To get a good idea of what Annie Leonard believes in, it is worth looking at what organizations she associates herself with.
They include the following:
1. International Forum on Globalization (IFG). The IFG
IFG PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES
IFG PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES are dedicated to examining the myriad effects of globalization and to promoting diverse solutions to the current model.We advocate alternative visions and economic policies based on the following principles:
LIVING DEMOCRACY: Democratic and accountable regional and/or international institutions that do not disempower or undermine sovereignty of communities and nation-states.
SUBSIDIARITY—FAVORING THE LOCAL: Rules and structures that consciously favor local control over issues that have local consequences; a model of subsidiarity that recognizes the inherent democratic right to self-determination and self-reliance. In regard to trade agreements and institutions, the IFG supports fair trade based on a framework that favors local production for local consumption, supplemented by long-distance trade for those goods and services that cannot be supplied regionally.
ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY: Environmental protection, sustainability and biodiversity are keystones of any viable economy. The current globalization system contributes to rapid destruction of the environment in a variety of ways: through vast increases in transportation infrastructure and fossil-fuel based transport, excessive resource extraction, harmful industrial agriculture methods, and other myriad problems intrinsic to globalization.
COMMON HERITAGE: Equitable sharing of common resources such as water, air, forests and other natural resources; recognizing that culture and knowledge are collective creations of communities and regions; and promoting the right of everyone to "modern" common resources that address basic needs such as healthcare and education.
DIVERSITY: Cultural, ethnic, religious and economic diversity are key to the vitality, resilience, and innovative capacity of any living system and must be respected.
HUMAN RIGHTS: It is the duty of governments to not only ensure civil and political rights, but also to guarantee economic, social, and cultural rights.
JOBS AND LIVELIHOODS: Sustainable societies must protect the rights of workers in the formal sector and address the livelihood needs of the greater numbers of people who subsist in what has become known as the informal sector.
FOOD SECURITY AND SAFETY: Local self-reliance in food production and assurance of healthful, safe foods should be central to any economic model. Current trade policies undermine local food security by emphasizing an import-export model, making people dependent on food sources thousands of miles away.
EQUITY: Social justice and greater equality—among nations; within nations; between and among ethnic, cultural and religious groups, classes, and men and women—are cornerstones of sustainable societies.
THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE: All economic regulatory activity should abide by the Precautionary Principle which states that when a practice or product raises potentially significant threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary action should be taken to restrict or eliminate it.
Apparently, the IFG believes it is a small world after all. They want to roll back to a time when food production was local. The serfs had local food production, so how bad could that be? They also talk about "excessive resource extraction" and "harmful industrial agriculture methods". Those "harmful" agriculture methods are a part of the industrial trend that has saved untold numbers of people from starvation worldwide. As for "excessive resource extraction", it sounds bad, but I wonder who in the IFG's utopian world will determine the proper level of "resource extraction"?
"Equitable sharing of common resources" smells like Socialism. Then there is "human rights" and the "duty of government" to "guarantee economic, social, and cultural rights". Apart from those "human rights" not being defined, it again sounds like more Socialism.
We then have a laundry list of other utopian ideals such as "workers rights", "local self-reliance", "social justice", "greater equality", etc.
Then, we have the kicker - The Precautionary Principle, which states "...when a practice or product raises potentially significant threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary action should be taken to restrict or eliminate it." Now notice, it doesn't say a practice need raise significant threats, merely "potentially significant threats". Basically, The Precautionary Principle gives a free hand to government and petty bureaucrats to restrict and regulate away all manner of private economic activity.
2. Health Care Without Harm. Health Care Without Harm sounds unsurprisingly like the IFG, only for health care.
Health Care Without Harm has eight core goals.
- Create markets and policies for safer products, materials and chemicals in health care. Promote safer substitutes, including products that avoid mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame retardants
- Eliminate incineration of medical waste, minimize the amount and toxicity of all waste generated and promote safer waste treatment practices
- Transform the design, construction and operations of health care facilities to minimize environmental impacts and foster healthy, healing environments
- Encourage food purchasing systems that support sustainable food production and distribution, and provide healthy food on-site at health care facilities
- Secure a safe and healthy workplace for all health care workers
- Ensure patients, workers and communities have full access to information about chemicals used in health care and can participate in decisions about exposures to chemicals
- Promote human rights and environmental justice for communities impacted by the health care sector, while assuring that problems are not displaced from one community or country to another
- Address climate change by improving energy practices and reducing the overall climate footprint of the health care sector
Wow, I just can't get enough of these organizations that Annie Leonard is part of. I mean who wouldn't want an organization that wants to "create markets", fiddle with hospital design, construction and operations, pick what foods you eat at the hospital, take care of health care workers, ensure that the sick and dying know about all the "harmful" chemicals around them, promotes "social justice" and, for good measure, addresses "climate change". Whew, I'm tired just thinking about all the swell stuff that Health Care Without Harm is going to do for me.
3. Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption. It's a mouth full, but the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption supports the following values:
- Equity: People are at the heart of a sustainable society – and equal access to the opportunities generated by sustainable production and consumption is core to our work.
- Inclusion: Our workgroup is open to grantmakers exploring the values of sustainability no matter what their funding program is called.
- Stewardship: We promote "best practices" (zero waste events, locally sourced goods, etc.) at our own events and those of other organizations, including the Environmental Grantmakers Association, and we champion the sound stewardship of natural resources among our workgroup members in all our operations.
- Transparency: While we are part of the funder community, we believe that effective grantmaking occurs only in honest, open and respectful collaboration with the non-profit sector.
It's more of the same. Sustainable production. Locally sourced goods, etc.
These are the organizations that Annie Leonard supports:
1. International Forum on Globalization.
2. Health Care Without Harm.
3. Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption.
If you don't agree with Annie Leonard, her values, or the values of the organizations she supports, then you probably need to speak with your children's teachers, school administration, and school board and inquire why Annie Leonard and The Story of Stuff are being promoted to your kids. Are opposing views that point out the benefits of capitalism and economic progress being taught in your school. It's time to ask pointed questions, stand up, and make your voice heard. Bright shiny lies are being taught in schools across the country every day. Time to take the shine off Annie Leonard and the lies she spreads.
