Perception vs Reality

This is one of the most important battles in today's world, not the issue of what is true or false but what is perceived to be true or false. This is why the main stream media have become so powerful, why Hollywood 'stars'many of whom have lived lives of compromise and depravity, once famous, become modern sages, why men (and women) in white coats are perceived to have 'expert' knowledge that is more believable than common sense, and where names prefixed by Prof, or Dr, are believed to belong to people who are more credible than those without. This is perception at work and its dubious affects allow lies to triumph over truth. It was Dr Hans Rookmaaker who said that manipulation only works when it operates as a 'hidden persuader', and one does not have to go any further than the Nazi head of propaganda Dr Goebbels who (in)famously stated that if you tell a lie often and effectively enough it will soon be perceived as the truth.

Which brings me to a recent article by Mark Poynter on  the Tasmanian forestry industry:

"Yet the reality that only a minor portion of Australia’s forests are now used for timber production has not even slightly deterred those campaigning against it as though nothing has changed since the 1970s. Despite timber production now being so limited in extent and so highly regulated that it is acknowledged to be a negligible environmental threat, the opposition to it has grown stronger rather than diminished as would have been expected."

and....

"He explained that the move was primarily prompted by a realisation that the science of forestry under which the industry operates has lost out to an emotional, unscientific and populist anti-logging mantra in shaping the public conscience. This should hardly be a cause for celebration yet was soon being hypocritically lauded by many who, in relation to other causes such as climate change, are otherwise insistent that science must prevail.

          and...

"Responsible environmentalism requires appreciation of a bigger picture of resource use and conservation. Only a few who voice opposition to native forest logging have any appreciation of the history of Australian forestry, let alone even a rudimentary knowledge of the proportional extent of forests used respectively for timber production and conservation. Almost none would know or care about the adverse consequences and implications of what they are striving for.

Largely through uncritical media publicity given to environmental activism, we have become a society in which “green” urban myths are accepted as absolute truths, while rural realities are dismissed as self-serving myths. With regard to forestry issues, it is clear that the influential city-based media is predisposed to reporting from the sensational “green” angle. Many long-standing environmental journalists have spent their careers acting as a mouth-piece for the environmental movement rather than as objective reporters."

This fear of depleting our forests has been one of the prime movers of the Australian Green movement, and to give credit where it's due there have been some significant benefits, but this is a new era, yet the radical environmentalists have not relented in their  rhetoric against logging, even at the expense of current and future job creation. Why? because too many of these environmental 'warriors' are ideologically as opposed to issue driven, religious even. Unfortunately those of the Gaian faith like all fundamentalists are generally unmoved by reason and their goal is almost always a 'will to power' and in their commitment to this end they will say and do whatever is necessary to gain or stay in power, hence the 'poll driven' policy making.
Those of the Gaian faith have become convinced that the only solution to 'saving' the planet is to destroy modern Western society, which of course perfectly suits the watermelon brigades (WMB) who have infiltrated their ranks (my enemy's enemy is my friend etc) the real tragedy is of course that as soon as the WMB's realise their goals they will treat the intellectual/hippies/geeks in the same way that Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot treated theirs.
If I were not committed to loving others as the good book says we must I would be inclined to say; serves them right!