Thomas Friedman takes a pie in the face
Thomas Friedman, a New York Times "Foreign Affairs" writer who routinely opines on environmental issues, was speaking at Brown University on Earth Day. Sounds nice, right? Smart guy who cares about the planet speaks to a bunch of smart kids who also care about the planet. Then everyone can put on their thinking caps and make a progress!
Except a few of those smart kids were less than enamored with Tom's beliefs that the green movement should be led by corporations. So they hit him in the face with a custard pie.
Awesome, how grown-up! Next let's hold hands, dance around the campfire and sing Joan Baez-inspired lullabies about the totally-plausible corporate-free future. Hooray for realism! Keep reading for a semi-coherent "press release" from the pie-throwers.
Greenwash Guerrillas Pie Thomas Friedman on Earth Day ...and challenge him to a debate duel!
Providence, RI – April 23, 2008 – On Earth Day, we pied Thomas Friedman at the start of his keynote speech: "Green is the New Red White and Blue."
The goal was not simply to disrupt his talk and stain his ego, but to disrupt and expose all that he stands for and the university's corporate greenwashing of its image. In the spirit of true debate and free speech: We hereby challenge Thomas Friedman and all other green capitalists to a duel. This duel is about the debate over the future of life on this planet, and the ways in which corporate powers have hijacked this debate to make it the realm of "experts", policymakers, and consumers buying an array of "green" products. In exposing what Friedman supports, we open this debate to the public by questioning certain key elements. Carbon Trading and Carbon Markets, enshrined in the Kyoto Protocol and the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007, is the foundation behind green capitalism. In privatizing the atmosphere, the earth's carbon cycling capacity is handed over as property to the same corporate criminals that caused the problem.
"Biofuels," the much-touted alternative to oil, not only increase petroleum dependence, but are themselves a global humanitarian and environmental disaster in the making. Biofuels come at the expense of land for food, and from Indonesia to Columbia, traditional populations are being forced off their land for destructive plantations that are dependent on toxic chemicals, biotech seeds, and large petroleum-burning machinery. The list of false solutions goes on, while the planetary clock is ticking. If there are to be truly real solutions to the many problems we face, it will come out of transformative social movements and not corporate boardrooms. For these reasons, we challenge Thomas Friedman and all other green capitalists to a duel, in which we will continue to expose their shams while pointing towards the social movements that are already creating solutions and transforming society towards a liveable, healthy, and non-corporate future. For information:
http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/category/false-solutions-campaign/ Contact: greenwashguerrillas@gmail.com # # #
[via Jossip]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-24-2008 @ 10:32PM
Melissa S. said...
Uh, yeah. Their antics were childish and self-defeating, but I don't find their response "semi-coherent." I think it is very coherent.
I don't think it's realistic to keep corporations out of the "greening" process, but I think we are treading a fine line when we turn so much power to them in making decisions for the future of our planet. I'm so sick of the "green" niche in capitalism. A big part of the problem is people purchasing too much stuff to begin with. How about we chill on the greenwashing.
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4-25-2008 @ 1:07PM
Jonathon Morgan said...
It's a good point -- consumerism is definitely at the root of the problem. I'm just not sure there American mindset is going to shift dramatically enough in the time we have left to act.
4-27-2008 @ 2:53PM
Chaz said...
Green people are RUDE A..Holes,but ya can't fix stupid.
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