I don't know what I think about Syria. I don't know what we should do; the only person I'm sure is a villain is Assad. But this is not a post about Syria. I'm not qualified to write one. As you all may have noticed, if I have a political opinion, I'm not exactly shy about sharing it. But I like to think of myself as open-minded, or at least tolerant. It's fine with me if you dislike the President or you don't believe in social welfare programs; as long as you don't hate the President because you think he was born in Kenya or is a fascist, and as long as you understand "social welfare" includes your disability payments, we're cool.
It really, really, bothers me when people base their decisions on faulty data or gut feelings that go in the face of in science, (Hi, anti-vaccinationist Jenny McCarthy!). Or, you know, when they are totally crazy.
Recently, one of the tiny local papers wrote a story about a woman who lives in the next town over from me. The title of the story was, "Plan denounced as part of international conspiracy" (Apparently titles don't have capitals anymore?). A local "Tea Party activist" is convinced that the town's recycling plan (and the whole environmental movement) is actually part of a secret U.N. conspiracy to lower the standard of living for Americans. She claimed to have gotten this info from a report by the Republican National Committee.
I was about to make fun of her for this - and to suggest she got it from a crazy Tea Party website, but then I decided to Google it. And found out that she really did get it from a Republican National Committee resolution. That passed.
You see, in 1992, there was an earth summit in Brazil. The UN shared something called Agenda 21. It was a basic framework for lowering poverty rates, increasing sustainability and decreasing waste. It was signed by both Bushes, as well as Clinton.
That's right, not one but TWO Republican presidents signed it.
But people like this lady, whom I hope I never run into at the grocery store while I'm buying organic apples, are convinced that this Agenda is actually code for a one-world government that will take away the rights of property owners. They consider anything that helps the environment, like recycling and reusable grocery bags, to be traitorous activity. One activist (a Victoria Baer, if you're interested) called decorated war hero/POW survivor John McCain a TRAITOR for supporting ethanol. That's the kind of crazy that is evidently living in the town next door and showing up at their council meetings.
Nevermind what scientists say is happening to the world because of our energy use and massive waste. Nevermind what political analysts and economists have to say about the importance of poverty relief in developing countries. Nevermind the fact that the Agenda, signed by a Republican uncontroversially 21 years ago, is non-fucking-binding anyway. It's like they don't even care about reality, so determined are they to find conspiracies everywhere.
Like in a town council discussion of recycling.
I can't decide how I feel about the paper reporting the situation. Part of me doesn't want them to get any press at all, but the other part of me is hoping that this will inspire people to delve a little more closely into what's happening to the Republican Party.
I also kind of hope that this woman's anti-recycling stance turns her into a can hoarder and the town council gets to evict her.
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