Article

2019-09-20 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

For the sake of life on Earth, we must put a limit on wealth

[Guardian] It is not quite true that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. Musicians and novelists, for example, can become extremely rich by giving other people pleasure. But it does appear to be universally true that in front of every great fortune lies a great crime. Immense wealth translates automatically into immense environmental impacts, regardless of the intentions of those who possess it. The very wealthy, almost as a matter of definition, are committing ecocide.

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from a worker at a British private airport. "I see things that really shouldn’t be happening in 2019," he wrote. Every day he sees Global 7000 jets, Gulfstream G650s and even Boeing 737s take off from the airport carrying a single passenger, mostly flying to Russia and the US. The private Boeing 737s, built to take 174 passengers, are filled at the airport with around 25,000 litres of fuel. That’s as much fossil energy as a small African town might use in a year.

Where are these single passengers going? Perhaps to visit one of their superhomes, constructed and run at vast environmental cost, or to take a trip on their superyacht, which might burn 500 litres of diesel an hour just ticking over, and which is built and furnished with rare materials extracted at the expense of beautiful places.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that when Google convened a meeting of the rich and famous at the Verdura resort in Sicily in July to discuss climate breakdown, its delegates arrived in 114 private jets and a fleet of megayachts, and drove around the island in supercars. Even when they mean well, the ultrarich cannot help trashing the living world.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-09-20 01:28|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 "And to achieve this, you must put me in charge!"

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-09-20 01:49|| 2019-09-20 01:49|| Front Page Top

#2 '𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚛'𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚡, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚛'𝚜.' - 𝙶𝚊𝚆𝙳

Posted by Dron66046 2019-09-20 06:29|| 2019-09-20 06:29|| Front Page Top

#3 Just give it to me. Problem solved.

Posted by Uleck Spererong9442 2019-09-20 07:01|| 2019-09-20 07:01|| Front Page Top

#4 But curiously Guardian writers are exempt.

Posted by Herb McCoy 2019-09-20 07:20|| 2019-09-20 07:20|| Front Page Top

#5 Yes Dron, but don't forget all three pillars of socialism

1. Thou shall covet
2. Thou shall bear false witness
3. Thou shall steal

..then you begin to understand their fondness for the Islamics.

Posted by Procopius2k 2019-09-20 07:34|| 2019-09-20 07:34|| Front Page Top

#6 Backwards, as usual. It is not a coincidence that the worst environmental conditions are in third world nations. Even communist nations with the pretense of being industrialized were environmental nightmares.

Posted by ruprecht 2019-09-20 08:05|| 2019-09-20 08:05|| Front Page Top

#7 This piece screamed George MonIdiot.
Stupidest writer at Al-Guardian - which is saying a lot.

Posted by Lex 2019-09-20 12:04|| 2019-09-20 12:04|| Front Page Top

#8 "At some point, you've made enough money."

Just not us leftists!

Posted by Raj 2019-09-20 12:07|| 2019-09-20 12:07|| Front Page Top

#9 Immense wealth translates automatically into immense environmental impacts

No it doesn't. That you see The Royalty get together and make rules for you that they do not have to obey is a start.

What you miss, is when you all get together in your editorial meetings and decide coming publications, especially those centered around the board's social agendas, you are doing the same thing. The difference is you're just poor.

Posted by swksvolFF 2019-09-20 13:07|| 2019-09-20 13:07|| Front Page Top

#10 Dron, exactly. But, to be a good communist, you must be willing to commit armed robbery. And, if the victim resists, well...that's too bad.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2019-09-20 14:37|| 2019-09-20 14:37|| Front Page Top

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