Thursday, March 06, 2008

Why such stupidity?

That was my initial and pretty much only thought on reading this from The Telegraph yesterday. But the story sort of stayed stuck in the back of my mind, and I feel moved to comment on it.

The strange thing about the arson attack is that it appears it was carried out by ELF [Earth Liberation Front], an ultra extreme green faction that seems to regard destruction and arson as reasonable political weapons, yet the target was a set of 'environmentally friendly' new buildings.

Now I could sort of vaguely get my head around it, but still never condone it, if they were targeting things like petrol stations or oil refineries and the like; but to burn down new houses built to a quite high eco standard is just insanity! It's eco-terrorism of the worst and most stupid kind. Sorry, but groups like ELF are a major millstone to the vast majority of people with 'green' leanings and I, like many others I am sure, can never countenance wanton destruction in the name of green politics.

So, to any groups like ELF; please go away and leave the stage to people with brains, common sense and some scrap of human decency. Displays of such stupid, wanton and unnecessary destruction means you are basically unfit to call yourself human beings.

Addendum (from Junkk Male) - Worth adding this post, and the responses it got (the notion seems to be that something needs to be done, but when it comes to doing it is seldom creating positives that get first priority, in favour of primarily non-action-related negatives) , as it is related: Enough Pious Eco-Snobbery - But What Next?

1 comment:

Emma said...

It's an oddy, and one which of course has moderate eco-numpties like you and I immediately falling over each other to distance ourselves from such actions. At least no one was hurt, though with any aggressive covert sabotage it can only be a matter of time.

What I do note is the short distance that there can be between 'acceptable' expressions of disapproval of another's lifestyle and such as this.

While it is their right, I even feel uncomfortable with those who write in such as the Guardian that they sneer or comment directly at such as 4x4 drivers or plastic bag users. It's a mindset I find worrying in its own right (which they seem to think they are, no matter what), and often endorsed if not encouraged by the media. A very short hop then to a sticker on the windscreen... or...?

As to these terrorist guys, I am unsure that the word I'd have chosen first is stupid.

These are nihilists, who in the environment have found a new cause to express their odd view on the world... and get the attention they crave.

The choice of eco-friendly buildings at first seems extraordinary. But then looking at the cost of these houses one suspects there was more of a income-inequality agenda at work. Who next? Al Gore's summer cabin? Leonardo diCaprio's Prius?

All I know is that it is a worrying trend, and the one thing that is required to allow it to spread is there in plentiful supply: media coverage.