> For example, if you believe
> that people are causing global warming, it is not enough to say that
> we must consume less. The left needs to be able to offer an alternative
> that meets human needs. Zizek talks of 'beautiful soul' leftists, who
> carp from the side and are smugly sure of their own principles, but
> who can offer nothing as an alternative.
Various folks, left or not (some merely technologically-minded), have offered lots of alternatives which meet human needs. Trouble is, this is not an issue which can be reduced to simple slogans, which is what politics excels in. For example, "consume less" or "switch to alternative technologies" are snappy political slogans, but the people who think most deeply about the issue (such as the EcoEquity.org site Doug has referred to) have to come up with somewhat more complex positions. But who has the patience and the background to understand what they are talking about?
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A gentleman haranguing on the perfection of our law, and that it was equally open to the poor and the rich, was answered by another, 'So is the London Tavern.' -- "Tom Paine's Jests..." (1794); also attr. to John Horne Tooke (1736-1812) by Hazlitt