If your a blissed-out hippie looking for easy answers then the "We The
Planet" tour is for you.  Serious environmentalists, on the other
hand,might want to pass if they don't want to gag on the sappy sweet
patronizing of Julia "Butterfly" Hill.
    Sporting a huge crystal butterfly pendant, Ms. Hill takes to the
stage with all the charm of a faith healer while offering a message
that's little better - and not without asking for donations. Still
living off the fame her ill-fate tree-sit has afforded her, Julia
knows what her adoring fans want to hear and she does not fail to
deliver her message of green consumerism.
    On the table outside of the auditorium where she speaks is all of
her merchandise on sale; books, clothing, a video or two, water
bottles, coffee cups, etc.  Further outside is her tour bus which,
even if powered by vegetable oil, is still an unsustainable creation
that was undoubtedly manufactured by means of toxic processes. If
everyone bought her junk and and traveled around in a tour bus they
would very likely be living unsustainable lives. If everyone used
vegetable for fuel we'd probably need to double the amount of farmland
and soil erosion would be an even greater problem.  And this green
consumerism is what she's offering up as a ideal! She doesn't seem to
understand the nature of consumerism. Asking consumers to consume less
is like asking an alcoholic to only drink a little. Does she really
recognize the gravity of biocide that is resulting from mass consumer
culture? If she does why doesn't she use her media attention to ask
for more than the minimum effort?
    This isn't to say that her position is entirely misguided, but
these days she doesn't even invoke the spirit of Gandhi - and she
certainly hasn't' evolved past his oversimplified idealism.  In fact,
she seems to have regressed back to the showy evangelical religosity
of her youth. She also seems to have forgotten about her life-changing
car accident as she travels around the country in that hulking bus.
How would she feel if it hit someone?
    I mean really, am I the only one who has noticed these things and
am I entirely out of line for pointing them out and asking questions?

PRIMA DONNA BUTTERFLY
After Posting my review of Julia Hill's "We The Planet" tour,
entitled "The Julia Butterfly Show," I came into contact with others
who shared my opinion of her superficial  activism. These were people
who had not only seen her speak but some who had even worked with her
in the past (when she first went up) and some others from within
organizations that she currently works with now.
    Some were simply disappointed with her but at least one felt
personally wronged.  Another expressed disgust with the media
attention her tree-sit garnered while other tree-sits were ignored.
That attention probably has to do with the non-threatening nature of
her "green consumerist" message. It can be dished out to the masses
as the quaint harmless fad that it is without doing any serious harm
to the status quo.
    One person pointed out the way she dismisses any criticism with
nary a response (comparing that debate tactic to Governor
Shwarzenegger).  Despite the supposed "discussion format" of her
tour, this is something that I, too, experience firsthand.  Not only
didn't she respond to many of my points, but then I was expected to
walk away from the mic while she refuted me with misinformation.
Most of the other comments from the audience consisted of rhetorical
questions, doting praise, a poem, or the promotion of some "shallow-
ecology" campus club.  The cult of personality was clearly present as
she bedazzled her adoring admirers with a huge sparkling crystal
butterfly pendant.
    And then those poor saps could make a donation to her foundation -
or maybe they could purchase a book (or two), some posters, videos,
clothing, plastic water bottles, metallic coffee cups, some "Aware
Show Tapes," or god knows what else.  I'm surprised she doesn't sell
used tour buses since they can be so ecologically friendly! Oh but
wait, I guess they can't be.  I'm reminded of her tactic of buying
and selling land - which obviously isn't very ecologically friendly
either as someone else pointed out.
    One emailer drew my attention to her EF! ground crew (which
originally she was completely ignorant of - as if treesitting was the
hard part).  This was related to the complaint about other treesits
and groundcrews being generally overlooked by the media (probably
because they take a more hard-line and necessary position). The media
would rather focus on a pretty face with a shallow and simplistic
message.
    Unsurprisingly, I did also receive some negative (and even nasty)
feedback from the hordes of her fanatical admirers.  Their main
comments suggested that I, or anybody else for that matter, was in no
position to criticize the irreproachable Julia Butterfly at all,
ever, period. Her ill-fated protest was defended as a complete
success and her message as the last word. Who was I, an infamous
nobody, to question a superstar like Julia?  As one fan put it, "What
was the name of the last tree YOU saved?"
    Well, although I don't desire the spotlight like I did when I was
a child and though I don't want to replace her, I will say that I've
done my fair share of raging against the machine.  I've supported
tree-sitters, helped blockade logging roads, and I've seen my fair
share of tear gas at various protests.  That said... I just want Ms.
Hill to be the best she can be.  The problem is that she is
moderating her already tame message now that she has the spotlight -
which is the exact opposite of what she should be doing.  Her
fleeting fame will be gone before before she knows it and she'll have
asked for so little. More importantly, the biocide will continue to
quicken and the human soul will become evermore enslaved to the
technocracy.  She needs to check out the writings of
WARD CHURCHILL for some real insight.
    Finally, some sincere debate might add some spice to her tour so
she ought to be more receptive to honest criticism.  For the sake of
argument I'll get the ball rolling by suggesting that her two years
in "Luna" would have been better spent tree-spiking.  Such an action
could be effective if it ever became widespread.  Of course one
couldn't gain celebrity status for their actions and then tour the
nation hawking trinkets, but it might save what's left of the old-
growth. And BTW, it would be a non-violent action if the spiked
forests were well posted and publicized.  But what would Ms. Hill say?