Clutching at Straws

          Things are looking up. Yesterday, I passed two pubs that had their doors open! They were offering only takeaway pints but still, I could not resist. Of course, it’s not the real deal – sitting outside, all alone, supping ale from a vessel that resembles a cardboard soup-container – but the beer tasted good after so long and it was an quiet moment of reflection on what’s to come. If this a green shoot of economic recovery, then we had best be prepared to nurture it – without screwing up. Which is one reason why my lockdown project has been to gen up on how we came to damage so severely our own biosphere and what we can do to fix it.

          My understanding thus far can be simply stated: our biosphere is on a path to certain and irrevocable destruction. The cause is our voracious extractive industry built upon consumer demand stoked, not only by population growth, but also by the perceived need for economic growth at any cost – even that of killing the goose that lays the golden egg. So, now I have an idea of the depth of the hole we’re in, I need to know how we can climb out of it. On first reckoning, the task is daunting. It seems that everywhere I look, powerful forces are working to hasten the demise of the planet in the interests of accumulating as much wealth as possible into the hands of a few individuals. This is true of western democratic nations, which are fast reverting to their plutocratic origins. It is true of nations that are already ruled by autocrats and dictators. And it is true of one-party states that brook no criticism of their ideologies, regardless of the consequences. Therefore, as I sup my pint, I am wary of the end of lockdown becoming a race to return to business as usual, especially a la Trump, for where the USA leads, the current UK government looks set to follow.

          Of course, the phrase “nothing will ever be the same” resonates in the light of the devastation caused by the pandemic but, unless we act, some things will remain the same: the despoliation of the planet by wealth-accumulating elites being one of them. But we who want change are neither hopeless nor helpless. The pandemic has put much of our economic activity on hold, thereby presenting an unsolicited opportunity to question the wisdom of continuing headlong down a path to destruction. The viability of working from home, the true value of keyworkers and the importance of nurturing a healthy population are just a few of the hot topics that can be made to stick if we shout loud enough. And there are influential individuals, corporations, politicians and NGOs who have been working for years to gather evidence and press the case for rebalancing power and wealth away from elites and towards the population at large. In his book The Third Pillar, Raghuram Rajan makes the case for reforming capitalism for the benefit of society as a whole. In her book Reimagining Capitalism: How Business Can Save the World, Rebecca Henderson cites many examples of successful alternative approaches to profit-making that strengthen the case for incorporating sustainability into every business. Their voices, added to others in influential positions, could yet lead to timely reforms.

          Yesterday, my favourite coffee shop also re-opened (takeaway only) and I hot-footed down there for my fix. There was a queue of construction workers not normally found outside this pricey artisan joint but, with the adjacent Greggs, Costa and Starbucks all remaining shuttered, they had no alternative – (except to bring their own thermos flasks). Even so, there was no grumbling. Perhaps, like me, they were relieved to see a glimmer of business as usual, on this level at least.