MARCH A series of MAY Galloway
coordinated bombs testifies at the
on commuter trains US Senate with a
in Madrid just three blistering attack on
days before Spain’s
DECEMBER A huge
American
general elections
earthquake off the
foreign policy
kills 191 and wounds
MAY Michael Moore’s coast of Sumatra
more than
documentary results in a tsunami,
1,800 people
Fahrenheit 9/11 wins killing more than
the Palme d’Or 300,000 in 11
at Cannes countries
2004 2005
JULY London
bombings on three
underground trains
APRIL Graphic photos and a bus kill 56.
of American soldiers
FEBRUARY YouTube
abusing and sexually
launched by three
humiliating Iraqi
AUGUST Google floats
former PayPal
prisoners at Abu
on the stock market
employees
Ghraib prison outrage
with shares at
the world
AUGUST King Fahd of
$85 (within 15
Saudi Arabia dies
months they would
be worth $400)
“The decade that spawned the Great Depression was followed by
the decade that brought the world its bloodiest war.”
of the Arctic glaciers is occurring far faster than any mod- The time has gone for violence to resolve our disputes,
els predicted ten years ago. The planet’s oceans can no longer whether it be the violence of states or the violence of criminals.
absorb the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, at the rate We are not barbarians with clubs in the Stone Age. We are sup-
necessary. The UK’s Met Office has said that the past decade posedly at the peak of civilisation. We have to find other ways
was the warmest ever recorded, with global warming pushing to deal with disputes. Bombs strapped to men and taken onto
up the world’s temperature by more than 0.7C. Given the UN’s trains, or bombs dropped by men from military aeroplanes both
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning that kill. And those of us who feel that both are wrong, both are
a global temperature increase of 1C could result in extensive inhuman, have to find ways and means to stop either happen-
coral bleaching, increased sea levels and large scale irreversible ing, even if we feel things are beyond our control.
system disruption, the decade’s temperature rise is of genuine We first must make our hearts have firm resolve. There must
concern to the whole planet. Yet, many industrialised nations be no equivocation. We must teach our children that violence
seem unprepared to concede the dramatic effect human influ- is wrong. For individuals caught up in the intoxication of vio-
ence has had on the earth’s climate. Environmental impact lence there must be absolute condemnation. There can be no
predictions for the forthcoming decade are grim. Although hero status for them whatever the cause. For states caught up
there are sceptics who claim these predictions are over-blown, in the scandalous misuse of their citizens’ resources, we must
we do not have the luxury of seeing whether the sceptics of cli- protest. There are marches and petitions, but more may be
mate change impact are correct. With experts claiming that needed. Other generations have used civil disobedience, sit-ins
some climate damage is already irreversible, if the next decade and refusal to pay taxes. Who knows what will be necessary, but
carries on at the same trajectory as the last, it may be too late the violence must be stopped, and not by using more violence.
for the planet. Gandhi promoted non-violent resistance. We must use our
I return to Eisenhower’s question, “Is there no other way the minds to work out how that will apply today.
world may live?” I ask myself that question often. We must all To save our economies we must all gravitate towards finan-
ask ourselves that question. And as we come to this new dec- cial systems that promote ethics, transparency and the sharing
ade, we must all find answers to it, for to repeat the mistakes of of risk. The systems we should promote must reject exploitative
the past ten years would be a catastrophe, for ourselves and for interest and excessive speculation. And to make such changes
future generations. we must ask ourselves the hard questions: is my mortgage/
24 emel magazine |
www.emel.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104