So? Now that this blogger has left the big folly that was Copenhagen behind, he is at a loss to understand and reconcile with what happened. A lot of powerful people gathered there. Sure. Surely they all had children – Obama has Malia Anne and a second daughter, Natasha; Berlusconi has a few: Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Eleonora Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi; Sarkozy has: Pierre Sarkozy (by Culioli), Jean Sarkozy (by Culioli), Louis Sarkozy (by Ciganer-Albéniz). Now didn't any of them think of their children and their grandchildren when framing the terms of climate control? Hm. What I am asking is rhetorical in the extreme, I know, I know. But don't they realize they are cheating their children and grandchildren out of a good life, a reasonably good and honest life enjoying the bliss of nature and its produce.
Duh, there I go all preachy and maudlin sentimental. But Copenhagen, people, readers of this blog, was a big disappointment, and I can't get over it.
Vir Sanghvi, whose gastronomically delightful shows I sit through out of habit on discovery travel and living – though I don't like his accent which starts with a treble in every sentence and tries (um, unsuccessfully) to end in a base tone – has this to say about the prostitution of media space, considering that most politicians bought editorial space – as distinct from advertisement space – in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.
John --
ReplyDeleteIn case you're not aware of it, I can highly recommend the daily (weekdays) hour-long news broadcast done by Amy Goodman (generally from NYC) called Democracy Now. In addition to being broadcast on independent radio stations and cable television in the US, it's available (anywhere, of course) online, here:
http://www.democracynow.org/
Throughout the Copenhagen conference, she was broadcasting live from Copenhagen -- presenting a diverse range of ideas and issues in great detail. (Those programs can be reviewed after-the-fact as well, if interested.)
To answer your rhetorical question -- those in political power always must try to strike a balance between what they perceive as worthy & desirable, and what they perceive as plausibly achievable (within the context of their given constituencies & political systems). What was done at Copenhagen at least represents a broad collective effort to move in the right direction (though it may not represent in full the right move just yet): something on which future efforts & moves will be built, meseems.
cheers,
d.i.
know what? people who drafted and presented the kyoto protocol must've gone through the same process. all the wrangling, disbelief, denial. some people will never join the herd, they will follow at the periphery. y'know, the kind that lions devour first!!
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