Fifty Lies

That allow us to think of ourselves as good people, while we damage and demean the Earth

 

  1. Our happiness depends on maintaining this lifestyle.
  2. Other people do the damage, not us.
  3. One person’s action’s can’t make a difference.
  4. It’s not too late to fix up what we have destroyed.
  5. There are more important priorities –like war or national security.
  6. The harm is justified by other benefits.
  7. It’s not as bad as it looks (Note the radical environmentalist alarmist agenda)
  8. As long as an action benefits the majority, there is no reason to worry about the minority.
  9. We’re not privileged. We deserve this lifestyle. We worked for it.
  10. Technology can fix what’s broken.
  11. The end justifies the means.
  12. Our consumerism doesn’t affect others; it’s a personal choice.
  13. We help people by providing them destructive jobs.
  14. We need to defend ourselves against dangers (oil shortages, aggression, attacks on our way of life).
  15. We are able to live fine lives without the natural world.
  16. Perpetuating our lifestyle is progress.
  17. More is better.
  18. Nature exists for man’s use and domination.
  19. Whatever changes we make to the world are improvements.
  20. Good intentions are all that count.
  21. It goes to waste if we don’t use it.
  22. If we can do it, we should.
  23. There will always be enough. The world has an inexhaustible supply of resources.
  24. Certain forms of energy are clean.
  25. Life is more important than death.
  26. Forests are a renewable resource.
  27. Anything can be justified if it creates jobs.
  28. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will have minimal impact.
  29. The desert is a wasteland. So is the Arctic.
  30. The way we are doing things is the best way, the American way.
  31. There is such a thing as a trash species.
  32. Humans are apart from and superior to the natural world.
  33. Action is better than inaction, and the sooner the better.
  34. The popular choice is the right choice.
  35. We can improve on nature.
  36. Pursuit of private interests inevitably leads to the common good.
  37. To be educated is to be wise and good.
  38. There is no obligation to future generations.
  39. We can destroy our habitat without destroying ourselves.
  40. We only have to worry about ourselves.
  41. There’s nothing that I can do.
  42. Science and technology will save us; ancient wisdom is irrelevant.
  43. We are more civilized than those who came before us.
  44. An increase in population can be managed by an increase in resources.
  45. It’s THEIR fault (although sometimes it is).
  46. We’re not responsible for environmental damage in other countries.
  47. Until we can prove an action is harmful, we should proceed.
  48. Land is personal property, we have the Constitutional right to use it or abuse it any way we choose.
  49. Destruction of homelands is essential for national security.
  50. What you don’t know can’t hurt you.

 

 

If there are fifty lies, then there are fifty truths that can be told. For every truth that is told, there is a chance to heal.

 

There is a reason for these lies. We must attend to the reasons, and take them seriously. We must have compassion for those whose lives are ordered by the lies.

 

 

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