Copenhagen: Why It Achieved Nothing
Copenhagen was a complete farce, but I don’t need to tell you that. It achieved nothing, but worse, it cemented capitalism’s stubbornness to do nothing. This was obvious to me before it even started along with a minority of voices crying out that capitalism can’t save the environment.
But as I read more and more about the events at Copenhagen, the more I become more than cynical; I’m becoming angry and slightly scared.
Rich countries did deals behind the backs of poor countries that are set to sink, the fought amongst each other like children, they cracked down on protesters who were calling for real change.
It seems to me that all the US, Britain, China, Australia and the developed world cared about was making sure they didn’t have to pay the bill. They passed obligations around like a hot potato, insisting other people, even tiny islands, had to pay, but not them.
They were more concerned about where they would end up on the ladder of world rankings if they had to cut their targets more than anyone else. And their speeches about action and caring for the world were all bullshit. They didn’t care about it all.
This is imperialism at work; the system of military and economic competition under capitalism that brought as things like colonialism and world wars. The whole system is based on competition from two businesses on the same street right up to hundreds of countries at the negotiating table of some conference that emitted more carbon than it pledged to reduce.
All they care about is blind, self-interest and coming out on top. They care about this more than whether or not the world will burn and flood simultaneously.
If this isn’t an argument for why we need to get rid of capitalism, I don’t know what is.
Capitalism in it’s own is not the problem, its pro business interventions in the free-Market by governments. Ayn Rand – archcapitalist – called for a separation between state and economy, and was spot on.
Next time a mega-corp is threatened oppose the bailout, but also oppose actions harmful to business, which includes #cop15 schemes like cap and trade. The market price for photovoltaic and mirror farm power sources are dropping and demand for green power increasing due to cultural and intellectual support. Let those forces work and lookout for
things like planning rules and old nationalised infrastructure that get in the way of green enterprises, but don’t proselytise for green handouts that makes you the same as the corporations.
Agreed. Capitalism in and of itself is a wonderful thing. The government’s persistent involvement in it and the corporations’ lobbyist groups are what got the system in the state it’s in. If we could start over again and get rid of those two things, we’d be in the clear.
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Arguments against state intervention and for the free market are really becoming more and more isolated and this is what both of you are arguing. The economic crisis we’re currently in totally discredited free market economics as a method the maintain balance.
The market is anarchic, you can’t control and it’s a myth that it will magically make everything work. Especially in regards to the environment considering oil and coal companies have a lot of control and left to their own devices will just keep polluting and squeezing out green companies.
Totally agreed Ben. The free market is what got us into this mess – globaln economic crisis and speeding past the point of no return on climate change, I wouldn’t trust it to get us out again!