Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I'll make you laugh. I'll make you cry.

Actually, I won't make you do either of those things, but today's Guardian just might.

First, the funny (shamelessly cribbed off the internet, but never mind): the ballad of the wrong trousers. Makes you want to immediately hunt down all other items on offer from this seller, doesn't it? If only we knew who he was...*

Right, now that I've softened you up and you're feeling all warm and giggly, go look at what that horrible Tony's saying these days about climate change policy.

Apparently, it's terribly important to meet "the clear desire of our people - which is to find a way of combining rising living standards with the responsibility to protect our environment". Well, yes. Having cake, eating it. Natural human desire. But since it's quite obviously not possible to do both, shouldn't someone take responsibility for keeping the planet - that means us - alive a bit longer? Shouldn't that someone be the socalled leaders of the free world?

This is particularly agonising when you recall that, as pointed out by George Monbiot not long ago, big corporations actually need government to lead the way. (Curse that economic imperative.) Companies don't want to lose out to their eco-unfriendly (but cheaper) competitors; governments don't want to distress voters by, say, making the price of air travel actually approach the cost to the planet; so nobody does anything and we all hope that wind farms will save us. As if.
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* Thanks to Omar, who tracked down the post, now we do know. And he has a blog. Now the only question is, what was going on with the Guardian; probably they ran a whole meta-media-type article on the pants, and the coverage they got, in the actual paper, but something happened in the digital translation. At least, that's what I hope happened.

3 comments:

omar said...

They are some nice pants (picture).

ScroobiousScrivener said...

Ooh, and now I get to enjoy the Q&A too! Thanks, Omar!

glo said...

Protecting the planet. That would mean I* have less stuff and can throw it away less often. Nope. Sorry. Don't think that's going to happen. Money is better, I think.


*Please note sarcasm.