To us and therefore the planet.
So let's conclude with the idea that The Psychopathy Of Business and The Collectives is and are the ruination of us and the planet. Yes, commerce is needed, as it always will be, but not at any cost.
The Psychopathy Of Business had spiralled the interactive concept of mutual commerce, “I’ll swap some potatoes for your cabbages”, into an all consuming monster.
We have to recognise The Psychopathy Of Business for the blight that it is and change the systems into better and less destructive ones, and remove the the self-serving force that drives the present systems.
But to change all that we have to change ourselves. And that is the hard part, but it has to be done.
The deniers rubbish climate articles and publications by simply suggesting they are no good because they do not offer solutions. townhall.com is so guilty of that.
There is no set path we can all follow pied piper-like. The deniers know that well enough and exploit it, just as their business masters do the environment.
What there are is many tiny steps. Below is my simple list. There are many other ones, and far more detailed. Some of theirs or my ideas might be way off or will only work in conjunction with other changes. But what is blatantly clear is that change is absolutely necessary. And we have to start somewhere.
So, I propose we need to recognise that:
* There Is A climate Crisis
* The West exploits
* The Psychopathy Of Business is real
* We are prejudiced towards poorer countries
* We must consider Needs versus Wants
* We must do without or limit non-essentials
* We need to think for ourselves
* Understand the process of attaining food
* Understand the effect of attaining luxuries
* Accept we must stop junk products
* We need products to be made locally
* Food to be grown locally
* All travel must be limited
* Lives must be more simple
* Lives must be more organic
Most importantly, Businesses must put the planet’s needs before their own.
You do not pick a crop before it is ripe, you wait.
And that is the principle businesses must learn to adopt for all products. We for our part have to learn to accept the limitations such will impose on our lives. And those products that are produced need to be made better to last longer.
My favourite starting point is to ask, do I, or does humanity, need to ship tons and tons of watermelons around the globe? What part of our lives will be destroyed if we never ate one in the UK or wherever again? Then expand the question to other products and consider, do we want this. Or, do we need it? Or, are we merely answering a compulsive whim fed by businesses when we purchase it?
Ask what is really necessary and what is not. Years ago, we had our scissors resharpened and they lasted many of our families a lifetime. Indeed some even inherited them, but today when they lose edge we throw the scissors away and buy new ones. Such are the ways we have been encouraged to adopt because business demands turnover.
Only cheapskates care about old things. The brighter and braver forward-looking people step up to buy new shiny ones.
Or so advertising tones will make you believe
Another point to consider.
Recall this article.
Link: Nothing will change on climate until death toll rises in west, says Gabonese minister - Cop27 - re ported by The Guardian
Rebel at the idea that your taxes, local or national may be paying to clear up the mess created by businesses in the UK. And rebel at the idea of companies producing products which are not fit for purpose.
Any of us who buy via Amazon and eBay will know exactly what that means, although it is not exclusive to them.
Here are a few simple examples. Screwdriver sets where the blades bend or break on first use. Cutlery sets which are too thin for purpose. Spanners that snap. Electrical items that work only for a short time. Clothes not to the size expected or not properly made. These are all common enough occurrences, so much so that many of us laugh and call the buyers who complain, stupid. But think about it. What has happened there?
It is, the blatant exploitation of people and the planet.
Many of the items would cost more to return than they are worth. So off to the landfill or the fly-tippers with them. Now think about the cost to the planet of that wasted production.
Holes are dug in Mother Earth. Ores extracted. Shipped, processed, and shipped again into a wholesaler and onto a factory. Items are produced, packaged, shipped and probably shipped again and finally delivered only to be tossed into a landfill.
Then there are the associated processes. Turning the ores into usable metals, plastics for the handles or packaging. The packing per se. The gas and electricity, the fuel and so on. The cost to Mother Earth is phenomenal. So, what do we do about it? We grumble or laugh.
Instead, we should be demanding the immediate closure of the businesses involved, not laughing. Or demanding a global boycott. At the very least demand that Amazon and Co de-list them.
We do not think in such ways because of our disconnect with the planet and the production of the things we buy and use. If they were made out of items dug from your garden you would think twice! Imagine a small or large hole being dug for every product you buy. The Collective might mind less about it because many have ample grounds… Or they will take as right the poorer peoples lands to use…
According to an article on townhall.com, capitalism feeds the world and provides 6 billion jobs.
I have not the energy or the time to point out just how seriously flawed that is. I can only assume the likes of Trump wrote it!
If New Zealand had been left untouched by the western colonials the Maori would have continued with their lives quite contentedly. As too would have the Aboriginals in Australia. So would have the Hawaiians. The Jamaican’s. The Africans. The Native Americans. The Yaki Indians and so on. Western society enslaved all of these people and forced upon them a culture that was not theirs. A culture based on debt and slavery.
The sheer ignorance and arrogance of townhall.com’s comment is to my mind astonishing.
Besides, if anything, many of those people have to work because of the way we plundered their countries assets and forced changes on their cultures. And the work they are forced into is to keep the Western world supplied with the wealth to run our societies. And so we continue to exploit them but instead we should be grovelling in thanks for their efforts, not belittling them and inflicting climate carnage upon their countries. Without their efforts voluntary or otherwise our Western societies would be nothing!
Having said all that. If ideas of commercial rebellion are taken up as they ought to be, then it promises to be a dirty fight, but it’s one worth having for the long term - for the sake of our children’s children.
It will not be a good future if we lose it.
So, to conclude, we need to pull ourselves out of the comfortable armchairs of the present and go open the door and see to that dangerous future that is attempting to move into the neighbourhood. And the sooner we do so, the less momentum that bleak future will gather.
One little rain drop has minimal effect, but a downpour of little raindrops causes a flood. One which in this instance we should encourage and welcome.
To ignore this call or other such similar ones will prove to be yet another issue that the environmentalists have to overcome in order to succeed. But succeed in their efforts they must and remember they do what they do for us and the planet. To dismiss this or others calls for change is to condemn this planet of ours to burn and die. Is there really any other choice but change?
Comments as always to author@theannstories followed by .co.uk