More and more, it seems that people feel like they are forced to make a choice between being known as an “environmentalist”- meaning a tree-hugging, granola crunching, SUV hating hippie or being known as a money-hungry capitalist who is indifferent to preserving our natural resources in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.
When did conservation become a zero-sum game? Why do we have to make a choice between economic growth or environmental preservation?
Being tricked by the media (or really by anyone who has a vested interest in making you “pick a side”) in this way is what is known as a false dilemma.
Here’s what wikipedia has to say about this logical fallacy:
The informal fallacy of false dilemma involves a situation in which two alternative statements are held to be the only possible options, when in reality there exists one or more other options which have not been considered. The concept is also known as false choice, false dichotomy, falsified dilemma, fallacy of the excluded middle, black and white thinking, false correlative, either/or fallacy, and bifurcation.
When two alternatives are presented, they are often two extreme points on some spectrum of possibilities. This can lend credence to the larger argument by giving the impression that the options are mutually exclusive, even though they need not be.
What does this mean for those of us who are committed to preservation but who are also dedicated to seeing South Alabama grow and prosper as a region? It means that YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE between one extreme or the other!
1 comment:
If we choose growth, what does that really mean ? Economic growth ? Financial growth ? Growth as a healthy community ? Growth without a well thought out plan is not good growth regardless of the type. For the sake of conversation, grwoth is more people in our (almost said "my") space. More servicies in our space. More physical infrastructure in our space. All of which should make our economy healthier and I guess this means jobs....and work for those of us who work for ourselves. So a heathier economy ? Good. Now a healthier environment ? A choice we must make in striving for a healthier economy. For in the words of Jack Friend and his prosperity equation...A healthy economy plus a healthy environment equal prosperity. And they are mutually interdependent...can't really have one without the other. So, there is no choice. We chooose both. A healthy economy...Yes..good. A healthy environment...yes...good. Now comes the hard part. What are we personally willing to invest in assuring that we have both of the above ? $ 5.00 per month ? Two hours of our time a month ? Now this is the CHOICE part. And the part we all have so much trouble with.
Make the choice. Define the action behind it. That is the challenge to us individually and as a community.
Make the choice. Learn the language. Get your hands dirty. Individual action. Community results.
SOund like an old record ? We have yet to make the only choice we really have.
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