Ryan, aforementioned "subtle distinction" + McDonough

"The Next Industrial Revolution is a 55-minute videotape about the movement McDonough and Braungart are leading to bring together commerce and ecology to change the world. Shot in Europe and the United States, the video explores how businesses are transforming themselves to work with nature and enhance profitability."

www.mcdonough.com

to my mind the important distinction rephrased in green terms is that any serious environmentalist stance needs to be anti-systemic in thought and deed. the expansionary drive in capitalism, which is essential to the mode of accumulation that is at the very heart of pyramid building, requires integration of the ecosphere. It has been argued that such integration may be possible if one finds a way of crediting the ecosphere in terms of its finity, and, most importantly, its vital character to all life. Commodifying nature is thus the next great reformist movement, that is, pragmatist-idealism within the current framework. Comparison to that other reformist branch, parliamentary parties representing the labour movement, is of limited value, although success (as attributable to parliamentary integration, see labour parties) appears to be questionable at best and what progress there has been made during the so-called "golden age of capitalism" (post-WWII, up to Reagan) should be attributed to political affiliation within the workplace (the traditional labour movement: unions, and strikes) rather than the political sphere within the western industrialised countries. Human repression could also not limited in the way the "green resource" is: Whilst labour, as a factor to production, has been shown to endure the most dismal of conditions, the ecosphere is an enabling factor not merely to production, but a factor enabling the ball game per se. If we are to accept both the finity of this enabling factor, and the inherent expansionary drive of any system of concentration of gains (growth for trickle-down etc), then the type of sustainability we require is anti-systemic, and traditionally labelled primitivist-anarchist in outlook.

Why can't we accomodate the environment (until aforementioned finity is breached) "healthily" by leaving it to the market? Due to limited information flow, and words being famously cheaper than deeds, the green reformist movement (which has grown exponentially in political power) as public awareness in western industrialised countries has what we should call blossomed, has been integrated into the current framework of overexploitation of that famous central resource by a huge PR-effort. (Ironically, public awareness should really be attributed to "PR" work by groups such as greenpeace, again external to what is the designated sphere for political activity). Corporate self-regulation pre-emts regulation by democratically elected bodies, with regressive legislation being phrased in "green terms". Deviation from self-imposed regulation is not enforced anywhere except in the public arena (organised consumerism, boycotts); corporations are totalitarian entities in their information management (transparency) and internal structure (hierarchical); information being disseminated consitutes a leak.. and the whole job turns into one big farce.. Watch GWB-gov legislation regarding this sort of dirty work..

green*wash: (n) Disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Derivatives greenwashing (n). Origin from green on the pattern of whitewash.

"Greenwash began in heavily industrialized countries of the world in the 1970's. The corporate tactic has intensified since then, with the concurrent growth of public environmental awareness. By the time the United Nations held its conference on environment and development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, greenwash had gone global. Forty eight of the top business executives in the world attended UNCED. These executives formed the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD), and were charged by UNCED General Secretary Maurice Strong with providing the business perspective to the conference. The BCSD, along with the more traditional lobbying group the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), had unparalleled access to the UNCED Secretariat and extraordinary influence in weakening key agreements, including the biodiversity and climate conventions and Agenda 21."