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The politics of left and right are being replaced by a new ethical divide
Love him or hate him, liberal
commentator George Monbiot is correct when he says the Copenhagen climate
change talks are about much more than climate change. They herald the moment at which humankind turns and faces itself
and decides what it is and what it will become.
In his column in the UK Guardian
he says Copenhagen confronts us with our primal tragedy.
"We are the universal ape,
equipped with the ingenuity and aggression to bring down prey much larger than
itself, break into new lands, roar its defiance of natural constraints. Now we
find ourselves hedged in by the consequences of our nature, living meekly on
this crowded planet for fear of provoking or damaging others. We have the
hearts of lions and live the lives of clerks.
"The summit's premise is that the
age of heroism is over. We have entered the age of accommodation. No longer may
we live without restraint. No longer may we swing our fists regardless of whose
nose might be in the way. In everything we do we must now be mindful of the
lives of others, cautious, constrained, meticulous. We may no longer live in
the moment, as if there were no tomorrow.
"This is a meeting about
chemicals: the greenhouse gases insulating the atmosphere. But it is also a
battle between two world views.
"Humanity is no longer split
between conservatives and liberals, reactionaries and progressives, though both
sides are informed by the older politics. Today the battle lines are drawn
between expanders and restrainers; those who believe that there should be no
impediments and those who believe that we must live within limits. The vicious
battles we have seen so far between greens and climate change deniers, road
safety campaigners and speed freaks, real grassroots groups and
corporate-sponsored astroturfers are just the beginning. This war will become
much uglier as people kick against the limits that decency demands."
To this list, if he was a Kiwi, he might have added the battles between the anti-nannystaters and those who deem it important to have energy efficient light bulbs and shower heads in our homes.
Monbiot, as is his want, lapses in his column into name-calling and polemics, but his thesis is
correct. The beliefs of the accommodators increasingly influence the policies
of all mainstream political parties - witness National's Blue Green vision -
and provide a philosophical underpinning for the arguments of many of those
who oppose new technologies and industrial developments in New Zealand. In
reality much of this opposition, whether it is to the commercialisation of GMOs
or the establishment of industrial dairy farms in the Mackenzie Basin, is
instinctive rather than the outcome of rational analysis of the facts.
The challenge for the developers and the statutory agencies evaluating
their proposals is to communicate with the public in a way that elevates
facts above emotion, head before heart. This is a complex task at the
best of times and one where the advice of professional communicators
should be sought well before a development proposal goes public.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
- Trevor Walton
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