Greens Living in Modernity

"Show me a green, and I'll show you a hypocrite" screamed a headline in a British tabloid some months ago. Al Gore (2006) flies to places to give his talks. Hypocrite! I sometimes fly too. And I sometimes use the car when I don't have to, usually because of consideration for others. So-called 'hospitality' also demands that I offer people lifts even when it would be better for them to walk. And I run a computer, consuming electricity. I too am a 'hypocrite'.

And then I have friends who eschew modern life as far as possible, who have no car, never fly, eat organic food, grow their own food - and those are not only condemned but despised. In Britain the usual condemnatory word is 'hair shirts'. "It's unrealistic to expect everyone to live like this - donning hair shirts!"

You hypocrite yourself: make up your mind. If you condemn us for using the devices of modern life you cannot condemn us for trying not to. And if you despise us for trying not to, you cannot condemn us if we sometimes use a car or supermarket!

Created: 16 Sep 2007 by Andrew Basden.

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