“Whatever our world leaders are 'doing' to reduce emissions, they are doing it wrong … Our political leaders have failed us … We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with.” — Greta Thunberg
The primary force overheating our planet, destabilizing our climate, and acidifying our oceans is the CO2 humans are dumping into the atmosphere.
Though set in the UK, the article below applies equally to other countries, where the illusion that we can "persuade" elected champions of corporate profiteering to support progressive causes is a self-defeating diversion from our real task. As stated in the article, this is "the building of alternative institutions of collective power and decision making, outside of the state." With most politicians it's not a question of not comprehending reality or of worrying that more radical policies will alienate middle-of-the-road voters.
If the analysis in this article is accurate, the chances of winning even temporary reforms of capitalism are becoming smaller and smaller. This, along with the cascading crises caused by pandemics and environmental disruption, highlights the increasing urgency of completely replacing capitalism with democratic social and economic planning.
It was a big week. The Conservatives’ long-awaited climate plan is getting a lot of attention. But most Canadians probably didn’t notice that it was also report card week.
"Global supply should not be dependent on the purely commercial prerogatives and exclusive rights of pharmaceutical companies holding the technology. There is simply too much at stake."
An international coalition of 250 civil society groups on Tuesday urged the head of the World Trade Organization to embrace a temporary suspension of coronavirus vaccine-related patents, warning against pursuit of a voluntary approach that would keep life-saving technology under the total control of pharmaceutical corporations—and entrench massive global inequities.
