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14 | Tue Puitosopuy or Eco-Pouirics issues. [his is exactly what the ideologues of free or open society, appealing to the equality of freedoms tried to avoid with good reason and at all cost. However, on no account do ecological considerations lead to the rejection of the achievements of enlightened modernity. The greens do not wish to either destroy from its foundations or bring back the past; they share neither the utopias of left-wing radicalism or the nostalgias of right-wing populism. They have vowed to remove the obstacles forced onto society by the anti-life logic of the technological-economic world order, making it impossible for people to decide freely about their own fate. Therefore, in politics the greens aim to create the conditions for decision-making based on responsible participation and joint deliberation. ‘They know full well that this has a realistic chance only if the human scale of things can be restored. It is primarily this that separates them from the neoliberal adherents of economic globalism on the one hand and the technocrats, fundamentalists, socialists or national socialists hoping for provision by the state and centralisation on the other. ‘The first task of an ecological party, on coming to power, would probably be to examine how it can free itself from the aspects of power which do not belong to the state — and even less to supranational organisations — and return it to those concerned. For the protection of biological diversity, the moderation of air pollution emissions, the transition to matter- and energy-saving benign technologies or conscious family planning mostly require measures which can be accomplished at a local level. The neglect of these considerations in our times is due mostly to decision-making processes and mechanisms separated from local interests. For imagine if the countries, regions and cities, having had enough of their dependence on world-economics, were to decide, one after the other, that they wish to consistently apply the sanctions protecting their health, environment and social security. The chief global polluters, the industries, companies and technologies that pose a deadly threat to humanity would then lose their right to exist and would soon disappear of their own accord. All this naturally leads quite far from the daily practice of the protection of nature and the environment. Not for nothing did the booted and check-shirted environmental activists protest for so long against being drawn into politics. It has become evident, however, that the environment qua environment is by definition indefensible. The opposition between man and nature already presupposes the absolute
