I’m just going to publish this as is. It’s weird and disturbing. I mean, even if you don’t believe in global warming/climate change and you don’t think we can use up all our resources, isn’t there something to be said for not having huge piles of garbage all over the world and for preserving as much pretty wilderness as possible by, for example, not having to build more power plants. Like, come on…
Sustainability is a Waste
10 Reasons to Oppose the Sustainability Movement on Your Campus
Sounds to me like theyre a bit colour-blind
September 03, 2009 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne (can’t believe these peeps attached their name to this), on The National Association of Scholars website. The article can be found here
1. Sustainability is deceptive.
Sustainability is not just about practicing good stewardship of the environment. It is also a tool to advance progressive politics and ideology. The sustainability movement is a way for people with a hugely unpopular political program to get into positions of influence so that they can advance their cause despite lack of public support. On many campuses sustainability is marketed to students as saving energy and improving the environment, but turns out to involve projects that have nothing to do with the environment.
2. Sustainability is coercive.
Sustainability advocates assume that no one can legitimately disagree with their message. They therefore have no qualms about imposing their politics on students, faculty, and staff. If someone does disagree, they attack that person’s motives and ignore his actual point.
Sustainability advocates assume that no one can legitimately disagree with their message. They therefore have no qualms about imposing their politics on students, faculty, and staff. If someone does disagree, they attack that person’s motives and ignore his actual point.
3. Sustainability is closed-minded.
Sustainability advocates put their hands over their ears and refuse to listen to people who point out contrary facts or who have different arguments. Sustainability in this sense is an ideology: it shuts out or explains away whatever doesn’t fit with its premise.
4. Sustainability is a pseudo-religion.
Some sustainability advocates tip over the edge of ideology into apocalyptic religion, complete with end-of-the-world scenarios, calls to repent, a new eco-morality, and worship of the Earth. This is a religion that misappropriates the ideas of “ethics,” ‘justice,” “social mandate,” and “the right thing” to shame people into compliance.
5. Sustainability distorts higher education.
Sustainability advocates don’t want to just add sustainability to the curriculum; they want to make it “the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.” How exactly does sustainability help you learn calculus, read Homer, or score well on the LSAT? College is also about preparing for adult responsibilities. How does making sustainability the foundation of higher education prepare you for those aspects of life not encompassed by recycling, green grocery bags, and compact fluorescent light bulbs?
6. Sustainability shrinks freedom.
Sustainability advocates don’t like free markets or personal liberty. They believe markets ignore long-term costs and people typically make bad choices. Instead of liberty, sustainability advocates praise “social justice” and “equitable distribution of resources” as the foundation of a sustainable society. These terms may sound nice but they point to governmental control over everyday life. Ultimately, the sustainability movement is about taking away your right to think and act for yourself.
7. Sustainability tries to program you.
The proponents of sustainability aim to have “all students engaged as effective change agents in our sustainability challenges.” This is another way of narrowing your education. Can’t students simply be students? What if your goal is to learn something about the world before attempting to change it?
8. Sustainability is anti-rational.
Some sustainability advocates—we call them sustainatopians—want to instill in students an emotional way of knowing the world that is “separate from the rational.” Many of them believe the industrial revolution was a mistake and would like to move beyond reason and science in favor of a combination of intuition and empathy. That runs counter to the basic purpose of higher education.
9. Sustainability bypasses the faculty.
Historically, college teachers have made the key decisions about what they teach. The sustainability movement on campus, however, took off when college administrators decided to push it. So far, 650 college presidents have signed a commitment to combat global warming and infuse sustainability into the curriculum.
10. Sustainability is wasteful.
Sustainability advocates pride themselves on taking the long view and minimizing waste. In fact the movement has a long history of extravagant and false predictions about natural resources, environmental perils, and the consequences of human actions. These predictions have resulted in vastly wasteful expenditures and diversions of human time and talent. Convincing college students to squander their opportunity for a real education is only the most recent example.
That honestly made me shudder to read. By the way, this article as published on the “National Association of Scholars” website which has this to say about themselves:
“The NAS today is higher education’s most vigilant watchdog. We stand for intellectual integrity in the curriculum, in the classroom, and across the campus—and we respond when colleges and universities fall short of the mark. We uphold the principle of individual merit and oppose racial, gender, and other group preferences. And we regard the Western intellectual heritage as the indispensable foundation of American higher education.”
I also read somewhere else online that when people say “Green” they actually mean “Red”, as in Commie – that’s right, this is a big left-wing communist plot to bring people to their capitalist knees by caring for the planet…
riiiiighht…..
kavitron
janelle77
janli221
I think what Lisa was referring to was that your argument sounds uncannily like anti-communist rhetoric – which, judging from your response outlining how communist nations were worse polluters than “the West” (an unashamedly disingenuous comparison) – is not an altogether ridiculous conclusion to reach. That said, this blog is not about spouting sustainable rhetoric either, in fact we would welcome and encourage criticism of the “agenda” – however whilst we felt your list of 10 reasons why Sustainability is a Waste was “provoking”, it was certainly not “thought provoking”, as you offered no evidence for your claims. As the self proclaimed “watchdogs”, we’d have expected a more reasoned approach rather sensationalist, uncertified claims. If you would please offer some insight into how sustainability is a “waste”, the negative nature of this political agenda (which admittedly, it has become in some places)and how our universities and educations are being sullied, we would be very open to promoting it on our blog.
Thanks for taking the time to respond
The kiwi sausage makers.
I actually mentioned that I have read “when people say Green they really mean red” elsewhere on the internet, and I was presenting the other side of the issue. I know a lot of people don’t care about sustainability – me included – our theme in fact for the blog is to make sustainability relevant to people with “green fatigue”. I actually saw commentary online that specifically says that the green movement is an anti-conservative socialist plot to brainwash people to the Left of the political spectrum.
The reality is, sadly, that a garbage dump IS a “huge pile of garbage” – we already have them all over the place and if we do not reduce, reuse, recycle and plan the lifecycle of products then these mounds of trash will continue to grow and spread. Check out Beijing, for example… oh no wait… they’re communist! Let’s look at New York City then, dubbed the “garbage capital of the world”
I found the statement that using sustainability as a foundation to education would mean people learning about reusable bags, CFL light bulbs and recycling so incredibly ignorant. In my own course, we often use suatainability as a basis, including being contracted to a corporate client – an airline – to help them reduce costs and become more efficient. Being green, ironically, actually grows economies, creates jobs and saves money – things all good for business. Check out, for example, our post PRO plastic bags that details the business of a fellow who reuses bags to make plastic products, because of NZ’s poor record recycling bags he actually imports them from the USA to recycle. So, does that mean this guy is paying for your American garbage? Hmmmm I think it does (note sarcasm)
Lastly, I am in no way blindly promoting the latest cause, as said above, that is exactly the point of our blog – to question and investigate behind the mantras, and I myself, LOVE plastic bags. But I also don’t see the big deal about changing wasteful behaviour for less wasteful behaviour.
You’re right, that was scary. Tthose 10 points were…stupid. No data/evidence to back up the claims and broad generalizations that make me shudder.
What a waste of mental energy for those two people.