Global Warming - Moved

'Deniers' is a clever label indeed. A subtle derogation that implies deliberate falsehood without actually being specific.

I recall Lenin's smart move of labelling his opponents Mencheviks - 'minoritorians' - versus his cadre of Bolsheviks - 'majoritorians' - after a party vote which barely went his way. He cleverly polarised the issues where there was little actual dissent. Turned grey into black/white, and not because the issue needed such clarity but purely to guide the discourse. He needed a lever to control the group.

This has been happening in Aussie politics for decades - all flavours. No one seems to care about reality one way or another. Find the catch phrase, highlight your agenda and sneak in some legislation under the radar. Our 'environment minister' has just approved another DownUnda uranium mine. Barely two years ago he was vividly decrying the then Howard Government ( who hesitated, and then didn't make the same decision ) for poisoning our children's heritage, kow-towing to the big nasty mining companies, making Australia a dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste, feeding rogue nuclear states ..... yada, yada, yada. Of course he would never do such a thing, if elected. They are shameless.

Sometimes I think people like global warming, and not because it's true or untrue. But simply because they like the ideas and want a weapon to control their governments, who have been treating their populaces like crap for some time. They want influence regardless of the pretext.

Cheers, Mike.

I agree - I'd listened to the cast - it's very well presented. I was just commenting upon the process that led to the initial creation of the label. One plays the man, not the ball. It's almost ancient Greek rhetoric technique re-cast in a modern mold.

Here's a terrific piece by George Orwell ( written in 1954 ) that illustrates how one can very easily subvert simple communication.

As I've said before, the deeper risk is a growing backlash against some really good environmental ideas and plans due to the behaviour of a relatively small minority of participants.

Cheers, Mike.

I liked this :

Nice one! Poor chap will probably be labelled a 'denier' now! No wonder people don't trust scientists any more - after the Cold War, Y2K, black holes at the LHC ....

Believe or not there is an ad for car insurance running DownUnda now, which attempts to link global warming with their product - in a favourable sense of course. And also I heard a petroleum company rep talking of aviation gasoline on the weekend ie. his mob producing 'better' stuff environmentally than competitors despite no variation in the composition, octane and what-not of the fuel. He was quite light on the detail of why/how, so maybe they are just using fewer paper cups in the workers' cafeteria down at the refinery. :-)

Cheers, Mike.