Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hypocrisy and community

In my recent posts I have talked about my sense of moral obligation to reduce my ecological footprint and also about my sense of allegiance to local working class people making a living mining coal on the West Coast of New Zealand. I can certainly see that these values can clash.

I'm still thinking about what is important to me. I'm not a single issue girl and I am trying to thrash out how I will reconcile or attempt to reconcile the implications of my positions on various issues which face my community - personal, small town, national and global. Often what I write on my blog is tentative and part of my journey.

I have treasured and continue to treasure the comments on my blog. They come from people whom I already had connections with and with whom I appreciate the dialogue we continue on this blog. I also value highly the men and women who have found my blog in cyberspace and found it interesting enough that they take the time to read and also to comment. For example, I've learnt a great deal from swapping blog readings with Patrick, Joanna and now Robynn and there are others whom I also value.

I didn't realise that I had anonymous comments enabled - I thought I did not. If your purpose in blog reading is to anonymously pull holes in someone's thoughts, then I'm sure one person got some gratification from calling me a hypocrite in the last 12 or so hours.

I have now changed my blog settings to disable anonymous comments. Not because the poster was wrong on this post. He or she identified correctly the clash between supporting local coal production and reducing my ecological footprint. But because I value the community I write in here in cyberspace and I prefer that those who read and comment are prepared to be part of that community.

Perhaps it would be easier to describe myself as a hypocrite. Then I could accept that I cannot have a pure position on environmental issues without shunning other issues which I currently hold dear. I could give up on thinking carefully because it is too hard.

I have no plans to give up. But yes, hypocrisy is never far from the actions of any of us, if that is what we are looking for.

3 comments:

Robbyn said...

I'm not sure that comment about hypocrisy from the Anonymous commenter was exactly constructive. One thing we should preserve in the blogging community is an appreciation for the freedom to tailor our individuals efforts to our own specific situations, even while cultivating an awareness to our connectedness to the world around us. I don't think "thinking green" is the same thing as a single united viewpoint on any issue...there are too many variables. In fact, I think we NEED to see the differences and how a given situation affects different locations, individuals, and communities differently. There's not a One Size Fits All anything out there.
I call Anonymous commentors who crunch down hard but leave no contact info "hit and run critics."

You have an awesome blog here, Sandra, and it makes me think. And thinking for ourselves, and seeing how YOU think through your solutions and challenges expands my world and my mind for the better.

Thank you!

Sharonnz said...

The older I get, the more shades of grey I see in a world that seemed so black and white to me many years ago. Green, local, global issues fall into that greyness for us.

Nik said...

I enjoy your blog Sandra, and I agree, blogs are a way of connecting and also thrashing out your thoughts on issues. Thoughts and issues aren't always clear, but I also like to think that although blogs are public, it's better to receive constructive feedback. I didn't see the comment you're referring to, so not sure what went down.