A worldwide war footing is needed in this climate crisis
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
We must treat climate change and the issues from it, which are a threat to life on this planet as we know it.
The world must be put on a war footing in the same way as the it did when Fascism was a threat to the world security and the war for defeat it in the 1940s. Climate change is as much a threat, in fact probably more so, as was Fascism in the 1930s and 1940s to world security.
If we do not take such a mindset then, I am afraid, we may all be doomed.
Climate change is more of a threat to global security and the life of each and every one on this planet than Nazi-Fascism ever was and we must, therefore, adopt the same attitude of wartime austerity and reductions and attitudes in order to overcome the problems.
We can do it but we must start doing it now. There is a war on and it is a different one than the conflict in Iraq – which is but for oil – and in Afghanistan, which is but for a base from which to go for the other “rogue” state, as seen so by the West, that has oil, namely Iran.
If we but put a small amount of the resources to use in the war against climate change, in order to plant new forests, to develop new technologies and to create a transport infrastructure where people can use buses, trains, bicycles and walk, to work and for leisure that we put to use in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan many things could be accomplished.
But then the military-industrial complex, which is another ever so powerful lobby, could not make billions and billions of profit and they then say that it would cause job losses and every politician tucks in the tail.
The attitude of war and warfare we must take up, however, in order to deal with the global security threat that is climate change. Folk think that worldwide Islamist terrorism is bad but I would like to say that we have seen nothing yet. Climate change is by way the greatest threat to all of us, the West as much as the East as much as the Third World.
We cannot continue to consume for three planets when there is but one to go around and it does not matter as to the economy – despite the recession we are in at present and every politician is trying to get us to spend our way out of the downturn; that does not work – either for if the Planet dies we die and the economy hardly matters.
The lessons of World War Two and the way we grew our own food, locally, and the way we reduced then and wasted nothing are lessons that have a great value today.
Let us pretend that there is no oil for running our cars and see what we can come up with.
“Make do and mend” was the attitude then and not one of “I want, I want, I want”, not that there was anything to want in those days. And while we may still have the goods to buy in the shops can we just pretend that they are not there and make do with what we have? It would be a start towards less emissions.
© 2009
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