I get that this is a time when the economy is floundering and the environmental movements need a serious influx of funding and capital, but is there really a green economy?

I won't if just doing thing right in a more wholistic and humanitarian fashion, looking out for future generations and the health and safety of one's environment is really something that needs special credit or should it just be promoted as the norm in society. The Native Americans respected the land and didn't sully their homes, used resources wisely and lived sustainable lives. Why then are we presenting this "new" lifestyle and economy as something novel.

We have gone astray from the teachings of mother earth and now we must return. Don't incentivise all of this and make into into some economic plan, this is just the way we should be living.

I'm with you flower child, its all a bunch of cr@p. I don't get this whole greenwashing thing. I mean let people live their lives and don't go around telling people that buying green or getting a "green job" will save the environment and the economy. The economy will be saved by cracking down on those who prey on innocent consumers and by stopping free trade. I digress. I just don't see this green economy or the whole green lifestyle thing lasting very long. Its just a trend.

I am not sure if that is what flower child is saying. I think what he/she is saying is that this supposed "green" economy is actually a natural state of human interaction.

The whole green movement is steeped with marketing, sales pitches and "greenwashing". Sure there are some just out to make a buck, but there are also those like flower child who strive to return us to a more natural coexistence with our planet both in how we consume as well as how we spend and interrelate with other humans.

Is that what you were getting at?

Its all about how to profit from the market trends though. If this is the natural state of existence, then how can anyone make money off of "going green". If no one makes a profit, then some other movement/trend will win out and the green movement will die. It has to be an economic movement first to provide the stimulus/motivation to "fool" people into doing the right things.

pa, now that was pessimistic. I will admit that many people are driven by money and those that aren't are definitely affected by it. I don't think that everything that is worth doing need have a financial benefit to it. I think that there are instances out there where people will do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do.

We are a part of the living entity that is Earth and unless we make ourselves healthy, we doom ourselves to a horrible fate.

flower child, you seem to be very idealistic and that in some cases is very good. In this case you are expecting people to shift their thinking and way of life with nothing more than a weak stimulus. I say it is a weak stimulus, because it lacks immediacy or a sense of pending negative affects. People will not be moved by something with an indefinite time frame.

I am with you that people need to start to change their outlooks now, but most will not and will need other incentives to push them forward. Money is the motivator that seems to move the most people and that is the reason for a green economy.

How immediate do people need. The threats and the shifts in the environment/climate are happening now. Species are suffering now, drought is happening now, starvation is happening NOW. People in the west have become to self-centric and forget that we exist as a species as well as individuals.

most environmental problems do not effect people on a day to day basis. People don't see direct impacts on their lives in an obvious manner. I agree that things are happening that are immediate and are happening now, but the changes to the day-to-day are minimal at best.

most environmental problems do not effect people on a day to day basis

PA, I must strongly disagree with your statement. I would say that most environmental problems effect people on a daily basis to some degree and some in profound fashion. People have grown accustomed to these impacts and remain ignorant to their steady increase. With your reasoning, we shouldn't worry until the end is eminent.