I've had another read of the Greens' most recent manifesto. To be fair, they're no longer pushing some of their more bonkers ideas, like the complete abolition of the nation state. They're still stuck in the fantasy student politics of claiming everyone can have magical unicorns, so long as we tax "the rich" in some vague, undefined way - but then, so are the current Labour party. And there is a lot of good stuff in there too.
I agree with pretty much everything you've said in this post. Persuading people to vote based on environmental policies would certainly help influence those in power. Any political party worth its salt has an environmental section of its manifesto these days. It's certainly a section I pay close attention to, but it's debatable how high up the priority list it is for some parties. The Greens are the only ones placing it at the top, meaning a vote for them sends a very clear signal. Unfortunately our stupid FPTP voting system means people who might otherwise vote Green feel they have to tactically vote for other parties. There's also the need to weigh up a whole range of factors when deciding how to cast a vote, but anything that can persuade us to give more weight to climate issues in making that decision has to be a good thing.
I don't, however, think the protesters shouldn't be targeting current political leaders as well. The scientific consensus seems to be that we need to act quickly, so we can't wait for long-term political change over a series of future elections. We need those in government to make more changes immediately. Strength of public opinion and damaging headlines will influence them.
I'm encouraged by the protests. I support their cause and their intention. I agree democracy is part of the solution. But protesting alone is not enough. Strikers and sympathisers all need to show that we mean it, and that we won't say one thing but yell and scream and vote against politicians if they take action to curb climate change which affects the way we live our lives. That we are genuinely committed to tackling climate change, not "only if it doesn't affect me". That means persuading every one of us to improve our habits when it comes to waste, energy use, transport, which companies we buy from, etc. And influence the people around us so that we collectively change attitudes and behaviour across the whole of society. That's a much bigger task.
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ninetydegrees
(no subject)
I agree with pretty much everything you've said in this post. Persuading people to vote based on environmental policies would certainly help influence those in power. Any political party worth its salt has an environmental section of its manifesto these days. It's certainly a section I pay close attention to, but it's debatable how high up the priority list it is for some parties. The Greens are the only ones placing it at the top, meaning a vote for them sends a very clear signal. Unfortunately our stupid FPTP voting system means people who might otherwise vote Green feel they have to tactically vote for other parties. There's also the need to weigh up a whole range of factors when deciding how to cast a vote, but anything that can persuade us to give more weight to climate issues in making that decision has to be a good thing.
I don't, however, think the protesters shouldn't be targeting current political leaders as well. The scientific consensus seems to be that we need to act quickly, so we can't wait for long-term political change over a series of future elections. We need those in government to make more changes immediately. Strength of public opinion and damaging headlines will influence them.
I'm encouraged by the protests. I support their cause and their intention. I agree democracy is part of the solution. But protesting alone is not enough. Strikers and sympathisers all need to show that we mean it, and that we won't say one thing but yell and scream and vote against politicians if they take action to curb climate change which affects the way we live our lives. That we are genuinely committed to tackling climate change, not "only if it doesn't affect me". That means persuading every one of us to improve our habits when it comes to waste, energy use, transport, which companies we buy from, etc. And influence the people around us so that we collectively change attitudes and behaviour across the whole of society. That's a much bigger task.