I used to be a rich white environmentalist. Then I moved out of my parents’ house and adopted a low impact lifestyle, and now I’m a poor white environmentalist. (Well, I’m also part Asian, but that’s neither here nor there.)
I’ll second that and add:
“Ya shouldn’t oughta shit where someone else eats, either”
In the last couple of centuries, our technology has advanced to the point that we are able to have a massive impact on our (global as well as local) environment.
From a purely selfish point of view, we can’t afford to be that stupid any more.
Everything really is connected. If you mess up your neighbors’ yard, it is going to leak back into your yard.
Oh, and as far as protecting the environment vs. protecting jobs, the two are not mutually exclusive.
(Personally, I’m a hell of a lot older than you, and not particularly rich, and I’ve never had a protected job, so I wouldn’t know what that’s like.)
Hmmmm. President Theodore Roosevelt was an environmentalist (got to save the wildlife in order to shoot it, you know).
He was white. He was rich. He went to Harvard.
And he was a Republican. Go figger.
Ike, it isn’t odd to see “Hunter” and “Conservation” in the same sentence. 
Maybe those of us who are not Rich are too busy scraping for a living to be worried about an enviroment?
Try announcing the construction of a sewage-incineration plant in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
You will note the RAPID uprising of environmentalists of color, well past college age and occupying lower rungs of economic status.
I’ve seen it happen several times here in NYC. The good, stenching, evil-smoke-producing foundries never seem to be proposed for the Upper East Side or Brooklyn Heights or Forest Hills or Riverside…but it sure is getting harder to palm them off on Brownsville or Harlem or East New York.
Ukelele Ike makes the point that people will fight for something that hits close to home.
I used to work for an environmental organization, and all of our major donors were rich, white and college educated. Many of them decided to donate money or land because they wanted to protect property near their home (or summer home), so that their surroundings would remain pristine. This is not to say that these donors didn’t see the big picture. They also wanted to protect endangered plants and animals and keep our state green and so forth. But the element of self-interest was there.
I think folks often (always?) donate to something that’s personally compelling, and for other demographics, maybe the environment is lower on the list of critically important charities? Just a WAG.
Actually, Nader may live simply but he is doing ok financially. Did very well with the tech stocks (though I don’t know if that survived last March).
Now this is something that does happen. I’m trying to recall the term… Enviromental Racisim, I think they’re calling it. Simply, it seems easier to put stuff like this in other backyards.
tsarina wrote:
It would amuse the hell out of me to see statistics that showed that the majority of environmentalists came from the most priveleged sectors of society. Please, if you have read such a report, tell us. Unfortunately, all the evidence that this is the case is purely anecdotal. But, the anecdotes are often very amusing.
I myself contend that there are very few Marxists who work for a living, though there are plenty of Marxists in college who sit around at 5 dollar-a-cup coffee joints complaining about how `the proles are so brainwashed that they don’t grok what we’re talking about, duuude’ and then don’t leave a tip.
But again, this is just a stereotype. It’s not good for much more than needling people who fit the stereotype, but who insist that they don’t.
So you don’t want to say something like, “You environmentalists are just a bunch of rich white kids who are looking for an excuse to legitimize your cliquish exclusion of other people and rationalize your selfish need to be a clutch of assholes.” Frankly, you don’t have the statistics to back up such a claim.
No, the proper approach to a silver spoon liberal is the Mohammed Ali way: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Don’t ever ask:
“Don’t you think you’re just as guilty as everyone else?”
Instead, ask:
“Nice car. How much did it cost?”
“What do you suppose worker conditions are like at the Birkenstock factory?”
“My parents worked in a factory. How about yours?”
“I was just sitting here thinking about what I’m prepared to sacrifice for what I believe in. How about you? What are you prepared to sacrifice?”
Then, just sit back and listen while the rationalizations start to flow. Interject now and then with polite but uncomfortable questions. You can do a lot more damage listening with interest than shouting someone down.
Coldfire wrote:
If these damn Spotted Owls would get off their asses and get jobs…
HomeSlice wrote:
Is this what they’re saying about him? That’s hillarious. The Catholic Church used to debate whether Jesus owned the clothes he wore. Ralph Nader is the new Jesus, I suppose.
But, I’ve heard different.
So you’re saying that people can and should be able to change the circumstances they were born into?