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2 Feb, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Perhaps the best comment yet on the parched ethics of the #DasguptaReview, which seeks to persuade us that nature is one of the "assets in our portfolios".
Incidentally, has *anyone* who's critical of the natural capital agenda yet been interviewed in the media about the Dasgupta Review, to provide, you know, an alternative perspective? If so, I haven't seen it.
The "Monoculture of Economics", to use Kate Raworth's phrase, is sustained by the Monoculture of the Media.
The BBC seeks to provide balance in its coverage of all sorts of issues. But scarcely ever does it seek to provide balance when discussing capitalism and its extensions.
The BBC's business reporting, for example, is a balance-free zone. It interviews CEOs about their plans, but scarcely ever challenges or balances their claims by interviewing trade unions, NGOs or other critics.
Even in the aftermath of the financial crisis, the BBC's interviews about it were overwhelmingly with financiers. "Tell me, Mr Biggs, how do you think train robbery should be better regulated?".
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…

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More from @GeorgeMonbiot

George Monbiot Profile picture
4 Feb
Where is the government programme for an emergency refurbishment of schools + establishing Nightingale classrooms and outdoor learning facilities, to make education Covid-safe?
It's frankly unbelievable that after 3 lockdowns and 3 school holidays, it still hasn't happened.
Why hasn't the government provided funds to schools to help them install ventilation/heat exchanger systems, windows that open etc, or to set up classes in unused entertainment venues and other places?
When schools reopen, pupils will be shoved back into an unsafe environment.
What the hell does @GavinWilliamson do all day? Why hasn't this been at the top of his to-do list from day one of the pandemic? He has left schools to sort themselves out, without extra funding, while their budgets are already overstretched.
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
3 Feb
Recently, quite a few people have told me
“I thought you were on our side”
“Turns out you’re a shill, after all”
“You’re such a let-down”
etc
So here’s an explanation of why I’ve disappointed some of you.
🧵
1. If we want a good society, we must challenge power relentlessly, in all its forms.
But this challenge *must* be grounded in evidence.
If we make claims against power that are untrue,
a. they glance off
b. we do harm
c. we lose ourselves.
2. For example, I still believe that Big Pharma is inordinately powerful and often abuses its power.
But this doesn’t mean that vaccines are useless, harmful or used to inject us with microchips.
Nor does it mean that Covid-19 is harmless, imaginary or an artefact of PCR tests.
Read 13 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
1 Feb
Tomorrow the #DasguptaReview is published. Its approach is morally wrong, intellectually vacuous and counter-productive. It represents a catastrophic misstep in our relationship with nature: the penetration of capitalism into every corner of the world.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
It arises from a system that cannot tell the difference between protecting the living planet and commodifying it. The colonial relationship between nations has long been mirrored by our colonial relationship with nature. This is its ultimate expression.
But watch the media report the review as if it were entirely uncontroversial.
Read 12 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
31 Jan
Three days ago, I asked @naomirwolf for peer-reviewed papers supporting her allegation of a "PCR test scandal". So far, she has produced only links to videos and unreviewed claims by notorious bullshit-mongers. My provisional conclusion is that the “scandal” is imaginary.
Thread/
Videos, petitions and polemics play a useful role in public life. But their arguments should be based on known facts or likelihoods, rather than invented or debunked claims.
It’s hard to express how irresponsible this is. We're in the grip of a global pandemic in which over 2m have died. One of the vectors of this disease is misinformation. People who believe C-19 is not dangerous or widespread are more likely to expose themselves and others to risk.
Read 6 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
30 Jan
Imagine what a different country this would be if Blair had put the political effort he invested in the Iraq War into political and electoral reform instead. If Labour take power again, they must not waste the chance to replace our unfair system and create lasting change.
If this is to happen, Starmer needs to begin work on it now, not in 2024. He needs to start explaining the case for change, not least to his own party, which retains a self-destructive obsession with first-past-the-post.
With a fair electoral system, with Labour prepared to work with other progressive parties, it's hard to see how the Tories could ever again dominate our politics. Labour might never win an absolute majority, but they would be more likely to sustain a share of power.
Read 6 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
29 Jan
The #HS2 protesters are heroes. HS2 is the Concorde of the 21st Century: a money-guzzling, carbon-pumping white elephant that - if it ever comes to fruition - will serve the rich at everyone else's expense.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
I suspect that as the business case for HS2 becomes ever more absurd, the project will eventually be abandoned, but not before many £bns have been spent, and more precious habitats destroyed. The protesters are speaking truths that even the government will one day have to hear.
From the beginning, you had to believe several impossible things to justify #HS2, as I explained here, when it was costed at a mere £25bn. Now you also have to believe that long distance business transport across the UK will return to pre-pandemic levels.
monbiot.com/2010/05/17/fas…
Read 4 tweets

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