Henwood the list master posted:
For the first time in Gallup's 25-year history of asking Americans about the trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent....
J Gulick of Ansan, ROK replies:
No comment on this, eh? I'll spare y'all effusions about knowingly walking into the apocalypse and all that, for at least four reasons: 1) apocalyptic discourses are proven to defeat rather than instigate concerted counter- measures, 2) to do so would seem unfashionably hackneyed, and goddess knows I attend to fashion sensibilities, 3) as a card-carrying sociologist (whoop-de-do) I am loath to reifying "society" as "preternaturally focused on the present" and "fundamentally parasitical" and hence "doomed," and 4) on many a day I both wake up and retire about as socio-ecologically concerned as the average poll respondent.
But OTOH, there's always the plain virtue of calling 'em like you see 'em.
P.S. S Koreans score very high on global surveys of peak oil and climate change awareness. But challenge me to locate another society where stoopid reality TV programming and golf course-anchored subdivisions are as popular (not to mention the inestimable art of public relations, with USian P.R. grad programs chock full of S Korean enrollees) and I'll name you an instant winner of my contest. So reality is sad and complex.
JG
"Sometimes a cigar is just a rose by any other name"... unknown.
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