Originally Posted by
tandempower
I have no need to whitewash or sugarcoat anything. Pragmatism works in the ways that it works, but there's no reason to not air for ideals. The reality is that if someone like me can grasp the notion of putting nature and sustainability first and making lifestyles fit within that, then anyone can. There's really no excuse, no matter how you sugar coat the failure.
That's all well and good and I'm sure it makes one feel righteous for taking such a stance but when trying to effect change in the world of others it only serves to alienate them and dismiss the message along with the messenger. You may call such things sugar coating but most others call it conversation - in which both sides try to understand the other. I guess I value my message enough to want it to be received favorably. The world is full of people holding signs that say "you're wrong".
While I hold many of the same beliefs as you do in regards to nature I really have little faith in "Ideals" in and of themselves, especially when they involve someone telling others how to behave. Such things are easy to talk about in the abstract with no skin in the game but I am far more impressed by someone who, perhaps having more modest ideals, lives them in a way that makes them attractive to others.