…and birders are doing almost nothing about it.
Per Ted Eubanks:
The Republican’s anti-environment stance, I fear, is all about political gamesmanship and has little to do with the challenges facing us. Anti-environmentalism is now an integral part of (and a plank in) the Republican manifesto, principles governed not by reality but by affectation. Political principles, like religious principles, are tests of faith. Republicans choose the dark side in environmental debates because to do otherwise is heresy. Environmental issues have joined no new taxes, no family planning, no illegal immigration, and no social safety net as irreducible (and nonnegotiable) planks in the Republican platform.
How more blatantly anti-environment do Republicans need to be before birders act to protect themselves and their interests? In this instance, I believe that birds serve well as surrogates for the natural world, and birders as stand-ins for conservationists. No matter how dire the situation, I see no uprising, no eruption.
Go read the whole blog post. It is well worth the read.
I need to rant. And Corey, you’ve provided me with a spot.
First off I agree with Ted. I have read his entire blog post and he says many good things there.
Here goes my rant.
It’s not about the budget.
It’s not about destroying government.
It’s not about any of that.
This is a masquerade. What it IS about is religious fundamentalism and the related social issues.
The Tea Party is about anti-abortion, anti-environment, pro-drilling, anti-gay marriage, anti-stem cell research, anti-science, anti-evolution, anti-immigration, anti-drug, pro-death penalty, pro-gun, pro-war, “leave me alone about issues I want to restrict, but be strong on issues I do care about”. It’s about hating NY, CAL, MA and Washington DC … and the hedonism and education that they represent. It’s about anti-white, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-Asian. It’s about isolationism, except for wars, natural resources and going on vacation. Obama represents all of this to them. They hate him. But they can’t say that. What they can say is “No taxes” and “reduce government”. And the Tea Partiers elected exactly people to represent them. People who are first going to reduce taxes irrespective of anything else. In parallel, these people have been working on the state and local level for all of these causes with incredible impact.
We live in a crazy world and these people represent the “crazy” part.
Birders, as a whole, have never made for good activists…I do not know what Ted expects, although I agree with him of course. Major environmental threats are really nothing new…perhaps he got used to the (slight) reprieve in anti-environmental legislation after Bush left office. The Republicans have now seen that Obama is NOT a hardline environmentalist so they are going to try to do whatever they can to loosen environmental restrictions…they have had success already, so why stop now?
That is quite the jump in logic from “needing” to cut budgets to “wanting” to destroy the environment. I’ve never anyone who “wants” to destroy nature and beauty. The age-old principle of private ownership of land (and the resources on that land) is really the challenge that many Republicans face when dealing with agencies like the EPA. I know first hand that good things can come from working directly with regulators, but it isn’t easy. Now when it comes to budget cutting, there is a heck of a lot more government expense that I’d like to see cut before congress starts whittling down budgets that protect and preserve the environment. I’m a pretty religious and conservative guy, but I don’t subscribe to the whole Tea Party agenda. Jory, accusing people of “hating” is pretty harsh and divisive rather than enlightening. I have principle-based positions on all those issues you mentioned, but “hate’ isn’t any part of it.
As a citizen, I’ve found it incredibly frustrating to see conservation become a partisan issue, and I think Ted hits the nail right on the head when he says that anti-environmentalism has become a plank in the Republican Party and therefore must be held to by politicians and the general public, without any consideration of its real effects.
I would support any political party that makes conservation and environmental issues a priority. Right now, that puts me in direct opposition of the GOP, but it doesn’t really put me in the Democrat camp either though they’re closer.
I disagree with Jory that this anti-environmental stance taken by the GOP is faith related, I think it’s much simple than that. The GOP has gone all-in to prioritize corporate interests above all else, largely because changing demographics will make the GOP, as it exists today, a shrinking influence in American politics. But those interests require that profit is made by whatever means necessary, which in this case means extractive and consumptive industries.
I trust that people like Robert above still mean well even though we may disagree on a lot of issues, but as far as conservation is concerned, Robert is being taken for a ride. And the ideological team they’re supporting is only too happy to take advantage of that support to do some pretty awful things to the places and birds we all love.
@Nate and @Robert …
Thank you for your posts and disagreeing with me (can I actually say that?)
At first, the Tea Party brought up the discussion of fiscal conservatism in a strong way. A needed discussion about part of our country that needs real change. For quite a while I had subscribed to Tea Party listservs and emails distributions. As time went on, however, what emerged was not simply fiscal conservatism. And the tone changed. What emerged was either the underlying beliefs of the Tea Partiers or the movement had been gobbled up by others wanting to ride that wave.
All of those hateful things that I wrote above, that’s what emerged. Imagine my surprise at the venom which came out when I brought actual “facts” into the discussion. I stopped my listservs and emails when it became clear facts were irrelevant.
I could be wrong and wish that I was wrong about the Tea Party, because the nation needs a good, solid, discussion on economics and fiscal policy. With committed people on all sides. We don’t have that now.
As Felonious Jive wrote above, “Birders, as a whole, have never made for good activists”. Why is that? And what makes the Tea Party such good activists? Investigating this question, I think, will yield much light.
There is something about the old quote about not talking about politics and religion. To me, they are similar … both are belief-based. They bring up passions which cannot be argued with facts.
@Jory- Hey, believe me, I have just as many problems with the parts of the GOP platform that *are* faith related. But honestly, I think those are issues to which the GOP is willing to give lip service in order to further their corporatist agenda. Look at the GOP’s long time promotion of anti-abortion and anti-gay causes compared to the relatively little they’re ever gotten done in those arenas. But that’s not really a topic for a bird blog…
I do, however, think that there’s something to be said for the *way* in which those non-religious policies are promoted. There’s definitely an almost religious fervor to the anti-environmental stands they take. And a similar amount of evidence behind them…
@Jory – Well…to be fair, birdwatching in and of itself has nothing to do with politics, whereas the Tea Party exists solely for that purpose.
Politics and religion are belief-based to a certain extent…the information people are exposed to/seek out have a huge impact on peoples opinions, and this is something that needs to be discussed. If I watched Fox News (who actually won a lawsuit that firmly establishes that they do not need to report established facts) all the time maybe I would begin believing all sorts of crazy things.
[Instructions to self: “This is a bird blog”. Remember that.]
On Sunday, I drove down to see the recently renamed Grey-headed/hooded Gull on Sunday with Will and Rich. Saw Corey and Desi there too.
[OK, I’m feeling better now. Now I’ll turn on the TV, watch Fox News, then watch Jon Stewart and then watch my head explode.]
I gather that most US Americans have no idea just how downright frightening (neither kidding, nor joking) the Tea Party movement is to people outside the US.
Jochen, you are spot on! Thank goodness Australia has compulsory voting! Americans need to get out to vote or else those TeaPartiers will destroy your country -they almost caused a total financial default and that doesnt only affect the USA, it affects all global markets and superannuation funds.
I agree with Jochen. Seriously, those TeaPartiers are getting on my nerves…*goosebumps*