Warner Todd Huston
Green policies a substitute for anti-capitalist, anti-American ideas
By Warner Todd Huston
Those anti-capitalist college professor types that used to sneer at America and supported the murderous antics of the Soviets had for a short time after the fall of the U.S.S.R. no place in which to invest their anti-American ideals. However, it is clear that they have found a new home: greenism. And so, the old left is the new left again, re-born and hiding behind climate change, mythic green energy, and environmental extremism all acting the surrogate for their failed communist-styled ideas.
One of the latest examples of this surrogacy is indulged by the University of Maryland's Gar Alperovitz with a piece in The Nation entitled "The New-Economy Movement."
In this piece, Alperovitz not only openly admits that the so-called "new economy" thinking is simply today's dumping grounds for ages old, communist philosophy — evinced in buzz words like social justice, egalitarianism, and sustainable communities — he claims they will never be satisfied and that as time moves on, the demands of these enviro-centric economic theories will grow "much more radical."
Alperovitz begins his piece contrasting his subject with our "American creed that capitalism as we know it is the best, and only possible, option," and his praise of those "new economy" ideas that "runs directly counter" to our national philosophy. Alperovitz posits that his "new economy" based on old anti-capitalist ideas hiding behind greenism is taking over the mindset of the elites. Why? Why else but because "the threat of a global climate crisis grows increasingly dire," of course.
Like all other communist greenies, the only thing Alperovitz has to sell is fear itself.
Gar Alperovitz is most well known for his a-historical treatise that posits that President Truman's use of the Atomic Bomb to end WWII was a crime against humanity. Alperovitz has been accused by many historians of cherry picking facts that support his point of view and ignoring all else. That fits nicely with someone that hates capitalism and America like Alperovitz does. It also perfectly fits someone that still clings to communist doctrine in the face of well over 100 years of its failure.
Back in the 1970s Alperovitz was also a legislative aide to the terminally silly Senator Gaylord Nelson, a progressive from Wisconsin and one of the founders of "Earth Day" observances. Nelson, it will be remembered, was sold on the communist idea of "zero population growth" and wished for the stagnation of American society to "save the planet."
In his Nation piece Alperovitz reports on several large companies that are pursuing the sort of profits-killing green policies that excite him. One thing is clear after reading his piece, though. None of these businesses will be able to sustain these programs without governments shoring them up. They are all economically unsustainable. But making money is as far from Alperovitz' mind as can be. His chief concern is socialist-styled ideals, not business.
Alperovitz wraps up his piece by predicting that his communist inspired "new-economy" ideas will grow. He also takes the prosaic step of claiming that his communist green ideas are somehow just like the Civil Rights movement and gay rights. Like all enviro-communists who want a sheen of legitimacy to be spread protectively across their old, failed ideas Alperovitz is desperate to make people think that the Civil Rights movement and the green religionists are one and the same, that both are/were striving for legitimate human rights. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
As I mentioned, Alperovitz ends his piece with a prediction that as greenism grows it will get bolder and begin to demand "much more radical" changes in our government, society, and economic decisions. This warning follows apace with normal left-wing maneuvers. They begin with lies on their lips saying they "only" want some small level of change, some "human rights" that need to be assured, but as they gain success their real agenda is slowly rolled out and more radical, harsher, and more anti-capitalist demands become de rigueur.
But Alperovitz' piece is instructive. It reveals that greenism is a mere facade behind which ages old communist ideas hide. Anti-capitalism is the real thrust behind the green movement and this "new economy" movement is just the latest vehicle for those creaking, failed communist-based ideas.
© Warner Todd Huston
May 28, 2011
Those anti-capitalist college professor types that used to sneer at America and supported the murderous antics of the Soviets had for a short time after the fall of the U.S.S.R. no place in which to invest their anti-American ideals. However, it is clear that they have found a new home: greenism. And so, the old left is the new left again, re-born and hiding behind climate change, mythic green energy, and environmental extremism all acting the surrogate for their failed communist-styled ideas.
One of the latest examples of this surrogacy is indulged by the University of Maryland's Gar Alperovitz with a piece in The Nation entitled "The New-Economy Movement."
In this piece, Alperovitz not only openly admits that the so-called "new economy" thinking is simply today's dumping grounds for ages old, communist philosophy — evinced in buzz words like social justice, egalitarianism, and sustainable communities — he claims they will never be satisfied and that as time moves on, the demands of these enviro-centric economic theories will grow "much more radical."
Alperovitz begins his piece contrasting his subject with our "American creed that capitalism as we know it is the best, and only possible, option," and his praise of those "new economy" ideas that "runs directly counter" to our national philosophy. Alperovitz posits that his "new economy" based on old anti-capitalist ideas hiding behind greenism is taking over the mindset of the elites. Why? Why else but because "the threat of a global climate crisis grows increasingly dire," of course.
Like all other communist greenies, the only thing Alperovitz has to sell is fear itself.
Gar Alperovitz is most well known for his a-historical treatise that posits that President Truman's use of the Atomic Bomb to end WWII was a crime against humanity. Alperovitz has been accused by many historians of cherry picking facts that support his point of view and ignoring all else. That fits nicely with someone that hates capitalism and America like Alperovitz does. It also perfectly fits someone that still clings to communist doctrine in the face of well over 100 years of its failure.
Back in the 1970s Alperovitz was also a legislative aide to the terminally silly Senator Gaylord Nelson, a progressive from Wisconsin and one of the founders of "Earth Day" observances. Nelson, it will be remembered, was sold on the communist idea of "zero population growth" and wished for the stagnation of American society to "save the planet."
In his Nation piece Alperovitz reports on several large companies that are pursuing the sort of profits-killing green policies that excite him. One thing is clear after reading his piece, though. None of these businesses will be able to sustain these programs without governments shoring them up. They are all economically unsustainable. But making money is as far from Alperovitz' mind as can be. His chief concern is socialist-styled ideals, not business.
Alperovitz wraps up his piece by predicting that his communist inspired "new-economy" ideas will grow. He also takes the prosaic step of claiming that his communist green ideas are somehow just like the Civil Rights movement and gay rights. Like all enviro-communists who want a sheen of legitimacy to be spread protectively across their old, failed ideas Alperovitz is desperate to make people think that the Civil Rights movement and the green religionists are one and the same, that both are/were striving for legitimate human rights. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
As I mentioned, Alperovitz ends his piece with a prediction that as greenism grows it will get bolder and begin to demand "much more radical" changes in our government, society, and economic decisions. This warning follows apace with normal left-wing maneuvers. They begin with lies on their lips saying they "only" want some small level of change, some "human rights" that need to be assured, but as they gain success their real agenda is slowly rolled out and more radical, harsher, and more anti-capitalist demands become de rigueur.
But Alperovitz' piece is instructive. It reveals that greenism is a mere facade behind which ages old communist ideas hide. Anti-capitalism is the real thrust behind the green movement and this "new economy" movement is just the latest vehicle for those creaking, failed communist-based ideas.
© Warner Todd Huston
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