Richard is . . . in awe!

No, no, not in awe at my reflection. Admittedly I’m dashing if you like that bespectacled, greying, pot-bellied look, sure, but I am in awe of a book (and mothers everywhere, of course!). Sometimes you pick up a tome so mind-blowing that you want to buy it for all your friends and then sit to watch them read it. For 10 hours. It’s ok, I’ll wait. I’ll bring tea. As you slowly nod off, I’ll just give you a nudge. Until finally I lose patience, letting all that British emotionally-repressed rage out in one go i.e. making another cup of tea. Paul Behrens, The Best of Times, the Worst of Times on climate science is the culprit. Some snippets:

• Global population increased four-fold during the 20th century. In comparison, water consumption grew six-fold and energy nine-fold. Carbon emissions grew eighteen-fold
• The richest 10% of the world are responsible for 50% of the global carbon emissions. If the top 10% lived how the average European does, global emissions would be cut by a third (so population is only part of the problem, it’s consumption).
• China’s growth is unfathomable: between 2011-13 China poured more concrete than the USA did in the entire of the 20th Century
  
• If Jeff Bezos (Amazon) was to hand you a dollar every second, you'd be a millionaire in 11.6 days. To be a billionaire would take 31 years! Bezos’ current wealth of 209 billion. 6622 years, if you’re wondering.
  
• The top earners avoid 25% of all taxes. Between $9-36 trillion sits in offshore tax heavens. The richest 20% in the US own 84% of the national wealth.
• Every dollar spent in lobbying politicians by the rich results in a $100-$200 return
  

These kinds of statistics always hit a nerve. We think capitalism and corporation are the problem, yet it’s the governments: it’s the back-handers, jobs for the boys, add-me-to-the-board-of-directors-when-I-retire bullshit. <Reaches for more tea>. We need an overhaul, we need accountability, we need politicians that aren’t morally and ethically fuc*ing bankrupt. Look at that last bullet point: every dollar spent in political lobbying yields between $100 and $200 return. And yet us dumbfu**s are putting money into ‘high interest’ 1.5% savings accounts, whilst others are putting in fifty grand and yielding a handsome five-million-dollar return. Burn. The. Sodding. Places. To. The. Ground.

In other news, Happy Mother’s Day! Lots of love to all those beautiful mothers out there, you are amazing! Want to know something amazing? Women’s education and autonomy rank above 99 different climate change world-savers, including wind energy, plant-based diets and reduction in flying. Power to you, ladies, you are literally, metaphorically, physically and meta-physically the future. I’m 22 books in for the year, and The Best of Times, the Worst of Times wins 2021. Case-closed. Struggling for a Mother’s Day gift? Ahem. I know this book, right . . .
 
And lastly will leave you with an apt quote from the influential political theorist Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, written over two hundred years ago: "Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man's power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened"