Email
March 31
Co. Down, N. Ireland,
Dear editor,
I wonder would Greta Thunberg have as much air time and podium space if she was attacking the excesses of consumerism or even critiquing the capitalist system with its inherent profit motive and need for continual economic growth?
The focus, however, within the climate change industry is in many ways a boon to capitalism.
Instead of advocating a greater use and greater investment in public transport, the solution seems to be electric cars and the consequent spike in production which that will cause.
Instead of limiting advertising which implants desires within people to buy products they don’t really need and promoting a consumer lifestyle, advertising doesn’t seem to be something that will be curbed.
The arms industry seems to be exempt from these new measures.
“3% of US military spending could end starvation on earth,” (worldbeyondwar.org) which amounts to $30 billion per year.
The US military budget has topped $1 trillion each year for the last while.
I guess one-child policies are also out of fashion as China’s programme was viewed negatively by the West back in the day to undermine China and maybe it would seem hypocritical now for the West to adopt similar programmes.
However, all these aspects I’ve outlined above, but which have been sidelined by the climate change lobby, would I think be necessary in truly combatting climate change and saving the planet from gross environmental degradation.
Louis Shawcross,
