Essential reading
I attended the relatively low-key launch of this important book in the basement of Portico bookshop in Sydney last Friday. Janet Albrechtsen, who was to be the main speaker, was unfortunately indisposed, but Greg Melleuish, associate professor at the University of Wollongong, himself a contributor to the book, stepped in to fill the gap.
The book is a collection of essays analysing in detail the policies of the Greens, from constitutional reform and the economy to refugees, science and security. Andrew McIntyre was very keen to emphasise that he believed the Greens were simply misguided and naïve, and that the book was only concerned with the unintended consequences of the Greens’ policies, as the Introduction notes:
“This book is not a jeremiad. It does not wish to trace the historical roots of Green politics or impugn the motivations of individual Greens, or question the motivations of their party. What id does set out to do, however, is to provide an informed, objective examination of the consequences of the policies whilst putting the in the context of present day Australian reality.”
And it does this comprehensively. Each chapter is written by an expert in the particular field, analysing the real-world effects of the Greens’ policies, if they were ever put into effect. And the result is not pleasant:
“Taken as a whole, the impression given in reading these chapters is that the Greens have an uncontrollable urge to spend, almost everywhere and for everything; a mania for control – through legislation and regulation of both institutions and individuals; a disturbing and unwarranted confidence in central planning and belief that government knows best; an antagonism to initiatives by the private sector or individuals; and at best, a systematic and naive misunderstanding, both historical and practical, of how the world works.”
And the reason for this is clear. The Greens’ policies could only survive in a prosperous, free economy driven by market forces – the antithesis of Greens’ centralist political ideology. As a party which, historically at least, has had little influence in government, its policies were constructed in a vacuum, where moralistic ideals could be floated without a thought given to the result. Now that the Greens have power in the lower house and the Senate, suddenly their political ideals appear juvenile and gullible – the equivalent of the crusading teenager who wants to save the planet – and lacking any consideration for the issues that must be addressed in the real world.
I can understand McIntyre’s reluctance to get into the nitty gritty of the Greens and their motivations – but there are plenty of intended consequences of the Greens’ policies which are as dangerous and destructive as any that might be unintended.
Highly recommended – an essential read. Link to publisher’s page is here.
Australian Climate Madness 
They can jump in the lake with their $2000 electricity bills!
Tis a pity the Greens and their supporters fail to grasp the elementary fact that you can never win a philosophical argument starting with a false premise…..
And they can jump in the lake with electricity!
What a waste of trees. FAIL.
On the contrary, Jezza. If you read the full post, you will discover that this is a book EXPOSING the disastrous policies of the Greens.
“suddenly their political ideals appear juvenile and gullible“ 。。。 so true !
The Greens policies might be good if you lived in Utopia or North Korea, but in the real world they’re complete nonsense … and there in lies the problem. The Greens can only really exist in a democracy, for although they trumpet eco-socialism, they’d be out-lawed by the very political system they’re endorsing. They’d be better off going back to being a single issue party they once were instead of trying to take over the extreme left of politics.
Ooops … good use of renewable resoureces is what I meant to say in a hypocritical Green trunaround … I learned that skill from Hansen-Young on Q&A … that is regardless of the perceived truth, just bullshit your way out!
Thanks for pointing this book out Simon. The more people that see what the Greens really want for Australia, and how simplistic and idealistic they are, the better off we will be as a country.
There is something to be said for highlighting extremist views, as it does enable us to establish limits, and say to ourselves, well, now I know where I can draw the line between “not really a very good idea” and “total lunacy”. Then again, perhaps this is also a bit of a naive and simplistic view of society, given media bias, and the like?
Yes, one wonders whether they are indeed classic “useful idiots” , utilized by Labor to fulfill the roll of the extreme left wing and its agenda, and to be sacrificed as needed while pushing their clearly Communist agenda, but be seen to do it without any apparent connection to Labor.
Labor as ever, very clever sh*thouse rats…..
The greens would be the greatest exporters we could likely imagine: Exporting “pollution” to countries that aren’t bothered. We’d never make steel again – the product that most created the Industrial Revolution along with coal. Welcome to the world of Chinese steel. Frankly, leaning on Labour the way they are, they’re dangerous.