Eco-Vandals Get a License to Shrill - Political Fever

RSDavis · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2008, 12:34 PM

Eco-Vandals Get a License to Shrill
by RS Davis
The Freedom Files

Hello Freedomphiles! There is little doubt that Global Warming is real. Even reason magazine, which had been an ardent critic of the theory, admitted in 2005 that We're All Global Warmers Now.

Yet we still are not sure to what extent the warming will affect our lives, what are the best measures to mitigate its negative effects, or when the iron will be hottest for striking.

Now is not the time for hysteria, but for measured scientific inquiry and honest, non-partisan discussion. It might even be that there are far more pressing issues to tackle before we even begin to think about Global Warming - like the education of women in the third world, poverty, malnutrition, and property rights.

Some of these things would actually help solve the warming problem. Richer countries with secure property rights pollute less, as they can afford cleaner technologies, which are actually more profitable if you have the capital to employ them.

What we cannot do is succumb to hysteria, because hysteria leads to a weakening of resolve and increased sympathy toward extreme action. Case in point - a jury in Britain just acquitted some eco-vandals from Greenpeace who did more than £35,000 in damage to a coal power plant in the UK because they had a "lawful excuse" in avoiding the greater potential damage of Global Warming.

Vandal Ben Stewart commented after the acquittal: "This verdict marks a tipping point for the climate change movement. When a jury of normal people say it is legitimate for a direct action group to shut down a coal-fired power station because of the harm it does to our planet, then where does that leave Government energy policy? We have the clean technologies at hand to power our economy. It's time we turned to them instead of coal."

It also marks a tipping point for property rights and the rule of law. When vandals can make it so that you can't run a lawful business, and you know that there will be no legal recourse to protect your property, that helps to severely blur the lines between eco-activism and de facto state-sponsored terrorism.

Smurf · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2008, 01:13 PM

It's called civil disobedience. It's nice to see people get away with it for a change. The £35,000 in "damage" is a high price just to remove some graffiti. They could have left it up for free.

RSDavis · #3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smurf

It's called civil disobedience. It's nice to see people get away with it for a change. The £35,000 in "damage" is a high price just to remove some graffiti. They could have left it up for free.

Part of civil disobedience is the willingness to take the punishment for clearly illegal actions.

RSDavis · #4 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 08:39 AM

How does this spammer have 20 posts?

Lumara · #5 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSDavis

How does this spammer have 20 posts?

Because I didn't know about it until several people reported it this morning. The spammer has been banned.

RSDavis · #6 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumara

Because I didn't know about it until several people reported it this morning. The spammer has been banned.

Awesome! You're like Buffy!

Lumara · #7 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 12:09 PM

Thanks! I can't think of a higher compliment!

RSDavis · #8 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 12:29 PM

Me neither.

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