Given the shameful pedophilia labels that were recently applied to climate skeptics by the Merchants of Hate Robyn Williams and Stephan Lewandowsky on Australia’s ABC radio, I thought this essay from the Chillicothe Gazette (Ohio) said something that needed to be said, so I’m repeating an excerpt here.
Jim Thompson writes:
As a global warming skeptic who never will be in a car pool van or AFV unless forced to do so by the government, it hit me that I now know what it was like to be a black citizen in the South during the height of Jim Crow laws.
You know, when because of your skin color, you were thought to be stupid, ignorant, lazy and dirty. You sat in the back of the bus, were not allowed to use any “whites only” facilities and were sent to segregated schools.
Today, if you do not bow to the global warming/climate change/carbon footprint gods, you are deemed stupid, ignorant, lazy and unenlightened. You don’t deserve to park next to the door, you should feel lucky we even let you in the parking garage. Additionally, there are certain lanes on the expressways in which you are not allowed to travel.
…
All is not lost, however. For by experiencing the discrimination of not swallowing the nonsense, I have been able, in some small way, to experience what it must have been like to have been an African-American in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. The ridicule, catcalls, unfair labeling and so forth that one experiences when they are on the wrong side of a mob’s beliefs are interesting. The only difference is the African-Americans were stuck with their skin color. All I would have to do is abandon all the science I was ever taught to be, once again, accepted.
Full essay here
h/t to Tom Nelson
Although the parallel seems a long stretch think about this.
Not every white man wants to hang every black man he sees but, there are some and some have done just that.
Not every alarmist wants to explode every skeptic he sees but there are some…..
So what’s the next step.
I’ve seen the videos so I know terrorist style killings are in someones mind.
Hate = Hate
cn
Respect to everyone, but for me the article was pointing to the brutal implications of group-think. And the power that group-thinkers can wield, even though that power eventually wanes. As it always has throughout human history.
I valued Jim Thompson’s observations. Thanks for posting the piece, Anthony.
Some of the commenters here really don’t get it. It doesn’t matter whether the analogy is racist based, religion based or whatever. It is about denigrating the other side to further the agenda. Tribalism is what it is all about and we all know where that goes.
Not a great analogy.
Blacks do not choose to be black. Aside from Michael Jackson, they cannot change or hide their color.
I don’t think the persecution angle serves anyone well. If you are confident in your views, there is no reason to feel persecuted. Feel pity for the ignorant perpetrators.
I find the current situation to be reprehensible. As a (very) qualified environmental scientist/engineer, I have always tried to make my own assessment of the facts before making a decision. In this case, I remain unconvinced of the rhetoric and know for a fact that the models are wrong – after all none of them, not one, give the slightest hint of the current hiatus in temperature rise so they are clearly missing something important.
A key component of making one’s own assesment is not to be stampeded by the crowd and if necessary to stand apart.
My personal conversations with folks is that most “believers” do not even know the basic facts and are running with the herd because of the emotive nature of the topic. When I say folks, I should note that I spend my life working with environmental scientists and engineers and I am saddened to report that very few have made any effort to verify the facts for themselves. whether I am right or they are right, this cannot be a good thing.
perlcat99 when he says at 11:01 AM above “After all, there is truth to the Democratic Party statement that they were at the front of all of the Civil Rights battles — they *were* there, along with their State National Guard, water cannon, and dogs. Being on the wrong *side* of every battle is a minor detail they forget to mention, much like reams of contradictory data that refute their cause du jour.” must be too young to remember that those were the Democrats which became Republicans thanks to Nixon’s “southerm strategy.” I was there. I lived through it.
There’s nothing wrong with Jim Thompson’s insight above that helps him have empathy with the “colored” of my youth and before. If the race comparison upsets you, then try gay or muslim or illegal alien as the analogy. Go back some centuries and try heliocentric.
The root of the problem is: climatic changes are for real – GLOBAL warming is 100% lie – BUT, the clever Warmist pined the name Climate Change Skeptics, to their opponents… opponents are proud of it === For the people on the street; anybody not believing in climatic changes, is a nutcase / needs a Shrink. Nobody can blame them, for thinking like that. Reason the Warmist are laughing all the way to the bank, with trillion dollars loot money.
Between not believing in phony GLOBAL warmings, and not believing in ”climatic changes” is light-years difference, but not for the Fake Skeptics… They ”believe” in the phony GLOBAL warmings; BUT are ‘skeptical” about the big / small, good / bad climatic changes – COULDN’T BE MORE BACK-TO FRONT, no matter how harder they try. In other words: as long as the Fakes are Warmist’ fig-leafs, covering up the Warmist’ shame, for lying that localized warmings (which are THE climatic changes) are presenting them as GLOBAL… the leading Warmist will be in charge of the media, politicians, finances; and keep destroying western democracies… who is more guilty?
@ur momisugly Aldous Tenpenney says: Incredibly tone-deaf. You’re sullying your website’s brand tremendously.
Strange–you think it is tone deaf? Any more tone deaf than when a link goes to the commerical by warmests of little kids heads blowing up if they fail to support the AGW?
I think WUWT has to explore all sides of the issues–linking to a newspaper article that explores one aspect of the “denier” lable is responsible, not tone deaf. If Anthony only explored and linked to politically correct material, this site would not be worth reading.
@ur momisuglyPetrossa says: Get over it already Right on…
@ur momisugly SandyInLimousin:
The quote you cite is from 1974–Pastor Neimoller’s first one was better:
Communists
Incurably sick
Jews or Jehovah’s Witnesses (depending on which speech)
People in countries occupied by Nazi Germany.
Davidmhofer- you are an ignorant jerk. You don’t know beans about the holocaust so shut up!
Everything you said is dead wrong and an infamy.
“Sssh…did you hear that?”
“What?”
“A kind of a whining sound coming from the front end of the comments section?”
“Oh don’t worry about that, those are just Warmist trolls pretending to be offended…they make that irritating noise when people say things they don’t like.”
“But how do you know they’re Warmist trolls?”
“Well that’s a very distinctive sound and 97% of the time anyone making that noise will be suffering from a bad case of ‘political correctness’.”
“Oh I know, that’s when people get really sensitive and righteous but really all they’re trying to do is shut down your opinion…even when you’re simply stating something that is obvious and true.”
“You don’t hear it much here at WUWT.”
“I know, thank heavens, that’s why most people come here, because you know PC is one of the foundations of CAGW. And WUWT unlike the Warmist websites actually permits opposing views to be aired.”
“It’s stopped now, the noise.”
“Of course it has, the Offendocrats have moved on in search of more things that will upset them, things they can tsk, tut and huff at… it’s like a compulsion for them, they can’t help themselves’.”
I may have misspoken- Ian W. is the jerk here. not davidmhofer- sorry
I noticed at least one person was as upset as I was by the comparison to segregation in the South. Jim, buddy, you ain’t go no clue. How many of your ancestors were beaten and killed? How many of your relatives were lynched?
I have deep sympathy for the people, the families who truly suffered. I do not include those benefitting today from the discrimination industry led by Jesse Jackson, and the Reverend Al. I have sorrow for the loss of once vibrant communities destroyed by government programs like the Great Society. I certainly don’t pity the racist heirs of Malcolm X, who seek a separate nation.
Instead, I remember Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. When we understand we are all brothers and sisters, all suffering under the burden of Obama’s debt, control, and craving for power, then there will be real hope. Division will not help. Envy will not help. Working together we can rebuild our American Dream, but we need government off our backs.
Equal opportunity doesn’t mean equal outcome. Equal outcome is a lie that really equates to poverty for everyone except a very small powerful elite. Think Mexico, or the old Soviet Union.
Sean says:
November 25, 2012 at 9:32 am
Obviously, you do not teach at an American university or college. Sceptics get the same reception that Rush Limbaugh would get if he presented a lecture at Harvard on Sandra Fluke.
Also, it is important to give some thought to what our future might hold. Minorities developed valuable “coping” techniques under segregation. Reflecting on minorities’ history might help sceptics learn some important truths.
It is not even all that for me.
It is just all the money being wasted on a guilt trip.
It improves nothing, at the detriment of all.
Mistakes happen, but to continue making the same mistake, reveals a lack of …….
David Ball says:
November 25, 2012 at 11:06 am
“I find it funny that people criticize Anthony for running the articles he chooses. The success of WUWT? clearly indicates that Anthony has a firm grasp on what should be posted here.”
Amen! Anthony is the genius of serious blogs today. I too am amazed at the number of people eager to give him advice on how to do it.
Also, folks who are criticizing Anthony for the comparison to segregation are uniformly taking a cheap shot at Anthony. Surely, obviously, Anthony did not mean to suggest the situations of AGW sceptics today and minorities under segregation are comparable in difficulties experienced. Obviously. So, stop taking cheap shots.
My interpretation, which I suggest everyone take very seriously, is that we would do well to look at the history of segregation to give us some ideas about what we might very well face in coming years. Keep in mind that today if you own a small business that employs more than fifty “full time equivalents” then you are required by law to pay for their contraceptives and all the consequences of their misuse of their contraceptives.
Paraphrasing Richard Feynman: Regardless of how many experts believe it or how many organizations concur, if it doesn’t agree with observation, it’s wrong.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), some politicians and many others stubbornly continue to proclaim that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide was the primary cause of global warming.
Measurements demonstrate that they are wrong.
The atmospheric carbon dioxide level has now increased since 2001 by 23.2 ppmv (an amount equal to 25.9% of the increase that took place from 1800 to 2001) (1800, 281.6 ppmv; 2001, 371.13 ppmv; October, 2012, 394.32 ppmv).
The average global temperature trend since 2001 is flat.
That is the observation. No amount of spin can rationalize that the temperature increase to 2001 was caused by a CO2 increase of 89.5 ppmv but that 23.2 ppmv additional CO2 increase had no effect on the average global temperature trend after 2001.
Without human caused global warming there can be no human caused climate change.
Analyses that can be reached at the link (highlighted in red) given at http://www.switched.com/profile/2996642/ include an equation based on rational physics that, without considering any influence from CO2 whatsoever and using only one independent variable, has calculated average global temperatures since they have been accurately measured world wide (about 1895) with an accuracy of 88% (R2 = 0.88, correlation coefficient = 0.938). Including the influence of CO2 (a second independent variable) increased the accuracy to 88.5%.
I want to correct some false information here in the comments section. 20 million were not killed for being anti-Communist. They were killed because they (Kulaks) were the small farmers and peasants’ class that was resisting collectivization. Lenin backed off when they pushed. Stalin did not he eradicated them. Cannibalism was common during those times. Stalin was a potent sociopath and believed in the dictum, “no man – no problem.” The half Jews in Germany (mischlinge) were not slaughtered despite what hofer says. Herman Goring’s 2nd in the Luftwaffe was Milch and he was part Jewish and Goering said ” I decide who is a Jew or not.” The number of half jews who earned medals in WWII is shocking. The number of Jews who earned medals in world war 1 was also unprecedented (8% of the population earned 25% of the medals.Talk about the desperation involved in wanting to be seen as real Germans, It is a sad tribute to the terrible power of group-think. Indeed, Hitler’s Platoon first sergent was a Jew and he signed the application for an Iron Cross first class.
Thinking about it some more – what Jim Thompson is criticizing is a form of affirmative action not discrimination
“…there are the usual handicap parking places (a good thing) and then countless spaces reserved for car pool vans followed by countless spaces reserved for alternative fuel vehicles.”
And this is not even related to CO2 – it is related to energy policy. Car pools were encouraged in the 70s during the first energy shock. Irrespective of a persons beliefs in the CAGW debate, their parking is restricted based on the vehicle they choose to drive. In addition, I suspect that Mr. Thompson has not been personally called “… stupid, ignorant, lazy and unenlightened. ” because of his beliefs. Further, I suspect that he has not been discriminated against in employment.
IMHO, it is easy to engage in hyperbole on a blog. I strongly believe that most of us who engage in this discourse, were we face-to-face, would be able to go out for drinks afterward regardless of where we stood in the debate. I believe that the vast majority of us are people of good will.
When will you learn that Carbon is produced by warming- basic physics. It doesn’t cause warming.
Basic myth.
As one who is all three races, and who had a Native American Grandmother, who would not take a $20.00 bill because of Andew Jackson’s picture on it . Also I saw the
specter of Pedophilia destroy a family and a young life. This attempt by warmists to
marginalize criticism and questioning has to be answered.
Thank you all and Anthony for standing against this Evil…
My comment about the ‘new’ segregation article, is that it isn’t new. The tactics and goals have been used for years. It’s the old segregation with new victims. “Meet the new boss, he’s the same as the old boss.”–The Who
If you are a victim of true racism then my condolences.
The problem today is that if you live in a Leftist regime found in most Western nations today the word is used in a much broader sense. For example any criticism of Islam is often met with the word racism but followers of Islam are clearly from all races. A well-reasoned argument of poor behaviour by someone against an individual is often described as racism where the focus is on behaviour and actions not the race of the individual concerned. It has become the catch all phrase for many where no good counter argument can be made. A comparison against the broader use of the word is quite valid in context. If a PM of such a country can have the meaning of a word as clear as misogyny broadened then nothing is really safe. Believing that one word has a smaller meaning than it actually does in the greater world and then complaining that a comparison is invalid is understandable but not truly valid.
RE: Dan in Nevada says:
November 25, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Caleb says:
November 25, 2012 at 3:31 pm
“… I don’t care a rodent’s posterior about the Jim Crow Era. It’s over…”
“You should. It’s an era where bigotry not only thrived, but was given the full force of law. It’s one thing for people to have dissenting opinions, quite another to have a group able to enforce their ideas via incarceration, fines, even execution. Jim Crow is important to keep in mind for all those people who maintain “it couldn’t happen here”.”
Sorry Dan, if I sounded like I was downplaying the inhumane actions of men against men that went into the Jim Crow Era. I actually hitchhiked through South Carolina and Georgia back in the late 1960’s, before there was an interstate 95 and before the amazing economic boom hit that area, when sharecroppers still plowed with mules. So I saw with my own eyes some of that old system, even as it was fading. (However the funny thing was that, even though I was warned about southern whites, and blacks, and especially southern cops, all I met were really nice whites, and blacks, and even cops.) The first hand view I got of the south was not at all like Hollywood’s “Easy Rider,” either in the 1960’s, or when I lived there in the 1980’s.
As interesting as that history is, I think we have a more pressing issue, called the present. We can learn from the past, but it is dead and we cannot change it. The present, on the other hand, can be changed, and we had damn well better make an effort to change it, with these Alarmist fools spouting falsehood and calling it “saving the planet.”
When I said I didn’t care about the Jim Crow Era, what I was trying to say is that this thread’s subject was being hijacked from the present to the past, diverting us from basically inhumane behavior which is glaring us in the face.
Some people learn from history, and apply the lessons to the present. Unfortunately others use history as an excuse to avoid the urgent and unpleasant present, and to serenely look at things that are safely removed into a misty distance. They are like a rich lady enjoying a good cry, weeping while eating bonbons and watching a PBS show about the starving in Africa. They feel; oh how they feel; but they don’t lift a finger.
Dan Pangburn says:
November 25, 2012 at 6:07 pm
“That is the observation. No amount of spin can rationalize that the temperature increase to 2001 was caused by a CO2 increase of 89.5 ppmv but that 23.2 ppmv additional CO2 increase had no effect on the average global temperature trend after 2001.”
Thank you for that tidy summation, well and pithily stated. By your leave, I will be using it in future discussions with the faithful.
RE:
DavidG says:
November 25, 2012 at 6:10 pm
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is a disgusting rewrite of history that serves no purpose. It should be stricken from the thread.