Everyone who knows me knows what my position is regarding our industry going green. However, I have found that there are misconceptions as to what I think going green really means. First off, being green has nothing to do with whichever products or techniques are being used to control pests.
Some months ago I bought a steamer to use on bed bug jobs. As I was walking out with the steamer an industry friend, who knows me very well, said, “Rich, what is happening here? Is this IPM?” (IPM stands for Integrated Pest Management for those outside of pest control) I responded by saying, “No, it’s pest control”. Although he knew the answer and agrees with me, he just had to bust my chops.
I recently ordered some products from a company that is known for selling “green” products. The sales representative claims that this particular product will absolutely control bedbugs. I happen to know that efficacy testing is currently going on regarding these products, but I am not prepared to wait. I want to know now, so I ordered some for myself. This same person overheard this conversation and mockingly asked if I was backpedaling? They couldn't wait to chortle and tell everyone that "Rich is going green"!
And these are my friends!
I realized that I had to clarify my position. My view regarding pest control products and techniques is really quite simple. I will use any product or technique that works. I will just as quickly and assuredly abandon any product that ceases to work. Period!
My objection is not the products. My objection to the green movement is the philosophy behind it. I object to the malicious and false statements made by the green movement regarding pesticides and good health. I object to the disastrous consequences of their programs on so many poor people around the world.
Thirty years ago, I would have agreed with them. In fact until recent years I had an emotional affinity with their views. Having grown up around the coal mines, coke ovens and steel mills of rural Southwest Pennsylvania I know pollution, and was appalled by it. Worse yet, I was like the vast majority of the population; I was startlingly misinformed by a compliant media that will toot any horn the activists tell them to.
Now, I will not allow anyone to claim that the products we use causes cancer, autism, endocrine disruption, asthma or neurological damage without an argument. I will not passively sit by and listen to their unreasonable and irrational demands without comment. Why? Because I took the time to look up the information to find out for myself as to what was true, and I was mortified to find that everything the activists say is a fallacy.
Fallacies aren’t all lies! Regarding fallacies the Fallacy Files states, "However, not just any type of mistake in reasoning counts as a logical fallacy. To be a fallacy, a type of reasoning must be potentially deceptive, it must be likely to fool at least some of the people some of the time."
Some fallacies are simply mistakes in reasoning that causes people to believe something that is true. Unfortunately many fallacies are deliberately twisted logic. Thomas Sowell outlines this in his book by saying:
“Fallacies are not simply crazy ideas. They are usually both plausible and logical – but with something missing. Their plausibility gains them political support. Only after that political support is strong enough to cause fallacious ideas to become government policies and programs are the missing of ignored factors likely to lead to “unintended consequences,” a phrase often heard in the wake of economic or social policy disasters. Another phrase often heard in the wake of these disasters is, ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.” "That is why it pays to look deeper into things that look good on the surface at the moment." Being green is a philosophy. A concept of life that believes that mankind is the world’s foremost virus.
Environmentalism is no longer a philosophy that shows responsible and proper concern for the environment. It has now become an excuse for massive and intrusive regulations, crippling taxes, a massive bureaucratic machine that will eventually govern all that we do. Green believes that gas isn’t priced high enough. Green believes we eat too much. Green believes there are too many of us. Green believes it should control the world. Green believes it must get a message of hysteria out to the public in order to panic them into giving them these controls. Green believes that any lie that promotes these goals is acceptable. Green believes that it is acceptable for tens of millions to die from malaria. Green believes it is acceptable for hundreds of millions to live in squalor.
Green is not about what products we use. Make no mistake about it, eventually all of these so-called green products will come under attack from the activists. They are not monolithic, and they have no command and control structure. Eventually one of the groups will attack these products with the same vigor they attack other chemicals. No matter what we do they will never be satisfied. They will never end their attacks on us. No amount of appeasement will work. The only way that we can possibly satisfy them is if we all commit suicide.
Whether it is IPM, organic, all natural or whatever else happens to become the philosophical flavor of the day, they will demand more until there is nothing left to give. Green is not about products, it is about philosophy. A philosophy that is a vile, contemptible, irrational and misanthropic!
Let’s take a look at the type of people populating the green movement. They are only good at finding fault…they are completely incompetent at finding solutions and when they do it isn’t long before they protest their own solutions and blame someone else. Which bodes well the question; why in the world do we listen to these people?
If you owned a company who had an employee who:
- Challenged everyone’s integrity.
- Challenged your authority and competence daily.
- Constantly ran down the company.
- Never offered any positive solutions.
- Never produced anything for the company.
- Made false public accusations against the company.
- Demanded the company give him a seat at the board of director’s meetings.
- Demanded veto power over company policy.
- Demanded special compensation.
Why in the world do we then listen to people such as this in any other area of endeavor?
Is this a form of dementia that acceptable in the public arena?
Since the public arena is an arena that impacts human health and welfare so dramatically we should be especially concerned!
Whether it is IPM, organic, all natural or whatever else happens to become the philosophical flavor of the day, they will demand more until there is nothing left to give. Green is not about products, it is about philosophy; a philosophy that is a vile, contemptible, irrational and misanthropic; organized and run by seriously flawed human beings! When we claim to go green, we are enablers to that philosophy.
What Does It Mean To Be Green?
What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part II
What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part III
What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part IV
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