John Berry wrote:-
<<The issue of man's fault in causing it is just a blame game and unimportant,
it doesn't change the fact that it's happening>>
Actually, I think blame is vitally important in this situation. Scientists and
environmentalists have been warning about various aspects of human induced
climate change at least since the mid seventies. I was talking about it on the
radio in 1992 (15 years ago...). During this period, the forces of consumerism,
aided and abetted by the marketing and advertising industries, backed up by the
Yuppie "greed is good" mentality and Reagan/Thatcherite economic theory,
continued to promote their version of "the way" while downplaying and actively
spreading misleading propaganda against those who were noticing, and trying to
tell people about, an obvious truth. This simple truth is that consumer society
economics is only sustainable while one is still living in an "empty world"
i.e. a world where the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and animal species can
absorb whatever mankind (or any out of control species) throws at them without
being pushed beyond the sustainable limits. The truth is that we are now living
in a "full world" and mankind's demands increasingly will disrupt the natural
environment upon which we ultimately depend for a comfortable, liveable,
situation, here on our only Planet. A minuscule population of humans can do
whatever they feel like to the Planet and it won't have a significant effect -
six billion plus are capable of changing things radically. The whole
underpinnings of mainstream thought, society and economics are unconsciously
based upon this "empty world" hypothesis. Please get out the way, if you can't
lend a hand, cos the times they are a'changin'.
All the people who clung on to their stupid, blinkered, limited world view,
based upon an inadequately wide view of the world, while sneering at those
greater minds who could see beyond the next wage packet or electoral term of
office, are to blame. They should be held up to ridicule - it should be done in
elementary schools! - it is our absolute duty to ridicule them "pour encourager
les autres". As possibly one of the greatest of all examples of human stupidity
and short sighted self interest, those lost 30 years of inaction need to be
held up as a terrible example so that maybe, just maybe, the forces of
ignorance and complacency and idiocy and evil won't get listened too as much in
the future when the next problems come along.
Nick Palmer
