Such consumption is offensive to the principles of some cultures and as such is not appropriate to an international project. Further, it is wasteful of agricultural land which could be more efficiently used to produce food for the undernourished two-thirds of the world. It is intolerable to be associated with projects which are concerned in some way with energy-related issues and yet fail to take account of international recommendations on these matters in connection with their own practices. Project communications 23. I will only participate in meetings or projects in which arrangements are made for interpretation of discussions into and from the working home languages of all the participants, and in which equivalent arrangements are made for the working documents It is intolerable that participants from countries which are already underprivileged in many respects should be obliged to interact using the languages of those countries which have contributed most to maintaining their current state.
Debate is all too easily a substitute for action.
The needed thinking has largely been done, but seldom has any impact on the problems - and that is the problem. New angels continue to be discovered on the pinheads of scholastic discourse. Such detachment suggests a degree of objectivity which does not correspond to the reality of the situation. At the same time, it establishes an artificial distance from the issues which protects me from any consequences of my actions as well as reducing the credibility of my advice in the eyes of those who should supposedly act upon it. It is well-known that it takes much time for true dialogue to emerge in such situations.