[pp.int.general] Towards a Pirate Policy on Environmental Issues

[Christian Indiann]

I find it odd that as a party not even a decade old, we are squabbling like
the old and stuffy Republicans and Democrats. Sorry to use such profanity.
In all honesty after reading the information presented to me both here and
abroad, I can gather that making an environmental impact is the one thing
that our species is damn good at; whether it is good or bad for the
environment.

 If we as a political party want to begin to address issues that concern
the environment then it would seemingly be in our best interest to make to
first stop insulting people for their opinions because they are
"environmentalist or humanist." Should it then not be reasonable that we as
a progressive party can be reasonable and discuss the issues presented to
us with decorum?

As for the environment I believe that we must have sustainability. Granted
this topic has countless hours, days, and years’ worth of discussion behind
it, I'm baffled that there seems to be a lack of a general consensus. I
live in Southern Texas where we are always reminded of the booming oil
industry. As a Texan I'm content with the oil industry because it was one
of the driving forces behind our economic recovery. HOWEVER; I am not proud
of this industry. I would like to see a day come when Democrats,
Republicans, Greens, AND PP-Texas are represented in my state government so
we can have TRUE energy reform by discussing all of the options. After all
comparing a kilogram of nuclear fuel to oil, the nuclear fuel produces
2milllion times more energy per kilogram. I would like to see a movement
toward all alternative energy sources, and then even begin to phase out
nuclear fission into, hopefully when the tech is feasible, fusion
technology.

The largest driving factor behind major global issues arises from the lack
of access to energy. With clean energy we can see this change and begin to
address many problems that we see today such as new countries and
democracies. This access to clean energy leads to the growth and
development of nations that eventually will become industrialized. Now, I
realize that third and second world countries usually have a “dirty” era in
their industrialization where they depend on cheap fuel such as fossil
fuels. With clean energy alternatives these emerging nations have access to
clean technology, thus allowing for a more efficient and rapid development
of these nations.

These developments are topics that we as the Pirate Party International
should most certainly take interest in. My reasoning is this: If an
emerging nation was to have access to clean energy and to clean technology
that was sustainable and becomes industrialized, then copyrights, patents,
and trademarks will inevitably rear their serpentine heads and begin to
squeeze the life out of true economic, social, and political growth. These
developments also would benefit the global economy as a whole; however, in
order for this to transpire these developing technologies and energies must
be protected from being killed by the patent and its message must be
preserved from the copyrights restricting coils.

I realize that some of what I have stated may be controversial and I
apologize ahead of time if I have incurred the wrath of those individuals
that believe we Pirates are separated from the environmental issues. To
them I say this: We have a long history that shows how we have developed.
We have been here for two hundred thousand years. Most of what makes us
Human—our culture, language, technology— has developed in the last
10,000yrs—20,000yrs, our first idea of modern technology in the last
100yrs. And in this last decade we have seen a technology boom. We are
developing and adapting at the fastest rate ever known to our species. So
with that in mind, How is it that anyone can possibly think that the
environment is not a factor when at the current pace we will exhaust our
planet of resources within the century? Or that we are predicted to develop
a computer with equivalent human intelligence by 2036?



I digress, but really? Can we really expect to continue our current pace of
consumption and yet suffer no consequences for our actions? Because to be
honest, we are a party for civil rights, liberties, we are for
patent/copyright reform etc. If that is true then should it not be our duty
to promote these ideas of reform in all sectors of human existence so that
everyone globally can have life, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness? The
most basic of fundamentals rights? Or shall we ignore these duties bestowed
on us by our platform and perform the circus act that current politicians
call representing the people?

I hope that my fellow pirates see as I see without being offended or at the
very least would read this and give it some consideration.

Best Regards,
PP-Texas





On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 6:18 PM, Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org> wrote:

>     You can not force companies to pay huge taxes for
>     misbehaviour... taxes are paid on BENEFITS... and they know how to
>     move these offshore ;) .
>
> Taxes do not HAVE to be calculated based on a company's profit.  That
> is not the only way.  For instance, the punitive taxes could be
> calculated on the total value of the business activity which damages
> the environment.
>
> --
> Dr Richard Stallman
> President, Free Software Foundation
> 51 Franklin St
> Boston MA 02110
> USA
> www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
> Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
>   Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call
> ____________________________________________________
> Pirate Parties International - General Talk
> pp.international.general at lists.pirateweb.net
> http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.pirateweb.net/pipermail/pp.international.general/attachments/20120731/be23c4fc/attachment.html>