Hallelujah! DK is blogging again. Among his most recent postings was this, pointing out—via a new environmental blog, Haunting the Library—the stupidity of some of the people within the green movement.
This new blog, as it turns out, is a very good one – and I suggest you check it out. Not only has it clocked this shining example of idiocy, but it has also made quite clear the hypocrisy of one George Monbiot.
You see, Monbiot has a bit of a problem with "astroturf libertarians", explaining what he means here:
Now, the key word in the phrase "astroturf libertarians" is libertarians (let's leave aside for the moment that corporatism and libertarianism are not the same thing). Because, while Monbiot doesn't like the organised astroturf campaigns of people he disagrees with, he just can't get enough of his own...
As the president of this organised astroturf campaign, the only thing we can be sure of is that George Monbiot himself is a "threat to internet democracy".
Dear fucking god – does the fuckwittery and unapologetic hypocrisy of this man never end?
The entire planet is affected by global warming, and polar bears in Antarctica aren’t the only ones facing changes.
This new blog, as it turns out, is a very good one – and I suggest you check it out. Not only has it clocked this shining example of idiocy, but it has also made quite clear the hypocrisy of one George Monbiot.
You see, Monbiot has a bit of a problem with "astroturf libertarians", explaining what he means here:
An astroturf campaign is one that mimics spontaneous grassroots mobilisations but which has in reality been organised
I’m not suggesting that most of the people trying to derail these discussions are paid to do so, though I would be surprised if none were. I’m suggesting that some of the efforts to prevent intelligence from blooming seem to be organised, and that neither website hosts nor other commenters know how to respond.
...
The internet is a remarkable gift, which has granted us one of the greatest democratic opportunities since universal suffrage. We’re in danger of losing this global commons as it comes under assault from an army of trolls and flacks, many of them covertly organised or trained.
Now, the key word in the phrase "astroturf libertarians" is libertarians (let's leave aside for the moment that corporatism and libertarianism are not the same thing). Because, while Monbiot doesn't like the organised astroturf campaigns of people he disagrees with, he just can't get enough of his own...
Monbiot is the “honorary president” of an internet organisation called The Campaign Against Climate Change (CCC). And what does the CCC do? Well, it scans the internet for articles on global warming and directs its army of supporters to the comments sections in the hope of influencing the debate.
The website of the CCC brazenly declares that “We are trying to create an online army”. An “online army”? But surely, that’s a threat to internet freedom? Well, maybe, but like the crusaders, Monbiot’s army knows that its cause is just and so any action it takes is also justified.
So, what will enlisting in this “online army” involve then?
You will receive one e-mail alert per day containing links to various climate change news articles. We need you to politely explain in the comments section why global warming is actually happening and why it’s not a big conspiracy. You can contribute to as little or as many articles as you like, just dive in.
The purpose of this online army, according to Monbiot’s CCC is to “tip the balance back in the favour of scientific fact, not scientific fiction”. They want people to accept the ‘consensus’ on global warming, as represented by the IPCC’s reports.
Well, that’s what they start by saying. Just a little further down the same page, and the online army are invited to go even further, to go “onto the offensive”:
One last suggestion from us - you can also consider going onto the offensive and explain that the real uncertainty about man-made climate change is not whether its happening but how fast its happening and that in fact there is increasing evidence that the mainstream science of the IPCC is actually underestimating the scale and imminence of the threat.
Having recruited an online army with the alleged aim of tipping the balance towards the ‘scientific fact’ of the IPCC ‘consensus’, Monbiot’s online army is being exhorted to argue against that “mainstream science” and to persuade people that things are even worse than the mainstream scientists tell them.
...
Monbiot argues in public that “An astroturf campaign is one that mimics spontaneous grassroots mobilisations but which has in reality been organised” but is at the head of an organization that declares “We are trying to create an online army”. Hypocrisy? You decide.
As the president of this organised astroturf campaign, the only thing we can be sure of is that George Monbiot himself is a "threat to internet democracy".
Dear fucking god – does the fuckwittery and unapologetic hypocrisy of this man never end?
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