Which is more important - personal freedom or hewing to "the Mantra"? - Granite Grok

Which is more important – personal freedom or hewing to “the Mantra”?

Skeptic?  No, I do believe that the Earth has warmed up a bit, as it has in the past.  And it will cool again, as it has in the past (as the natural state of most of North America is generally one with ice on top of it). Skeptic, yes, when it comes to the "truth" that mankind is solely responsible for it – this I reject.  Perhaps to a little degree (pun intended) but not to the irrational reactions that popular society of the Left seems to absolutely believes in.  Let’s play "can you see the Mantra?":

Even with the rise in fuel prices, the low-cost airlines in this extremely competitive market still offer flights for less than the cost of a train ticket in Britain or Germany.

At a time when airlines are already the fastest growing source of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions — increasing nearly 5 percent a year according to a report last week from the European Environment Agency — the new low-cost industry is pumping a huge amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

It is also laying down an infrastructure that guarantees high emissions for years. Low-cost flights have spawned dozens of new pastel-colored, low-cost condominium developments catering to foreigners, which now line Murcia’s scraggly roads.

“Low cost carriers are growing at 9 percent a year, and from an environmental point of view that is a problem,” said Christian Brand, a researcher at Oxford University who specializes in the mathematical modeling of transportation emissions. “Their cheap prices encourage more travel.” 

[snip]

But for many, the economics of flying cheap are proving more compelling than the environmental consequences. With prices for gas and hotels at all-time highs in Britain and Germany, it is, somewhat bizarrely, more economical to fly to Spain, even for a weekend, than to take a traditional driving vacation near home.

Yeah, you got it.  Not only is the author, Elizabeth Rosenthal, in the tank for this, but so is Christian Brand who she quotes for the article.  The article assumes that one agrees with the premise that travel is bad, that air travel is even worse, and worst of all, adults should not be allowed to choice what to do with their time and their money because it conflicts with their Mantra which, according to AlGore, is both the highest truth and calamity facing mankind.

Rubbish!


I can think of nuclear or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists, mankind’s refusal to use the tools at hand to combat malaria, the refusal of despots and thugs (think Chavez, Mugambe) to let democracy spring up for the betterment of their people instead of holding onto real power.

Global warming / climate change – same thing.  It is a religion in almost all aspects.  It is political correctness run amok, for its ramifications are not just for the silencing of ideas but for economic ruin and loss of personal freedom.

It is that personal freedom, and the ability for adults to voluntarily make the best choices for their families that will be the ultimate tools for mitigating any problems that come along.

Already we are starting to see both the cracks between the hardline evironmentalists and the general public.   Doing the simple things, the relatively inexpensive things – no problem.  Yet, as we are seeing here with the "gas price crisis" here in the US, Joe and Jane Sixpack are getting a bit of steam up against those that believe "the environment, this little insect here, that little fish there, and this little birdie that no one has seen in 60 years anyways" ALWAYS coming ahead them and their families.

I believe that the BANANAs and NIMBYs have overplayed their hands and that this will become more and more true over the next few years.  Most people are in favor of the environment – I live in a passive solar house and previously owned an active solar house. 

Yet, when it all comes down to it, regular people want a balance between their freedom of choice and the "incessant " cacophony of "NO!" from those that place the environment above people.

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