After years of telling us we motorists are worse than child-killers, the lentil chewer in chief has bought himself a car.
A fistful of excuses as to why he needs one of course. He thinks coaches are ok for the poor and the unemployed, but not for a busy and important person like himself. Sorry about the link to The Times, but it is worth it for the breathtaking hypocrisy of one of the foremost ( yeah we get the point - PU)
SNIP - What link? DD
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can we have some global moaning now................please
hope his water pump fails and wrecks his engine in the middle of his shopping trip for more .............................................................. .......... .... ..../////// / / / /@@@@@@@
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George Monbiot, what a man, you could cry, I wonder what JC thinks?
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I'm sure we are all glad that he has seen the light.
We will all be especially glad that he didn't get a Prius.
I'm sure he is right in his opposition to biofuels, and I'm interested that he doesn't think think hydrogen is the answer.
So let's not call him a hypocrite. Instead, give him a warm welcome to the fold . . . and enjoy the feeling of smugness. :-)
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I'm eco-conscious but I can go back to having a 4x4 now because I've bought some 'bags for life' from Sainsbury's.
If Monbiot has become a petrolhead then perhaps he could take over presenting Top Gear so Clarkson can retire to deepest Wales or somewhere and make wicker baskets or sell organic quiches.
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Monbiot has recently moved to deepest Wales.
He's actually spot on about windfarms - a sticking plaster response to climate change.
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Monbiot has recently moved to deepest Wales.
Yeah and I bet because of this he needs to constantly travel back to London or the SE to conduct his campaign for greeness, thus adding to the pointless journeys we are always being told about.
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He didn't consider a motorbike, I suppose...
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Given that they routinely feast on lentils and beans, all you need to do is stick him on a pair of roller skates, apply a lighted flame to his nether regions, and hey presto, he'll be hurtling through the sound barrier and half way across the Atlantic before he knows what hit him. Just make sure he eats just enough hippy fodder to get only half way across the Atlantic. And I suppose it would be ungracious not to give him "The Penguin Shark Identification Guide" as in-flight entertainment.
I liked Jeremy Hardy's comment that organic produce should carry a label saying "Please contact our helpline if not completely self satisfied"
I suspect these types tend to be from comfortable upper middle class backgrounds. I wonder how they think the country could support itself it we all followed their regime of not driving, and not doing normal things.
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There are a lot of them (hypocrites) about. One I know is a vegetarian (nothing against that), has arranged a green woodland funeral and criticises most people's choice of car. A few weeks ago his old car gave up the ghost. He then went out a brought a car far larger than he and his wife need because it was a good deal. Any money saved will soon be lost in lead ballon style depreciation and petrol bills. Next time he rants on about being green I will suggest he eats a curry!
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I don't see where the supposed hyprocrisy is at all. When he & his family lived in London(?) , or where there were reasonable public transport ptions, he forewent the use of a private car for that period. He & family moved to Wales where such options weren't available - so he buys a small
2nd-hand car - where's the beef? He rails(!) against the over reliance on cars & campaigns for improved public transport options, he's also become associated with a general anti-car lobby. AFAIK, he's never been so economically or socially illiterate as to advocate a blanket ban on private vehicles, but always keen to point out their bad effects & promote viable alternatives - which may include incentives and/or disincentives, vis the congestion charge, differential excise rates etc.
What would be hypocritical , imho, is if he used a car where no practical alternative was available, or bought something in excess of his
family's basic requirements. The realities of life in rural mid-Wales, from my own expereince, would indicate a sensible & modest decision on his part.
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Quite right woodbines. Monbiot may not be one of us but he isn't an idiot or a hypocrite.
Nor is there anything wrong with second-class protein derived from pulses. I would point out that this is by no means the only source of flatulence in humans. Some kinds of beer are even worse (not the ones I drink of course).
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Living in rural Wales myself, I can confirm they have things known as taxis, which the anti car fanatics are constantly advising us are a greener and cheaper alternative to private cars. With the availability of bicycles, buses, coaches and trains I am sure Monbiot could have found a suitably integrated means of getting around that would have avoided the evils of private car ownership if he really wanted.
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Living in rural Wales myself I can confirm they have things known as taxis which
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I'm not knocking Wales as I hail from there myself, but the question has to be asked, did he 'need' to live there in the first place ? Or had he just been watching too many lifestyle TV progs like 'escape to the country' and clog the rest of the transport network comuting back to where he needs to work !
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I'm not knocking Wales as I hail from there myself but the question has to be asked did he 'need' to live there in the first place ?
His wife is Welsh and wanted their child to also speak Welsh. It's understandable. Presumably the schooling will all be in Welsh, at least till the age of 11 which is how I think it works.
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"Did he 'need' to live there in the first place ? "
Most people on the forum don't like it when the eco-weenies make ill-founded criticisms of our choices (e.g. driving). So why then do we make the same error by offering ill-founded criticisms of their choices (e.g. living in Wales)?
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'Cause we don't try and force our warped views down other peoples throats!
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'Cause we don't try and force our warped views down other peoples throats!
Maybe that's because the idea of unrestricted personal travel macines hasn't yet been seriously challenged. Any view contrary to the status quo is by definition, shouting from the side-lines, attempting to influence the mainstream. When or if the contrary becomes the status quo, you might find yourself obliged to practice a bit of throat forcing propaganda. It can't be far away now - the beatification for Mr Monbiot, St George of Monbiot - the obscure heretical sect of Motorists may well find themselves playing 'chase the tumbleweed' along the overgrown motorways, with only the kestrels & grassnakes for company.
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Monbiot- Do as I say..not as I do!!
Quite happy to spout the evils of cars, right up until the point it became inconvenient to him. He either believes and follows his extreme views...or he's a hypocrite.
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Which extreme views are you talking about? Citations, please.
I don't recall him ever calling for banning car ownership, which seems to be what you're suggesting.
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Extreme views?
"It shouldn?t be hard to see how politically foolish are the current government?s transport policies. The £11.4bn it is spending on road building (15) is an £11.4 billion subsidy to the Conservative Party. However much Blair seeks to accommodate the new libertarianism, he cannot consistently position himself to the right of the opposition. The longer he sustains Thatcher?s social engineering programme, the more trouble he stores up for his successors. Every branch line that?s closed, every bus that is taken off the road, every new lane added to a motorway hastens the day when the Tories get back behind the wheel."
www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/20/the-anti-socia...b******s-in-our-midst/#more-966
Judging by his actions he is a hypocrite... but as he reads the Grauniad, what can you expect?
madf
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So he's against road building and in favour of public transport. That's extreme? And it disqualifies him from owning a car? What are you smoking?
Presumably then, following your logic, if you're in favour of road building, you should own as many cars as possible, and to own only 1 car would brand you a hypocrite?
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Monboit advocates against the unnecersary use of polluting vehicles, not banning them altogether.
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed
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>>>Monboit advocates against the unnecersary use of polluting vehicles, not banning them altogether.
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What Mr Monbiot means is when he needs to drive it is necessary, when you need to drive it is unnecessary. Quite simple really!!
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First sign of losing an argument is the resort to personal abuse!! ;)
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Keep it polite and on-track guys. PU Moderator.
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