Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Put global change on the agenda for #GE2017

Yesterday I pointed out that it is totally unreasonable to have people suffering unemployment when there is so much good work to be done.

Green economics means we all work together to stabilise and heal our relationship with the living earth. Green Wage Subsidy is how we can green the UK economy.

But there is another major political issue - migration.
The primary issue behind Brexit is migration.

Clearly, we should extend human kindness towards immigrants, but we also need to address the causes of migration, which are

  1. War
  2. Dictatorships
  3. Poverty
  4. Environmental degradation including climate change.
It is a sad irony that papers like the Daily Mail complain bitterly about migration, but shrug their shoulders at these four global problems. In fact, the Mail denies the existence of man-made climate change.

These four diseases can be treated.

The UN can help to prevent many wars simply by addressing separatism.
Dictatorships can be inhibited by the Global Human Rights Index.
Poverty can be addressed by aid of the kind carried out by Practical Action, and by providing renewable energy and focusing on water management in hot countries.
Environmental degradation can be addressed through the kind of work schemes outlined in yesterday's post.

These are of course a just a few concrete examples of a vast number of actions that our politicians should be discussing in this election. 

Some will say they are utopian ideas. They are not utopian, they are intensely practical. The reason that they seem unrealistic is that the political machinery of the UK is dysfunctional. The debate is all about politicians, their prejudices and their personalities. There is no inclination to look at the problems and challenges that we face.

Can we change the way the world is set up? We could debate that question, and it would be just another waste of time.

The real point now is to challenge candidates for Parliament (and also local government, where appropriate)  to adopt Green Wage Subsidy, to adopt the Index of Human Rights, and to begin seriously to press for decarbonisation of the global economy and the 1001 other measures that will heal society and environment. 

Elections are a time when politicians in marginal seats are somewhat malleable. Now is the time to write to them and to meet with them. Impress on them that business as usual is not an option. We need them to look for radical, innovative and global solutions to the political problems that we face.

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