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Analysis Of Green Is The New Red By Will Potter

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Throughout his book, Green Is The New Red, Will Potter explores environmental activism and its reception from American politicians, corporations, and administrations. Potter begins by sharing his experience leafleting when the FBI unexpectedly threatened to put him on a domestic terrorist list if he did not cooperate. His encounter with the FBI is frightening although by no means is it uncommon if we consider the post 9/11 era that we live in. In this day and age, the elite will irrationally label non-violent activists like Will Potter ‘eco-terrorists’ in order to establish their political agenda.

I began reading with the impression that Green Is The New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege would be a book examining the …show more content…

Potter (34) gives us many definitions to choose from in his book and invariably outlines terrorism as being associated with the unlawful use of violence, or threats of violence, by non-state agents to instill fear beyond those targeted. I regard terrorism to be a very harsh word that is poorly used when referring to environmental activists. How is it that environmentalists are considered domestic threats and are indistinguishable from violent terrorists? How is it that civil disobedience and property destruction is considered terrorism, while killing innocent people is not? By no means am I undermining the harshness of damaging property but all of the definitions of terrorism in the book are tied to violence. If we acknowledge this, American policy makers assert the idea that property is to come before a human’s life. I would like to present a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King that explains exactly how I feel about the …show more content…

My views are not so rigid. A life is sacred. Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no person being. It is part of the earth that man walks on; it is not man. 76

The United States government, as Potter argues, “treats attacks on corporate property more seriously than violence […] not because of the nature of the crime but because of the politics of the crime.” The government pushes their political agenda when they prioritize profits over people. (CHAPTER 4)

By encouraging less consumption, environmentalists threaten corporate profits and if environmentalists truly had their

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