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George Monbiot argues that in the UK, the US and Australia, governments built on dirty money cannot be trusted to protect us from the coronavirus. 

The worst possible people are in charge at the worst possible time. In the UK, the US and Australia, the politics of the governing parties have been built on the dismissal and denial of risk. Just as these politics have delayed the necessary responses to climate breakdown, ecological collapse, air and water pollution, obesity and consumer debt, so they appear to have delayed the effective containment of Covid-19.

I believe it is no coincidence that these three governments have responded later than comparable nations, and with measures that seemed woefully unmatched to the scale of the crisis. The UK’s remarkable slowness to mobilise, followed by its potentially catastrophic strategy – fiercely criticised by independent experts and now abandoned – to create herd immunity, its continued failure to test and track effectively, or to provide protective equipment for health workers could help to cause large numbers of unnecessary deaths. But to have responded promptly and sufficiently would have meant jettisoning an entire structure of political thought, developed in these countries over the past half century.

Continue reading @ George Monbiot.

Prescription For Disaster

George Monbiot argues that in the UK, the US and Australia, governments built on dirty money cannot be trusted to protect us from the coronavirus. 

The worst possible people are in charge at the worst possible time. In the UK, the US and Australia, the politics of the governing parties have been built on the dismissal and denial of risk. Just as these politics have delayed the necessary responses to climate breakdown, ecological collapse, air and water pollution, obesity and consumer debt, so they appear to have delayed the effective containment of Covid-19.

I believe it is no coincidence that these three governments have responded later than comparable nations, and with measures that seemed woefully unmatched to the scale of the crisis. The UK’s remarkable slowness to mobilise, followed by its potentially catastrophic strategy – fiercely criticised by independent experts and now abandoned – to create herd immunity, its continued failure to test and track effectively, or to provide protective equipment for health workers could help to cause large numbers of unnecessary deaths. But to have responded promptly and sufficiently would have meant jettisoning an entire structure of political thought, developed in these countries over the past half century.

Continue reading @ George Monbiot.
Coronavirus George Monbiot

2 comments:

  1. Eoghan5:14 PM, March 31, 2020

    Well said:

    “The (neo-liberal) theory on which this form of government is founded can seem plausible and logically consistent. Then reality hits, and we find ourselves in the worst place from which to respond: governed by people with an ingrained disregard for public safety and a reflexive resort to denial.” – George Monbiot.

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  2. AM8:27 AM, April 01, 2020

    Comments from "Unknown" are not published on TPQ. You can retain your anonymity but use a distinguishing name to avoid being confused with others who also seek to post as Unknown.

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