After declaring the climate crisis is a threat to most life on Earth David Attenborough said disruptive protest was unacceptable and that the answer is individuals using less.

The disconnect between analysis & prescription couldn’t be more irrational.

novaramedia.com/2020/10/26/are…
“Don’t waste electricity. Don’t waste food. Don’t waste power.”

This isn’t a remotely serious response. Two degrees is likely already locked in, mostly as a result of CO2 already emitted. We are living amid the 6th great extinction & immense change is on the way.
A lot of this boils down to the idea that ‘cultural change’ is the decisive factor in change happening, it isn’t.

The factory acts, the abolition of slavery, civil rights and so on had to be legislated for. They also needed a measure of coercion - the state.
The factory acts didn’t work because factory owners suddenly went ‘oh yeah, im wrong, time to change things!’ they were enforced.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Aaron Bastani

Aaron Bastani Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AaronBastani

29 Oct
The most important line in today’s EHRC report:

“Our investigation found that the Labour Party breached the Equality Act 2010 by committing unlawful harassment through the acts of its agents in *two* of the complaints we investigated.”

Two.

equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/…
Two too many, of course but still...two. It continues:

“These included using antisemitic tropes & suggesting that complaints of antisemitism were fake or smears. As these people were acting as agents of the Labour Party, Labour was legally responsible for their conduct.”
It goes on” A further 18 ‘borderline’ cases. In these cases, there was not enough evidence to conclude that the Labour Party was legally responsible for the conduct of the individual. These were people such as local councillors, local candidates &...” >
Read 7 tweets
2 Sep
The report on allegations of sexual harassment in the @GMB_union, & their handling, is remarkable.

“The GMB is institutionally sexist. The General Secretaries and all regional secretaries are, and always have been, men. Women are underrepresented throughout the GMB’s ranks.”
>
“There is significant job segregation at regional level, with officer grades disproportionately filled by men and staff grades disproportionately filled by women.”

“Bullying, misogyny, cronyism and sexual harassment are endemic within the GMB.”

>
“The culture in the GMB is one of heavy drinking and late night socialising, salacious gossip and a lack of professionalism.”

Strong conclusions on how hundreds of thousands of members are being best served.
Read 4 tweets
7 Jul
Britain's over 85 population will double between 2015 & 2030. Ageing means high public debt, low growth & dependency ratios that end the welfare state.

The challenge is as big as climate change & is the basis of my next book 'Mortals' with @VersoBooks

bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0…
"But what about immigration?"

This is a global phenomenon: Today, across the world, there are 6.3 people of working age for every person over 65. The UN claims that figure will fall to 3.4 to 1 by 2050, and 2.4 to 1 by 2100.

>
For some the ‘future’ of ageing & population decline is already here. Japan, which had a population of 128 million in 2010 is expected to fall below 100 million by 2050. For some economists its shrinking working age population is a major factor behind its long term stagnation.

>
Read 9 tweets
20 Jun
NEW: Among those suspended in relation to the leaked Labour report is Emilie Oldknow OBE - formerly senior management and now deputy Secretary General at Unison.

Only months ago Oldknow was a contender to be party general secretary.

Me for @novaramedia novaramedia.com/2020/06/20/lab…
“In a document sent to the party’s national executive committee (NEC) as far back as 19 May, deputy leader Angela Rayner made clear that both she and Starmer take, “issues such as racism, sexism & bullying exceptionally seriously”.

novaramedia.com/2020/06/20/lab…
The suspensions only became public (although not names) after member Mark Howell brought a civil claim against the party, as well as Iain McNicol and David Evans, for “breach of contract”.

According to Howell the party “delayed until the eleventh hour”.

novaramedia.com/2020/06/20/lab…
Read 5 tweets
19 Jun
There are 7 suspensions in relation to the leaked Labour report covered by @novaramedia in April. The suspensions aren’t recent, and happened as far back as a month ago (1/3) >
There’s frustration among members that nothing (seemingly) had been done, but party looks to have been subject to number of legal threats. (2/3) >
One NEC source said “There is no place for these people in the Labour Party. I was encouraged to hear Angela Rayner in her update to the NEC be explicitly clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated and that action will not held up by the independent inquiry." (3/3)
Read 4 tweets
17 Apr
Emilie Oldknow OBE, who until 2018 was an executive director at @UKLabour, repeatedly features in the leaked Labour report

Today @novaramedia can confirm she has been in 'serious' contention for the role of general secretary among the @Keir_Starmer team.

novaramedia.com/2020/04/17/lab…
Currently assistant general secretary at @unisontheunion, in 2017 Oldknow was Labour’s executive director for governance, membership and party services – making her part of a senior management team who the document alleges conspired to replace Corbyn as leader. Image
This conversation took place in relation to the Manchester Gorton by-election selection. While the media regularly claimed Corbyn rigged candidate selections to favour ‘his people’, the conversation detailed here appears to indicate the precise opposite of that. ImageImage
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!