Take Time To Renew Your Spirit

“What we are seeing is not just a climate crisis, an energy crisis, a food crisis, a financial crisis… but also the systemic crisis of capitalism itself, which is bringing about the destruction of humanity and nature. If the cause is systemic, then the solution must be systemic as well.

~Bolivian President Evo Morales



0 thoughts on “Take Time To Renew Your Spirit”

  1. This is definitely food for some serious thought.

    How many of us have associated the capitalistic system under which we live with all these problems?

    How many of us are doing – or have done – anything to alter this situation?

    How many of us – and this is an extremely important point – are even aware of how serious these problems are?

    By coincidence, I have just opened a very long email from an online friend in Michigan. Their government and the U.S. media are using all manner of scare tactics foretelling of the impending doom about to befall the U.S. economy.

    This sort of scaremongering has been used by the Harper government to good effect against Michael Ignatieff. The fact that this scaremongering has no basis in fact seems to bother Mr. Harper not one whit.

    The Bolivian President has now stated, in the clearest possible language, something that many have known for a very long time. Perhaps we have all been afraid to speak out against such things for fear of reprisal. This complacent attitude must change, and it must change now.

    As Evo Morales has so eloquently stated, all these things have combined to bring our planet down on to one knee. It is up to each and every one of us to prevent it from being brought down on to both knees.

    Perhaps we might start by electing a government in Canada which no longer gives the farm away to the big corporations. Does the S & P 500 group really need $800,000,000.00 in profits? Can you even begin to imagine what would happen to the Canadian economy if that sort of change fell into the hands of the public?

    Think about that, it’s food for some very serious thought.

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  2. Fear is a tool that is often wielded by those in power to prevent change. Ironically, it’s the fear of the environmental disaster that we are causing, and that our children and grandchildren will pay a heavy price for, that people should be really frightened about! However, fear isn’t a great motivator – psychologists have found worry, not fear, to motivate people to change.
    If Harper is re-elected, we might go an a four-year sabbatical outside of Canada (but definitely NOT to the U.S.!)

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  3. Christine,
    If, by this post you are saying that you believe that all the evils that are besetting us right now are caused by capitalism, I can only suggest that you go to live in North Korea, the only country left in the world that is still communist.

    Cheers

    Roger

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  4. Christine, you are Oh so right. Harper has made the environmental questions go away in his policy platform…they simply don’t exist.

    In a Facebook discussion with our daughter, I expressed the concern that the air my grandsons will be breathing in a few short years will be even worse than it is today.

    Why is it that our elected officials appear to have turned their backs to the problem, at least the conservatives have. This is a matter of national responsibility and requires a concentrated effort at the national level.

    Such action MUST commence with the prime minister himself. The time for apathy has long since passed, we need action instead. And today would be a good time to start.

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  5. Yes, Keith, there’s not much about the Harper Cons that is about “conserving” these days, except conserving their friends in the oil patch’s healthy wallets. Certainly our children’s future isn’t even on their radar!

    And as for Roger, as usual, he argues with an extreme polemic that just proves that he doesn’t understand the complexities of the world we live in. Like you, RtS, I wouldn’t want to live in North Korea – but in the end all of us, Kiwis, Canadians, and Koreans, are going to pay a huge price for using up the world’s resources like we had another planet when we were done with this one.

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    • Christine,

      There my be some truth in what you say with respect to conserving resources, but turning Communist is not going to help any of these things.

      Running after CO2 will not help any either.

      “And as for Roger, as usual, he argues with an extreme polemic that just proves that he doesn’t understand the complexities of the world we live in.”

      Really? and I suppose you do? How come you are never able to answer any of my perfectly reasonable questions then?

      Cheers

      Roger

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  6. LOL – you can always be counted on to entertain when you stop by, Roger!

    And as usual, you are incorrect in your assertions, even the ones not related to climate change – “North Korea, the only country left in the world that is still communist. ” Your knowledge of political science, along with the science of climate change, needs some improvement. Last time I checked, both China (yeah, you missed that tiny little country) and Cuba still call themselves Communist.

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    • Christine,

      Oh dear, Although I know only a little about Cuba, I do know a lot about PR China.

      Although PRC might be run by a “Communist” party, believe me, since ’78, it is the most capitalist country in the world.
      Consequently the GDP of PRC has exceeded that of the USA and growth continues in double digit percentages.
      I also have contacts in PRC which give me an insite of their economic policy, and believe me it is all for free trade, the government continues to divest itself of the means of production as quickly as possible, sometimes by sale to the employees. China is also working on how to recognise and restore private property rights which were destroyed within the first few years of the communist take over. By most of the populace, governments running enterprises of any sort is regarded with extreme suspicion, simply because the starvation and privations that occurred when the government ran and owned everything, is still fresh in their collective minds.

      Considering that your country and mine continue to erode private property rights, increase taxation by one means or another and take more control over our personal lives, you might well sit down and think which countries are actually more capitalist or more communist.

      My knowledge of Cuba is limited, but I believe things are good there at the moment. However the ratio of Import value to Export value for Cuba of which I have read, tells me this cannot last.

      Finally Christine, before you sit down and decide who is correct in their assertions, try thinking just a little more.

      Seeing as you are such an authority on Climate Change, here is a question for you.

      The 7 meter sea level rise attributed to the melting of the Greenland Ice Cap is expected to hit us when?

      Cheers

      Roger

      Reply
  7. Neither you nor I can call ourselves an authority on climate change, Roger, unless you have some scientific credentials that you are keeping well hidden.

    What I’m an expert on is risk management – as a mother, I want to work towards ensuring that my children’s future is as safe and secure as possible, as I (like most parents) have been doing since they were born. The odds are against us on this one, Roger, although there is a handful of scientists around the world who claim otherwise. In this case I have to agree with the (ex)Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger who has said “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the 98. It’s common sense—the same with climate change. We go with the majority, the large majority.” Along with the Governator, I’m not willing to take the chance that we could lose our planet.

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    • Christine,

      I am a university graduate in Economics.

      Whilst this may not be climate science, I do know enough about the scientific process to realise that it is being abused at the moment.

      It is difficult to fathom the reasons for this except to strongly suspect they are political in some way.

      ” “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the 98.”

      We are not in that situation. For a start there is no consensus among scientists. The 98% figure is simply among the few scientists who contributed to the IPCC.
      Secondly, even if you as a nurse, were told that you are dangerously ill by 98 doctors, when you knew from your training it could not possible be true, what would you do? Go under the knife in great faith?
      To take advice from an aging body builder, mediocre actor in action films and a consequently ineffective governor seems pretty risky to me.

      For your information, there are thousands of published, peer reviewed, scientific papers around that refute every facit of what we are being told through the media. If you are interested I can direct you to many of them.
      Also there are tens of thousands scientists who have put their names to petitions, open letters and other documents urging governments and the UN that evidence for AGW is grossly inadequate. I can present you with many of these if you are interested in facing the truth. Here is one account by a recent sceptic which is worth a read in the mean time.
      http://www.financialpost.com/news/Climate.%20models%20cold/4579652/story.html

      Finally, as well as the lack of proof for Anthropogenic CO2 induced Climate Change, it is easy for someone who is trained in economics, to see what will happen to us if the IPCC has its way with regards to its proposed CO2 emission reduction schedules.

      I am not opposing AGW for the hell of it, it is obvious to me and other reasonable economists that the real danger lies in the collapse of our economies. I do not wish to see my children starve!

      If there were not these consequences I would simply stand aside and say to these AGW people “believe what you like”. However what they are promoting is going to damage me and mine.

      Politicians will not guide us in this, they will do whatever it takes to secure a vote.

      The planet may well be in danger from many causes, but it is not in danger from Carbon Dioxide.

      Cheers

      Roger

      Reply

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