1:31 PM on 14 Jul 2005

Agreed ...

with Dave that the Global Exchange/Rainforest Action Network strategy of taking out a full-page ad in the NYT to compare Bill Ford to Dick Cheney and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is not likely to prove fruitful.

An amusing bit from said ad [PDF]: It notes that Saudi Arabia is "a dictatorship where women are not allowed to vote or drive." Isn't equating driving with freedom a bit off-message?

And agreed with Katharine that, by Dave's reasoning, the Sierra Club should get credit here.

by Lisa Hymas at 2:15 PM on 14 Jul 2005

Positive reinforcement gets results!

I agree and think we could go further and forge a whole new green surge on the basis of positive reinforcement WITH realistic appraisal.

For example...we want green cars. So when a car company etc takes a step in the right direction we should thank them profusely and engage with them as to when their next step in the right direction will be.

When they make a move in the right direction we should only act to encourage more action.

Or we can get negative.

Which one is likely to get more results?

Love breeds love and hate breeds hate

Namaste

City Hippy

City Hippy
http://www.cityhippy.net

by City Hippy at 2:31 PM on 14 Jul 2005

World Changing article on secretly green corps

Here's an article on WC about the phenom you're alluding to Dave - companies with green policies like Nike, Levis, and so on, that don't publish those policies or trumpet them in any way.

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002282.html

http://www.sustainabilityzone.com

by dreadsword at 5:18 PM on 14 Jul 2005

Evil corporations

I was on the inside of a uh....large aerospace company in Seattle for almost two decades. Many of my peers who hired in with me now hold the reigns of power there. They are for the most part, gregarious, sociable, frat boys who play a mean game of golf. Sound familiar? That could have been a description of Bush before he went on the wagon.

I find the unending conspiracy theories about evil corporations tiresome. If the aformentioned company is typical, then the upper ranks of most corporations are filled non-threatening, sociable, but otherwise unremarkable people who go to work everyday, try to stay awake at meetings, and please their bosses, who eventually take their bosses positions to repeat the cycle. I would replace "Evil" with "marginally competent."

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 6:46 PM on 14 Jul 2005

Ford

Just a quick memory......in 1970 I was stationed at George AFB, CA. While there I met a little old man that invented a carb that got over 125 miles to the gallon, YES, 125 miles to the gallon. I let him put that carb in my car. I know it did. He sold that carb to Ford. So I still want to know, where is it and why isn't it being used?

(No, need to answer that.)

by Catharren at 10:47 PM on 14 Jul 2005

What Is "Evil"?

Just because those who work in corporations aren't conspiring to destroy the Earth, or people's lives or culutures, doesn't mean the former aren't evil. I suggest Ward Churchill's excellent essay on 911, calling those who worked in the WTC to little Eichmans. If you do things that harm the planet or other people just to make a lot of money, I call that evil, even if the harms you do are a byproduct and not your intention.

Jeff Hoffman

by jdhlax at 1:21 AM on 15 Jul 2005

Lessons.

"The lesson for Bill -- or rather, for the Ford board of directors -- is: lower our profile on environmental issues. Don't draw the attention of the greens."

Nope. The lesson is get with it, start mass producing plugin hybrids.

Until they do, these (monoply)corporations will continue to feel the heat from the environmental movement.

Lipservice does not get the job done. These folks using their connections within government have been stalling renewable energy transportation for decades.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 6:20 AM on 15 Jul 2005

Evil and evildoing.

You have bush speak on the brain dave.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 12:44 PM on 26 Jul 2005

ADVERTISING POLICY

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