Calling all lefties

national | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis Thursday December 28, 2006 17:28 by gníomhaí

Let's face it- statistics bore most people (unless you're a nerd like myself). Statistics also tend to go over most peoples' heads esp. nowadays with the state of the world (in most ways) getting worse. People also feel disempowered, that individuals can't make any difference.

For these reasons the Stern Report (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk) will be disregarded by most people. An economist, Nicholas Stern was commissioned by the UK govt. to review the economic impact of climate change. He concluded that Climate Change is occurring quicker than was previously thought, and that to continue on with 'business as usual' is the 'economics of genocide'.
Now remember, Stern is an economist- he's no leftie. I would argue that this gives me greater basis than ever to claim that capitalism has been a failure and that the prevailing economic system must be brought to its knees, since economic growth is fundamental to capitalism. As Richard Douthwaite has argued in his book 'The Growth Illusion', you can't have growth without more energy use - they both grow in parallel. You can become more efficient at using energy, but you will ultimately still eventually use up the same amount of energy. Any gains in energy efficiency will be offset by the need to sell more products every year. Anyway, any 5 year old will tell you that nothing can keep growing forever, even a 5 year old!

However, back to individual responsibility- what can we do?
It's very convienient for business to put responsibility on individuals to cut back on energy use /recycle etc. (thus curbing greenhouse gases). This means thay can continue on polluting, overpackaging products etc. It's also why there is such emphasis on initiatives like 'Tidy Towns' competitions and the 'Power of 1' campaign. Sure, individuals can do a lot, but ultimately it is government and business that has to take the lead eliminating economic growth, disposable packaging, and implementing preventative policies.

We should all pour our energies into lobbying govt. and biz. to do so, but until that happens, we must do something as individuals, and I don't mean token nods either ('eco-friendly' products, 'doing your bit').

-Stop travelling by plane -let's kill 2 birds with one stone- hit M. O'Leary in the pocket as well as cutting greenhouse emissions (far better to travel by bus/rail/ferry)

-Grow (at least some of) your own food, buy locally/ get a local veg. box scheme. Why give money to supermarkets?

- get rid of those useless toiletries (giving money to multinationals). Replace shaving foam w. shaving brush and natural soap. use bicarbonate of soda and vinegar/ hot water and soap with lemon juice instead of industrial cleaners. Read Pat Thomas' 'Cleaning yourself to death'

-Get rid of the tv, live life more modestly, simpler.

-Buy from charity shops, 2nd hand, make your own things. Same goes for gifts: or give non-commercial gifts- membership to their fav. mag./ fav. organisation.

-for ideas/ inspiration to live life more sustainably, read 'The Local Planet', Ecologist, New Internationalist, New Statesman, join Feasta, (www.feasta.org) , visit Seed Savers in Scariff, the Organic Centre in Rossinver, Leitrim, the Hollies in West Cork, the Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar, Dublin etc etc.

Do these things on a phased basis - reduce reliance on this ridiculous economic system and minimize your ecological footprint (hey- it's your survival and your childrens' survival we're talking about, the planet will continue on perfectly well with or without us in some form or other)