What can be done

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Don Young

“I’m putting a lot of my introduction in capital letters and underlining some because I feel so strongly about it. And maybe some people will listen.” If they don’t “HOW DARE THEY”…..

The FREE MARKET:

STOPS GOVERNMENTS FROM REGULATING THE ECONOMY
ALLOWS BIG BANKS, RICH PEOPLE AND COMPANIES TO DO AS THEY LIKE

So; INEQUALITY GROWS:

THE RICH GET RICHER

THE POOR GET POORER

People live in squalour, eat bad food or suffer gross hunger, have terrible housing, lose the ability to participate in political policy
BUT EVEN WORSE, the rich support Growth economics on the “Theory” that when the rich get richer , some will ”Trickle Down” to the poor and less fortunate.

ECONOMISTS AND MANY POLITICIANS MEASURE SUCCESS BY GROWTH.
This is completely wrong: Constant growth will wreck the planet. It causes greenhouse gases, excessive waste – and climate change will destroy agriculture.
The only long term solution is to make the super-rich give some of their wealth to a world fund that will even out living standards without needing excessive economic growth. A balanced world economy will be a healthy one.

To Start, some relevant poetry:

Wordsworth

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.

Awareness About Our Environment, By Sylvia Stults

Broken bottles and charred pieces of glass,
Wadded up newspapers tossed on the grass,
Pouring of concrete and tearing out trees.
This is the environment that surrounds me?

Poisons and insecticides sprayed on our food,
Oceans filling with thick oil crude.
All sea life destined to a slow, awful doom.
These are the things we are to consume?

Mills pumping out iron, expelling yellow fumes,
Airlines emitting caustic gases from fuels,
Weapons of destruction tested at desolate sites.
And this is the air that’s to sustain life?

There has to be something that someone can do,
Like raise the awareness to those around you
That if we don’t heed the problem at hand
It’s your life that’s at stake, the destruction of man.

Global Warming – What can be done about it?

First: Links:

This website has its origins in “Having Their Cake”, which has a different style, being concerned to explore issues affecting human society in considerable length and depth.

A link to this site for those who are interested in reading in more depth is: www.havingtheircake.com

Well worth looking through are:

“Climate Change is Real” and “The Planet under Stress; we live in interesting times”

Climate Change Guidance

Most advice aimed at individuals seems to concentrate on advice that is fine for relatively wealthy middle-classes: people with cars, houses and a large domestic budget……BUT : What about the super-rich and the poor and needy??

Continuous Economic Growth is unsustainable
• It mainly benefits the rich • The planet will not support any more

The richest one percent of the world’s population are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of humanity during a critical 25-year period of unprecedented emissions growth. Annual emissions grew by 60 percent between 1990 and 2015.

So, put simply, the rich part of society created most global warming, the poorer parts of humanity, which includes many younger people, suffered from it!

Here are some underlying factors that will need to be addressed:

The Free Market

Under the leadership of President Ronald Reagan and Premier Margaret Thatcher, Britain and America embarked on a long experiment to use the Free Market run the economy and for government to be shoved to the background. To some, this seemed like a new paradise, but progressively beneath the surface, a number of sinister trends emerged:

The rich grew richer and the poor became poorer
The banking and finance sectors grew to be dominant
The ability of the State to be a partner with finance and industry was severely diminished
Climate Change became pushed back in the queue behind making money

Thus Britain and the United States, the two countries which have severely diminished abilities to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic and climate change are also two of the countries most afflicted by Free Market dogma.

Free market economics is killing The Planet:
• Causes gross inequality • Fuels unsustainable growth • Undermines good government

He believed that if he supported the banking and finance industries, then the growing taxation take would enable him to spend more on social services, education and health. Alas, the feral nature of banking meant that the sector grew stronger and stronger, eventually leading to the global financial crash of 2007/8, the fall of his government – and a programme of “Austerity” under the following right wing- government which destroyed everything that Brown held dear!!

The Free Market is failing. Governments are Crucial if we are to defeat Global Warming!!

What should governments DO?

Hard Lessons from Coronavirus

The Coronavirus Pandemic has had the most devastating effects in those rich societies that depleted the capacity of government to lead a national response and co-ordinate actions to protect the population. Thus the United States has been almost overwhelmed and Britain is not far behind. It is not by chance that they have been led by free market ideologies.

Democracy and Climate Change

The United States

Just think…….
If the richest 1% of people and organisationspaid 05% more tax, it would create 120 million Jobs in Care, Education and Health

The Coronavirus has taught many in Democracies about the ability of governments to act to protect the population. In America, a sort of Democracy, probably overridden by the free market, it seems impossible to induce many in the population to even wear a face mask, to protect themselves and others from airborne viruses.

Now imagine vast government led programmes to reduce inequality, radically improve public health, regulate agriculture, especially red meat consumption, build safe houses for the poor!! In America, civil war would be a real risk!.

So, what can be done?? For a start:

Allow matters to become so bad and publicise the effects on fellow citizens
Hope for the election of Social Democratic, middle of the road governments, which are capable of providing thoughtful, insightful leadership. Wish granted!!? The Biden Democratic Party has been elected!!
Amend the Constitution to recognise that climate change is a contemporary challenge, not experienced in the eighteenth century (maybe consider gun ownership too, to reduce the slaughter of Civil War!!)
Recognise that international action is necessary and that countries which act to reduce global warming are rewarded/ punished by strong international bodies

Things that need to be done to make a start

Build millions of Secure, well- insulated homes. This can only be done with massive government support, as was done in Continental Europe and Britain after World War Two. The private sector and free market will never cope.
Elect/appoint more women to positions of authority. Women are generally more likely to create collaborative eco-friendly environments
Give young people the vote from the age of 16. Young people are more likely to understand how the Planet is being destroyed and , how wars are making a contribution to that destruction
Educate, educate, educate, educate – and make sure education systems enable people to apply critical appraisal to the problems of the Planet and the words and actions of people of power
Recognise that strong, executive international action is necessary. Reward those nations that contribute towards saving the planet – apply sanctions to those that will not

Massively invest in renewable energy, create international renewable energy market – with international “grids”
Ban coal-powered energy generation, close and seal coal mines and open-cast quarries
Clamp down on fast-fashion and disposable clothing. Promote simpler lifestyles, smaller electric cars, less foreign air travel, for work and leisure

Hope lies with young
People. They should
Be empowered
Give them the vote
At 16 years of age

Encourage community activities: growing food, fruit and vegetables, giving support to the more needy
Establish Community Investment funds, and make sure that the rich put in a proportion of their wealth
Devolve real authority to regional and community governments to build Climate Change strategies and plans
Give massive support to Social Enterprise and Charities which are some of the best able organisations to foster local and community activities
Expose Climate change deniers, and individuals/ governments that negatively affect the environment
Act to make the rich make a full contribution through rewarding involvement in community service
Clamp down on tax evasion and hiding wealth from society. Create strong and executive agencies with international powers
Constrain diets in rich countries: promote better diets in poor countries – make the rich contribute
Limit numbers of children – educate women
Contain the powers of huge corporations. Clamp down on political contributions from corporations, wealthy institutions and individuals

The Most Important and Most Challenging Task of All….

Destroy the Growth Obsession. The world has been in the grip of a deeply held obsession for several centuries – that Economic Growth is an overriding Aim of mankind.

In the 21^st Century, this obsession is having a wide range of evil effects:

It fuels the illusion that growth will enrich the world, and that wealth will “trickle down” from the wealthy to poorer elements in society, thus reducing poverty.

What growth actually does is cause environmental destruction, and the growth promoters’ partner in crime, the Free Market discourages effective regulation of economic activity and environmental destruction.

The combination of obsessions with growth and letting the rich and powerful free of constraint has actually had the reverse effect of “trickle down”. In fact; it has created whole communities of deprivation in rich countries such as the UK and USA, as has been seen in the recent US Presidential election.

Growth and “Trickle Down” will have to be replaced by “Living within the Planet’s Means” and radical rebalancing of economic wealth within developed countries and across the World. This is the huge challenge facing mankind if we are to steer away from Destroying the Planet and many of its lifeforms, including humans.

LAST WORDS to Younger People who hold the future in their Hands…..

“There is good evidence to show that many, many young people are suffering from the Covid Pandemic and all the bad side effects on education, social life and employment. Many younger people want to see a different sort of society emerge from the Pandemic. With more caring for friends,neighbours, poorer people, and those who are suffering from social exclusion. Connected to this is a growing disgust with fast fashion, big money, greed and ruthless competition to “Win”. We must make our voices and values heard across the world. This is absolutely important, because endless growth and a lack of care for the natural environment will end up creating a world which is disgusting to live in and will “Destroy the Planet”.”

“Helga”, a friend of Greta

Category: Possibilities