Many years ago I came to the conclusion that, as a species, humans are doomed to self destruction. The only question is; will we take the rest of nature down with us.
The seemingly unstoppable destruction of the environment, on which we depend for our very existence, was the principal reason for my pessimistic conclusion but recent events on the global financial market have added to my despair.
When the Murdochs were being quizzed before a Parliamentary Committee a television channel was simultaneously broadcasting a live graph indicating how the markets were responding to the event.
So when Murdoch Snr., for example, said something negative the graph took a tumble but when Murdoch Jnr. gave a positive answer the markets shot up again.
When Murdoch’s wife leapt to his defence after he was attacked by a pie wielding assailant the markets went up. The television commentator explained that the markets were probably impressed with her gutsy response.
This is an absolutely insane way to run a planet but that is the frightening reality.
Just two individuals, out of the seven billion that inhabit the planet, can have devastating effects on the fate, happiness and prosperity of countless thousands by uttering a simple sentence like:
This is the most humbling day of my life.
The fate, happiness and prosperity of billions of people, businesses, countries and even the very stability of the planet itself depends, to a large extent, on a tiny group of people betting on how events might effect their profits, it’s like playing Russian Roulette with five bullets in the chamber.
We witness some of the most powerful people on the planet responding to the current crisis with pathetic pleas to the market. Please believe us, you’re being unfair; tell us how we can please you.
What’s required, of course, is a completely new global system that allows people to prosper, to make all the money they want but without endangering the entire planet – in other words, a strictly controlled capitalist system.
And, of course, the on-going financial crisis will have devastating consequences for the environment because the only solution being proposed to resolve the crisis is – growth, growth, growth and more growth.
This means that even the modest measures taken to date to slow down environmental destruction will be abandoned so that the looting of the planet’s very limited resources can continue to generate profits.
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