George Monbiot

1 week ago | etc.se | George Monbiot

Den demokratiska lågkonjunkturen börjar inte när ett parti från extremhögern får regeringsmakten. Den börjar när ett mittenparti krossar hoppet inom demokratin. När Keir Starmers regering i Storbritannien går loss med motorsåg mot människors förhoppningar om ett rättvisare, grönare, vänligare land skadar han inte bara förtroendet för Labourpartiet utan även förtroendet för politiken i sig.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | George Monbiot

“He’s really gone and done it this time. Now everyone can see what a disaster he is.” How many times have we heard this about Donald Trump? And how many times has it been proved wrong? Well, maybe this time he really has overstepped. After all, his clowning around with tariffs, sparking trade wars, then suddenly reversing his position, could provoke a global recession, perhaps even a depression. Surely his supporters will disown him? But I’m not banking on it, and this is why.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | George Monbiot

The faces are different, but it’s the same authoritarianism. Keir Starmer’s team might not look or sound like Donald Trump’s, but its policies on protest and dissent are chillingly similar. So is the reason: coordinated global lobbying by the rich and powerful, fronted by rightwing junktanks. Last week, six young women were having tea and biscuits in the Quaker meeting house in Westminster. Twenty police officers forced open the door and arrested them on conspiracy charges.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | George Monbiot

The democratic recession does not begin when a far-right party takes office. It begins when a centrist party crushes hope in democracy. When Keir Starmer’s government takes a chainsaw to people’s aspirations for a fairer, greener, kinder country, he cuts off not just faith in the Labour party but faith in politics itself. The almost inevitable result, as countries from the US to the Netherlands, Argentina to Austria, Italy to Sweden show, is to let the far right in. So what’s the game?

1 month ago | theguardian.com | George Monbiot

If humanity has an epitaph, it might read something like this: “Knackered by the things we missed.” It is true that several existential threats are widely known and widely discussed. But some of the greatest dangers we face appear on almost no one’s radar. How often have you thought about this one: spreading sewage sludge on farmland? I would guess very few would include it in their top civilisational hazards. Despite the best efforts of a handful of us, it trundles on, unknown to most.