[pp.int.general] Environmentalists and pirates, free information perspective

[Brian McNeil]

On Tue, 2009-10-27 at 10:47 +0000, Thomas Burke wrote:
> As much as RMS makes me laugh and as much as I rarely agree totally
> with his arguments in this instance he is right. The energy
> consumption of a few computers isnt much and doesnt pose as big a
> threat as say a car factory or even a pasta factory. If we want to
> attract environmentalists then go for things like limitations on
> emissions from businesses and the like.

Well, regardless of your *beliefs* on _Climate Change_, whether or not
you accept the general scientific consensus on the issue, or the
ever-so-slightly more contentious assertion that human activity is
significantly responsible, please don't destroy your credibility in the
eyes of the majority of the scientific community by a. calling it Global
Warming, or b. labelling it a "sham".

It is an indisputable fact that human activity since the Industrial
Revolution has significantly increased the amount of energy we're adding
to the planet's atmospheric system. This is a closed system. There is
nowhere for that extra energy to go. It is known that this makes the
climate more chaotic and less predictable.

By all means, in fact, *please*, condemn the 'invention' of reactionary
"green taxes" which do little other than line the pockets of extremely
large corporations and allow them to extend their collection of
so-called 'Intellectual Property' at public expense.

What you're seeing with many of these taxes is monied interests calling
the shots and, engaging in a PR campaign to convince people such is in
response to concerns as presented by, say, The Greens.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not universally opposed to taxes, I don't
know the source of the quote but, "I like taxes, with them I buy
civilization". What I want to know is that these taxes are not going to
large businesses and allowing them to accrue and claim ownership over
human knowledge purely to increase their potential to make money in
perpetuity.

Your average large multinational is conferred the status of "corporate
personhood" without the same responsibilities and societal obligations
as the rest of us. Take that notion of a company as a person, analyse
how they behave within society, and towards other persons, and it's not
difficult to assign them a psychopathic personality type.

In a civilized world people like that are removed from, or severely
limited in their interaction with, society at large. They eventually
die, or in more backward parts of the world, are killed. Corporations
live forever, and when they act-out their personality type, people are
hurt, some killed, and in general atrocities are committed that would
see you or I removed from society for a very long time.

Convicted gangsters have their assets seized before they're thrown in
jail; why isn't someone sitting right now going through the corporate
accounts of Trafigura and working out what now has to be managed for the
public good while their senior executives rot in jail? To them, getting
caught breaking the law is just an acceptable business risk, and the
fines and other penalties they can expect are just the cost of doing
business, and something to pass on to their customers in the next couple
of quarters.


-- 
Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil at wikinewsie.org>
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Brian_McNeil
Content of this message in no way represents the opinions or official
position of the Wikimedia Foundation or any of its projects.
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