I post announcements in our local newspapers about upcoming local RoR meetings in our area. I got a call the other day from a woman asking which way our group leaned politically. I explained that I supposed we had more Republicans than Democrats, though I personally registered as No Party Affiliation, but that we really did not care about political affiliation since we did not engage in political activism. I did note that members would more likely bash Gore than Bush. She said she leaned toward supporting Gore. When asked about our position on the environment, I stated that we saw the planet as a resource for the individual, not the individual as a resource for the planet. She replied that she always voted to support the environment. I gave her the Web address for this site, encouraged her to pay the site a visit, and said goodbye.
Prepare for calls like this when you conduct local RoR meetings.
You could have assured her (honestly) that most of us are "liberals," -- not your fault if she cannot hear those quote marks -- that we admire principled, intellectual liberals like Adlai Stevenson, but that we disagree with some applications of liberalism, such as being soft on dictators who are convenient for U.S. foreign policy.
You could have assured her that we believe in stewardship of the environment. Hint: Why are cows more plentiful than rhinoceri?
FAQs about Free-Market Environmentalism Free market capitalist economics is arguably the most powerful tool ever used by civilization. As the world's leading exemplar of free market economics, the US has a special obligation to discover effective ways of using the power of market forces to help save the environment. --Al Gore
Slightly off the subject: What in Stevenson's life or writings leads to to say that he was either principled or intellectual? Whom are you talking about when you say that "we" admire him?
That's simple enough, cows had the good sense to mount their horns on each side of their head instead of on their nose which eliminates the possibility of serious damage during the attempt to mount their girlfriends.
