Question 2: Environmentalist

The world will constantly consist of problems that aren’t resolved because of the way people perceive each other which can create widely known ideas. Looking at the two groups, the stereotypes shown that the two groups would be extremely difficult and maybe even impossible to have a productive nature. The satire Wilson uses in his book, Future of Life, show that America allowed politics to affect non-political issues. The differences between the stereotypes are not huge but the diction affects the perspective of the groups. The passage includes opinionated language which signifies that there is emotional appeal as well.

The tactic of categorizing environmentalists as crazy categorizes people and indicates that Wilson  is inputting his opinion and judging others so he utilizes emotional appeal and dictions because of the words he chooses to use. Both sides consists of name calling. Wilson explains that the first people criticize the environmentalists as “greens, enviros, environmental extremists, or environmental wackos” (lines 4-7) while the environmentalists call the people-first critics “brown lashers,... wise users, and sagebrush rebels”(lines 40-42) and  “hypocrites” (line 44). Then he uses words like “über alles” which means above everything else in German to describe the environmentalist as people who support and follow “unrestrained capitalism” (line 46).  Wakos only want “political power” and they have a “broad and mostly hidden agenda” (lines 6-7) because their goal is to “expand government.” (line 10) He utilizes these words to show that the environmentalists are immature and child-like.

The environmentalists criticize big businesses and corporates because they only cooperate in order to benefit themselves. “The anti environmentalists would be laughed out of the court if they weren’t tied too closely to the corporate power structure.” (lines 55-57) This shows that politics and networking as well as communication is essential. Wilson’s satirical language about politics expresses the way he feels about environmentalists. Wilson shows disapproval of environmentalists because they have  a “broad and mostly hidden agenda that always comes from the left” and the name calling, “wako” (line 7) are exaggerated by Wilson.