Qohel

Make a Difference

Tag: greenpeace

Don’t Like Eating Dolphins? Don’t Eat One.

January 29, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Green activists are once again turning Japan’s annual dolphin hunt to their financial advantage, deep-sixing facts in favour of fund-raising propaganda. Sure, the slaughter at Taiji Cove is not for the squeamish, but neither is any Australian abattoir …

Lies, damned lies and dolphins

Villagers  in Taiji in Japan are halfway through their annual dolphin harvest,  which runs from September to May. Villagers in Australia are halfway  through their annual feeding frenzy of self-righteous indignation.  Twitter accounts gurgle with rage. Facebook pages quiver with fury. Post  after post proclaims the Japanese to be vile, murderous, and deserving  of the same fate as the dolphins.

There  are clear emotional benefits to participating slacktivists. A scrumptious  sense of moral superiority. The feeling of purpose that flows from with  aligning oneself with a righteous cause. Being part of a community of  like-minded believers.

But  the hunt continues. The Japanese are disinclined to change their  behaviour on the basis of what they see as the petulant posturing of a  group of ignorant, hypocritical, glory seekers.

Read the rest at Quadrant Online.

Greenpeace Not A Charity

May 12, 2011 / / 0 Comments

As a contrast to the appallingly dumb judicial decision in the previous post, I offer this as a counter-example:

Greenpeace has lost a High Court battle to restore its status as a charity.

The environmental lobby group was deregistered as a charity last year after the Charities Commission decided it had an overtly political role, particularly in its promotion of peace and disarmament.

The High Court declined Greenpeace’s appeal, saying it is clear the group sees itself as an advocate rather than an educator.

Justice Heath said the group uses non-violent, but potentially illegal, activities to make a point – which are not necessary to educate the public.

The decision means Greenpeace will not be exempt from income tax, a status granted to registered charities.

Makes sense to me – if you are primarily a political lobby group, no matter how noble you think your causes are, you are not a charity.

Especially interesting that this decision has been made in New Zealand, where Greenpeace has a large following, and the sunken Rainbow Warrior is treated as a kind of holy shrine.

The shine is coming off.

Penn and Teller on Recycling

August 24, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I find these guys annoying. There is far too much pointless swearing – it’s intrusive and sometimes offensive. So you couldn’t show this a to a group of students, or your Rotary Club, which is a pity. And Penn and Teller are often arrogant and sometimes wrong.

But there is enough good research and good argument in this episode to make it worth watching (the three video segments linked below make up a single half-hour episode).

Best line? About halfway through the second segment, when Penn says ‘Ahh.. subsidies. That’s when the government takes tax money from you by force, and spends it on something you wouldn’t be willing to pay for..’ ‘Governments tell you to recycle because it saves money and resources. But if it saved money and resources, you’d be paid for doing it – that’s the way money works.’

Instead of which, of course, recycling costs governments and local communities millions of dollars each year ($8 billion per year in the US), precisely because it costs energy and resources.

The argument that recycling creates jobs is also well handled. Jobs created by recycling programs are pointless ‘make work’ which have to be funded by additional fees and taxes which reduce cash flow and consequently reduce funds available to employ people in work that creates useful goods or services.

Enjoy!

© 2023 Qohel