There is no “I” in team, isn’t that what they say? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the world came together for other important causes as it is trying to do at the moment because of the Coranavirus outbreak in China? To try and stem the spread they have cancelled flights, stepped up Bio Security and implemented many measures to try and contain or control it.

Why is there such a response to this potential disaster when the world has been facing many other ongoing problems? I think the short answer to both questions is “Money and Greed” The difference with this particular problem is that it could kill you now, today or tomorrow…………………..the threat is imminent or could be and if you are not here anymore you cannot make any money or spend it for that matter.

Climate Change is always at the top of the agenda and these days everything from the price of coffee to whether I got a good night’s sleep is blamed on it………..and it is real. I have lived in Australia for many years and I have seen the seasons change over the 30 years that I have been there. In Queensland I get summer and winter, that’s it. Of course in Australia the sun shines nearly 300 days a year at my home and many in government are still pushing for good old coal and ripping up good pasture and arable land to sell sell sell and to make a few dollars along the way. I invested in Solar Power years ago and I haven’t paid an electricity bill in years, I usually make a few dollars. The sun could provide a fair amount of Australia’s power but the naysayers have too much invested in the fossil fuels and so change happens at a snail’s pace. It’s the same in many countries.

Very little money has been allocated for “Green Energy”, coal still gets subsidised. Last year in Australia they had severe bushfires, drought and floods. They are using ground water for mining operations while farmers and towns run out of water. Adani corporation from India has been given an opportunity to build a huge mine that will bring jobs in the short term and rape the land in the long term………….the money that Australia will make from this venture will be very little and the environmental impact will last for generations. Money money money it’s at the forefront of any decision, oh and re-election of course. And again this is happening in many countries.

Plastics are killing the planet. It’s now in the food chain and many animals are dying from ingesting plastics and then we ingest the animal and we get the plastics to, albeit a very small quantity. We are slowly killing the natural world, we pollute it with many things, and plastic is just one thing. Right now we have a fuckwit in the White House that is slowly rolling back environmental regulations so that his country can make more money and of course so he can get re-elected. His latest trick of course is to make some “Landmines” legal to use again. He is a real good example of what we don’t need at the moment. He is “Greed and Stupidity” personified and has someone once said “he has the launch codes” But of course the American economy is a “War economy” and if it’s not causing trouble or supplying arms to someone then it’s economy will begin to slow down………..so there will never be peace in the world because the American’s will suffer and we can’t have that.

And so as you look around the world it just seems to be doom and gloom and yet in some parts of the world things are getting done, but it is usually individuals or small enterprises trying to move forward in a more sustainable way, trying to force their governments to sit up and take notice. There are not many governments that are actually being proactive, implementing plans for generations to come rather than look forward to the next election. In most democracies around the world it is really difficult to find any leaders with foresight and thinking beyond their lifetime or time in office.

Costa Rica is one country that has done away with its army and allocated those resources to becoming a green economy and looking after the natural world and although it is still a work in progress it is a good example of what is achievable.

So instead of fighting all the time maybe if the leaders of the world thought a bit more about consequences of their actions and inactions and thought less about lining their own pockets to increase their wealth. They use fear to justify many of the decisions they make but this time Mother Nature has come up with a problem that currently has no answer and she has scared the shit out of many around the world, apart from many of the medical companies that see good times ahead.

If we just picked one problem that the world is facing, say homelessness and every government focused on this rather than delegating this to the private sector because when they do this it then becomes a means to print money. In the UK last year very little was spent on public housing but instead private companies are filling this gap and taking millions of pounds from government while supplying substandard and unsafe housing solutions.

I have been on the planet for nearly 60 years and we have had the best years of the planet so far and we have destroyed more of the planet in my lifetime than at any other time in history. We have to be optimistic about the future but it is hard to be optimistic when you look around the world and see who is in charge and pulling the strings.

As a nation I do not like America, it’s politics, it’s destruction of the natural world and the fact that religion is playing more and more in the decision making of government fuelling it’s crusades. Church and state should be kept separate. They have caused wars to help their economy, the last major boost of course was the George Bush WMD fabrication where most of the top officials in government were benefitting directly from that confrontation and it continues today with the current administration using the government to create wealth for themselves and of course they also have one of the most corrupt and dishonest presidents in history.

And so maybe Covid19 might make a few of them sit up and take notice, Mother Nature is fighting back and will cull a few of these pesky humans but we can only hope that she manages to get hold of some of the ones causing the most amount of damage such as the big “Orange” in the White House.