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George Monbiot Profile picture
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18 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
This is how the living world ends: with overgrown boys in giant Tonka toys boasting about their role in its destruction.
(h/t @JFDIecologist)
Read this exchange in the thread beneath this boastful video, and weep:
To me, this highlights the undemocratic nature of power over the land. No one made the land, yet those who assert ownership of it are empowered to treat it - as in this case - in ways that horrify most of us. Why do they have greater rights to decide than we do?
Why, indeed, does anyone have the right to own large tracts of land? It's a question I explore here.
centerforneweconomics.org/events/40th-an…

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More from @GeorgeMonbiot

George Monbiot Profile picture
17 Dec
Like Johnson and Farage, Rees-Mogg owes his political position to the media, who thought he was colourful and interesting and funny, so gave him a massive platform.
In reality, he's just a cruel, sheltered, pompous arse.
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
But this is how the media - including the BBC - creates our politics.
The bigger the idiot, the greater the airtime.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Sorry about the language, by the way. There are moments when polite words don't suffice.
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
16 Dec
Goodbye soil.
Maize is the greatest threat to soils in the UK.
Yet it is expanding rapidly, largely for biogas production in anaerobic digestion plants.
Prime land is being trashed in response to a perverse incentive created by the government.
Biogas was sold to us on the basis that it would be produced from slurry, sewage and food waste. But, as some of us warned, you can make more money by growing crops specifically for producing it.
Far from heeding the warnings, the govt actually encouraged this.
And @NFUtweets called for a massive expansion in crops for biogas (generally on Grade 1 arable land), taking this land out of food production.
At they same time, it opposes rewilding even of the least productive land, because it would, er, take this land out of food production!
Read 5 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
16 Dec
It's now looking quite likely that Brexit will coincide with both a third lockdown and - if the longterm forecasts are correct - severe flooding.
Any one of these events would be a national crisis.
Together they could amount to a national catastrophe.
God help us.
Our government has a track record of:
- ignoring warnings
- leaving the necessary action to the last possible minute
- then bungling it
- using a crisis to enrich its friends and advance its political agenda
- leaving the poorest and most vulnerable to sink or swim
These tendencies, in combination with a possible concatenation of crises, present a severe threat to our wellbeing. We are not in good hands.
Read 12 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
14 Dec
I’m being targeted by some conspiracy theorists, because I called for a "Great Reset" a month before the World Economic Forum did.
But all this shows is how misplaced the theory is.
Thread/
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
I spelt out what I meant in that article: putting more emphasis on ecology and environmental issues in education, re-engaging with the living world, moving towards an economy that stays within planetary boundaries. All deeply sinister, I’m sure.
For the record, I’ve never had any contact with the World Economic Forum. As @NaomiAKlein explains, its own version of the Great Reset is basically a cynical rebranding of capitalism as a force for good. It’s hypocritical and self-serving. But not satanic.
theintercept.com/2020/12/08/gre…
Read 7 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
13 Dec
The government is suddenly instructing supermarkets to stockpile. But how, when UK warehouse capacity is more or less maxed out? I warned about this a few weeks ago, but couldn't get anyone in government or the media to take an interest.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
It's classic Johnson.
Ignore the warnings.
Panic.
Blame someone else.
Because Johnson has never done the work himself, but tells other people to 'make it happen', he has no idea what is and isn't realistic. The time to tell businesses to stockpile was 9 months ago, accompanied by a major warehouse building and logistics programme.
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
11 Dec
This is massive, and horrific. @NFUtweets is secretly lobbying the government to allow #neonicotinoid pesticides to be reintroduced after Brexit.
It tells its members: "Please refrain from sharing this on social media."
On the contrary, please RT.
campaigns.nfuonline.com/page/72051/pet… Image
Here's the letter it sent to sugar beet growers across the UK. The link seems to be members-only. It is closed to the public, for obvious reasons. Image
In public, the National Farmers Union claims to be defending our food and farming standards from a US trade deal. In private, it's secretly using Brexit as an opportunity to undermine them.
Read 16 tweets

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