Re: THE OTHER SIDE OF JAMES BAY

David E Nettles (dnettles@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu)
Wed, 4 Dec 1991 08:50:29 EST


> Original-Sender: cscheiner@igc.org (Charles Scheiner)
>
> David --
>
> As a resident of New York State, U.S.A., I have neither the right nor
> the inclination to get involved in issues between Canada and Quebec.
> I do, however, have the right to say that a government agency of MY state,
> the New York Power Authority, should not be using my money to pay for the
> ecological and human destruction of a far-away community and ecosystem.
> This is not anti-Quebecois -- it is simply making the statement that I
> don't want a lifestyle made possible by remote control atrocities.
>
> If U.S.-based power companies weren't contracting to buy the electricity
> from the James Bay projects, Hydro Quebec wouldn't be able to make
> money off them, and they would be cancelled.
>
> ....... Charlie Scheiner

Now, if only we could get most people to believe as you do.

Unfortunately, I don't believe we can. The attitude of many poeple
is simply to not care about anyone else. Sometimes, the conscience
of the masses awakens and they move forward with great courage, but
that is only for a fleeting moment. They will eventually get back
into not caring again.

It happens in all kinds of social arrangements.

Remember how it was back in grade school: the larger cliques wielded
the most power and would do so at the detrement of other cliques as
long as it got what it wanted.

In adulthood it is the same thing... except that these kids now have
the weapons to enforce their rule that they always wanted as children.

Sad, huh?

David

[ At the recent MIT symposium, the spokesmen for Hydro-Quebec were
claiming that they were only selling excess power to the U.S. and
that this amount was only a small fraction of the total generating
capacity. I don't recall the response to this point from the anti-
hydro project forces. I'm hoping to soon obtain a major amount of
materials on the subject which I will enter into the listserv archive
for interested subscribers (once I figure out how to do so without
broadcasting it to the entire mailing list). --Gary ]