Do you want to buld an Army or a Movement?

I just received an e-mail, which all subscribers to the Push Pickens Plan surely have. It begins with one word; Army.

I replied as follows: "Please do not refer to me, or us as "Army". That implies a war. You are seeking to build a movement. If you want a war, you have come to the wrong person."

The word "Army" as overtones and connotations that creates friction among some people. While it is intended to imply strength and unity under a single command, it also implies slow progress, destruction, adventurism, a cancer on the economy, and "the fog of war." Its a matter of Glory vs. Brutality. I could have plugged in any number of words, but I'll use brutality for now. You may have other words, use them as you see fit.

I don't support this plan for the "Glory". Glorious intentions are, more often than not, the yellow brick road to hell. I'm not going there, and I hope that no one else is, either. A movement, on the other hand, is a grassroots belief in solving a significant societal problem throught the common wisdom of the people. It makes sense to build an expansive grid of wind turbines to offset the scourge of carbon-based energy. It does not make sense to brain-wash those that believe in such a grass-roots movement into thinkng that they have joined an "Army.' That's just B.S.

Armies encounter opposition, and they do not always prevail, Our own national history has plenty examples of that. Some Armies are dedicated to serving humanity, like the Salvation Army. This plan is no Salvation Army. It has serious faults and faces serious opposition - opposition that requires thoughtful resolution and concordance.

I live in an area where Wind Turbine projects now dominate the horizon; the once beautiful blue-green mountains have grown quills, sticking upward like the bristles on a brush. Many of those that turned their land over to the energy companies have regrets and are forced to live with their new robotic tenants. The Army that sold the idea to these folks has left the land as Armys do: spoiled, polluted, and ugly.

I support wind energy, but presenting it as a grass-roots movement to help solve our nation's energy woes is a bit different from that of an Army. If anyone, including the founder of this movement, is so self-aggrandizing that he has to refer to us "minions" as an "Army", then I will rethink my voluntarism and support. What will you do?

You can find an index of freelance rticles on our nation's energy policy at Buzzicle.com.