Will do, Gay. Though I certainly hope George is receiving a similar
request to clarify his position. Instead, I see Eric has taken up
George's banner in correcting Jan's post -- whose message must have
cross-posted with mine. Seems she took offense at the cheap shots in
George's statement too. Watching the byzantine logic Eric is employing
as he tries to justify the slam against the "leisure environmentalists"
and the "do anything to win" comment about other hardworking local
organizations sort of confirms my impression that ST needs to hear from
other voices. I don't belong to Shaleshock or ToxicsTargeting, but I do
belong (I think or at least I want to) to Sustainable Tompkins.
Having witnessed the divisions in the Iraq anti-war mov't, I know that
we will need to work with other organizations to be successful. Can we
really afford to let divisive language go unchecked when it emerges
within our organizations? And I would argue that the list serv is for
the most part the "public face" of ST at present, since the monthly
dish-to-passes have been dissolved. It's coalition building time, not
time to sacrifice the good in pursuit of the perfect.
In any case, the distinction between ST the organization and its list
serv's discussion threads isn't lost on me and I can post a correction
to that effect.
Thanks for sharing your concern and for all your good work.
Warm regards,
Kate
Gay Nicholson wrote:
Hi Katie,
Just want to note that Sustainable Tompkins, as an organization, is not
criticizing citizens protesting the drilling of Marcellus Shale. In fact,
our board of directors supports the call for a statewide ban and for
withdrawal of the SdGEIS. It would be more accurate to rephrase your
statement about the "irony of the very group that is supposed to be
promoting sustainability (ST) criticizing citizens' who at last are coming
to awareness..." so that people understand that it was a subscriber to this
list that made that statement, not anyone from our organization.
I just wanted to make sure people understand that the comments of
individuals on this list serv are not necessarily the perspective of the
staff and board of ST. This list is open to anyone interested in topics
regarding local sustainability.
thanks,
Gay
On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Katie Quinn-Jacobs
<[email protected]>wrote:
Once a friend of mine introduced me to a branch of organizational
psychology that used "lazy, crazy, deserves to die" as a way to capture the
rhetoric of people who vilify others with differing points-of-view. This is
done to shame others into silence or justify aggression. Although "lazy,
crazy, deserves to die" takes many linguistically creative forms, it's
fascinating to watch how this sort of language is used time and time again
to disempower groups of people. It is used against Arabs to justify war and
state sponsored torture and against the poor to justify an economically
stratified society. It is also used in smaller venues.
"Leisure environmentalist" falls into the "lazy" class, I think, and
"NIMBYism" appears to be an extension of "deserves to die." Also,
"anecdotal" the way it's been used on this list serve, as the antagonist of
"science and research," in the course of the hydraulic fracturing
discussions fills the "crazy" category.
In a world as complex, out-of-control and vast as ours, perhaps the only
place we can hope to have an impact (as Voltaire suggested in Candide) is
our own backyard. Tending our own gardens, being stewards of our own land,
protecting our nest. That the expression of this instinct should be
ridiculed or belittled because Tompkins County is part of a larger toxic
culture/global system is unfair and anger about the societal contradictions
it highlights misplaced.
From my perspective, people trying to defend themselves from being consumed
by an indifferent large-scale systemic illness makes perfect sense. This is
a very old. very common sense thing to do. What's more I'm sure that
everyone can agree that if Tompkins County throws itself willingly into the
maul of global energy markets, it will change nothing. The irony of the
very group that is supposed to be promoting sustainability (ST) criticizing
citizens' who at last are coming to awareness about the urgency of
environmental depletion that our culture is predicated on is only eclipsed
by the fact that Halliburton and its minions has set its sites on one of the
rare community's in our country that is actively promoting sustainable
lifestyles.
This not-so-constructive criticism also smacks of a double standard -- and
classism. While discussions on ST are tolerant of uninformed rural
landowners who cut deals with the energy companies because they are strapped
for cash, suburban middle income folks aren't granted the same largess for
how their culture defines the life decisions they make.
NIMBY and proud,
Katie Quinn-Jacobs
----------------------------------------------------
Gay Nicholson, Ph.D.
President
Sustainable Tompkins
109 S. Albany St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
www.sustainabletompkins.org
607-533-7312 (home office)
607-220-8991 (cell)
607-216-1552 (ST office)
607-216-1553 (ST fax)
[email protected]
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_______________________________________________
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please
visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:
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