I was born in 1966 and my first political memories are of the Vietnam War and the 1973 oil shock. I remember the two elections of 1974 (two days off school), but the first one where I had some understanding of was 1979. Thatcher. Capitalism. Capitalism was the answer to everything, the market would always get it right. Too much regulation stifled business.
This is still what the Conservative party believe (well sort of – it is free movement of capital and labour, but rather than be coherent and espouse the second they prefer to play on racism and deny the second). Planning regulations and environmental regulations get in the way and we would be better off without them. Companies can be trusted to do what is right.
Really?
Of course not.
Watch the film The Insider. Tobacco companies knew for many years that smoking was bad for people. They repeatedly denied it and released “studies” that muddied the waters. They used financial power and the threat of legal proceedings to stifle critics. Then, what do you know, it is bad for you. The film is the story of how it is revealed that tobacco companies included deliberately carcinogenic elements in cigarettes to make them more addictive
Watch Erin Brockovich or Dark Waters. Both are about companies that pollute the environment around their operations and use every legal trick they can to try and hide it and avoid paying compensation to their victims.
Watch Silkwood. A company in the nuclear industry covered up flaws in their processes that meant unsafe components were manufactured. For us in nuclear plants. When Karen Silkwood tried to blow the whistle on it she was victimised and then died in suspicious circumstances. In Britain? There was a nuclear accident at Windscale that was covered up for many years – in 1957 there was a meltdown that released radioactive isotopes across the UK and Europe. It was the worst nuclear accident until Three Mile Island in 1979. It was covered up. I went on a guided tour there in 1990 and asked about it – even then, after it had been public knowledge for a few years, they refused to answer my questions or even acknowledge that it had happened.
Films are not documentaries but these are pretty accurate and are an easy way to see the problem.
Now it is climate change. Despite over 99% of scientists saying that it is happening big business tries to ignore or trots out fake research so that its allies in power can claim it is not proven. Yet the big petrochemical industries had reports that this was happening in the early 1990s. Rather than deal with it they suppressed the reports so they could continue making money. Now it may already be too late.
Climate change is filled with feedback loops. As the temperature increases that heating causes changes in the environment that make the situation worse, causing another change that increases the temperature again.
Polar ice caps are white and reflect energy. When they melt they become blue seawater which absorbs more sunshine. Making it hotter so more of the icecap melts.
The permafrost in the Arctic and Antarctic zones contains huge carbon stores that have been there for thousands or millions of years. As these melt the carbon will be released and worsen the problem.
The increasing temperature and changes to rain patters are causing more forest fires (such as the enormous one in Australia in early 2020). Thus destroying the trees that are an essential part of reducing CO2 emissions. This is quite apart from logging that is still going in places like the Amazon.
It may be too late for humanity already. Things have to change now. Vote for parties that want to deal with it now. This is tough if you are a right winger, as they are the ones ignoring the problem, but if you care about your grandchildren and their descendants you need to make a change now.
This is the only thing that matters now. Not Covid-19. The Climate Crisis.
The Temptations started off as a normal Motown group. Like Marvin Gaye they became more politicised as their career went on. I would love my favourite track to be Ball of Confusion (which is staggeringly good), but this track is a masterpiece.
Get Ready
Five Miles Out 