George Monbiot’s Transformed Economy

The environmental journalist and campaigner George Monbiot has called for a complete transformation of the global economy away from capitalism towards a new system where we enjoy "private sufficiency and public luxury." (As reported by Brendan Montague in the ecologist.org).

An example of this is homelessness. During the last 10 years of the Conservative government in the U.K., the number of people living - and dying - on the streets has increased. But when the rich perceive homeless people as potential carriers of Covid-19 the resources were quickly found to end the crisis.

"Suddenly, as soon as the pandemic hits, the money can be found. It was a question of the lack of political will," the writer and activist explained.

Monbiot pointed to the fact that the government and industry had claimed for decades that people would never give up luxuries such as international holidays and business flights. But very few people now even consider flying.

He said: "People are prepared to make big changes when they know it's for the good of humanity. But yet the changes we need to make to preserve our lives and all life on earth are far smaller than we have been asked to make to protect ourselves from the coronavirus."

The Second World War provided the perfect proof that the government too could be interventionist if there was the political will. The Conservative led national government forced factories to turn from the production for the market to production for the national war effort.

Source: www.theecologist.org

Monbiot argues that the same could happen now. "Laying the foundations of a completely new economy, an economy that lives within the planet's natural limits but that actually emphasises human wellbeing and the wellbeing of our life support systems." 

"This horrendous pandemic has to be a tipping point," he said. "This has to be a point to transform where we move from one system, an exploitative political and economic  system to a completely different one: private sufficiency and public luxury."

He explained that there are only enough basic natural resources - gold, steel, and sinks for carbon emissions - for very few people use wasteful luxuries such as yachts, sports cars and private jets. And - to put it bluntly - you are never going to be one of those few. 

And by squandering these natural resources, the super rich are denying the rest of humanity the very basics to meet human needs. "They are taking resources away from the rest of us," he pointed out.

He imagined a new future, where everyone has some access to enormous wealth. This might be an occasional stay in a grand hotel, or a visit to a spectacular museum. Public transport and other amenities could also be grand in scale and design. He envisaged "great public everything." (Looks like he envisioned an extreme form of socialism?)

He called for mass participation to end the corporate control of government and replace it with real democracy, where decisions are made and influenced by the citizenry. "Break the link between the power of government and the power of money," he dared the viewer.

George Monbiot’s transformed world will have difficulty to secure a buy-in from the rich and famous. It presupposes that everyone will submit to a greater good. Then how do we reward the exceptional, the entrepreneur, the risk-taker for a new project? It is worthy to “work-on” Monbiot’s ideas but why would Bezos or Gates agree to this?

Reference:

George Monbiot: From coronovirus to public luxury, Brendan Montague, 11 June 2020, www.theecologist.org