{"id":575582,"date":"2022-03-26T10:02:36","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T10:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=128124"},"modified":"2022-03-26T10:02:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T10:02:36","slug":"burying-an-atlas-of-human-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/03\/26\/burying-an-atlas-of-human-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"Burying \u201cAn Atlas of Human Suffering\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/unnamed-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-128125\" src=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/unnamed-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/unnamed-8.jpg 678w, https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/unnamed-8-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As the US economist and media analyst Edward Herman rightly <a href=\"https:\/\/thirdworldtraveler.com\/Herman\/BanalityEvil_Herman.html\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/thirdworldtraveler.com\/Herman\/BanalityEvil_Herman.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3E5PEOD3qXDOG3jOxXQQmz\">noted<\/a> in the aftermath of the mass slaughter of the first Gulf War:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is the function of defense intellectuals and other experts, and the mainstream media, to normalize the unthinkable for the general public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Examples include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The appalling deaths of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/theguardian\/2000\/mar\/04\/weekend7.weekend9\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/theguardian\/2000\/mar\/04\/weekend7.weekend9&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0-iJ-U8s3kUQ1NEYccsVb6\">over one million Iraqis<\/a> under UN sanctions from 1990-2003, including <a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/iraq\/iraq-surveys-show-humanitarian-emergency\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/iraq\/iraq-surveys-show-humanitarian-emergency&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3i8moh1LQTQNm2R8qfP9H0\">half a million children under the age of five<\/a>. When asked in a US television interview about this horror of mass child deaths, the recently deceased Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, infamously responded: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1tihL1lMLL0\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3D1tihL1lMLL0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw13w6uHveRjnUEnsWb2L-Wq\">\u2018the price is worth it\u2019<\/a>;<\/li>\n<li>The \u2018Shock and Awe\u2019 of the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, with over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psr.org\/blog\/resource\/body-count\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.psr.org\/blog\/resource\/body-count\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2ZB_FXulGtGAJgwrydio7D\">one million dead<\/a>;<\/li>\n<li>The current death toll of <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/homepage\/stop-arming-saudi-arabia\/the-war-on-yemens-civilians\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/homepage\/stop-arming-saudi-arabia\/the-war-on-yemens-civilians\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2tMOQ1AC9oSatA9L51FpjK\">377,000<\/a> in Yemen through direct and indirect causes of bombing by a Saudi-led \u2018coalition\u2019, with the active participation of the UK.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a normal, healthy, open society, the mass media would present these terrible events with appropriate levels of outrage, identifying responsibility where it lies \u2013 so often Washington and London \u2013 rather than attempt to justify them, or shrug them off as \u2018that\u2019s just the way things are.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Normalisation\u2019 also extends to making palatable the <em>inactions<\/em> of governments. The most glaring example is the climate crisis that is now engulfing humanity amidst the utter madness of corporate-driven neoliberal economics. The UN Climate Summit in Glasgow last year was an appalling abdication of duty by those in leading positions in government, industry and finance. As we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2021\/a-crime-against-humanity-the-greenwash-festival-of-cop26\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2021\/a-crime-against-humanity-the-greenwash-festival-of-cop26\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1S_Y49v28ONU7txHiRViJ1\">noted<\/a> in our media alert last November, COP26 was a \u2018greenwash festival\u2019 and its lack of decisive actions a \u2018crime against humanity\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, not even the climate crisis is permitted to interfere with the untrammelled might of the military machines of the US\/Nato\/EU, Russia, and any other heavily-armed nations around the globe, should they wish to pursue aggressive wars under the guise of \u2018protecting\u2019 their \u2018sovereignty,\u2019 \u2018defending democracy\u2019 and maintaining a \u2018secure\u2019 international \u2018order.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The US military, in particular, is a significant contributor to climate change. If it were a nation state, it would be the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-the-worlds-militaries-hide-their-huge-carbon-emissions-171466\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-the-worlds-militaries-hide-their-huge-carbon-emissions-171466&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1fU6P2KER57nJEPZ_eB9bP\">47th largest emitter in the world<\/a>. As Jangira Lewis, a Hong Kong-based teacher, <a href=\"https:\/\/earth.org\/us-military-pollution\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/earth.org\/us-military-pollution\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw39u2_QdmpZUR-1eilsnoHm\">observed<\/a> in a piece for the website, <a href=\"https:\/\/earth.org\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/earth.org\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CZk1giGXJT4fZq3jvLAsa\">Earth.org<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Their negligence, nuclear testing and disregard for human life has come at a huge environmental cost.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Military emissions do not even need to be reported to the UN. Researchers Doug Weir, Benjamin Neimark and Oliver Belcher <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-the-worlds-militaries-hide-their-huge-carbon-emissions-171466\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-the-worlds-militaries-hide-their-huge-carbon-emissions-171466&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1fU6P2KER57nJEPZ_eB9bP\">observe<\/a> that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The US can take the credit for that. In 1997, its negotiating team won a blanket military exemption under the Kyoto climate accord. Speaking in the Senate the following year, the now special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, hailed it as \u201ca terrific job.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The UK-based Scientists for Global Responsibility have done <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sgr.org.uk\/projects\/climate-change-military-main-outputs\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.sgr.org.uk\/projects\/climate-change-military-main-outputs&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1L5FcVN1YxGVzgDZi6U4YD\">vital work<\/a> on the military sector and its climate-destabilising carbon emissions. But the issue is notable by its virtual absence from \u2018mainstream\u2019 reporting.<\/p>\n<p>Also off the agenda of state-corporate media is any rational discussion of the real interests pursued by the globe\u2019s most powerful nations when deploying their armed forces and state-of-the-art weaponry. As historian and foreign policy analyst Mark Curtis noted in his seminal work, <a href=\"http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2007\/02\/01\/web-of-deceit\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2007\/02\/01\/web-of-deceit\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2jj40n16ZqxGjT981TZjep\"><em>Web of Deceit: Britain\u2019s Real Role in the World<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018upholding \u201cinternational order\u201d means preserving the privileged position of Anglo-American power and ensuring that key countries and regions remain under their overall control.\u2019 (Vintage, 2003; p. 14)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Since Media Lens began in 2001, we have documented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/category\/alerts\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/category\/alerts\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2ohhdcAAkwo-ubo7fXsVK1\">numerous examples<\/a> of how state-corporate media enable and promote this Western dominance. This applies especially to coverage of the US which is regarded and presented by starstruck BBC journalists in Washington, in particular, as &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2007\/the-shining-city-on-a-hill-part-1\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2007\/the-shining-city-on-a-hill-part-1\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3-Xwb2Bfqr5lev1uIIpW9v\">the shining city on the hill<\/a>;&#8217; a supposed paragon of \u2018freedom\u2019, opportunity and human rights. Meanwhile, under the US\u2019s self-appointed watch as \u2018the world\u2019s policeman\u2019, the planet continues to overheat dangerously.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018An Atlas of Human Suffering\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scientists are now reporting incredible extremes of Antarctic and Arctic temperatures 40C above normal. Alarmed climate researchers have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/mar\/20\/heatwaves-at-both-of-earth-poles-alarm-climate-scientists\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/mar\/20\/heatwaves-at-both-of-earth-poles-alarm-climate-scientists&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-GxjAnXKs2xr1W8BUJrn1\">warned<\/a> that these temperature extremes are \u2018historic\u2019, \u2018unprecedented\u2019 and \u2018dramatic\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Maslin, professor of earth system science at University College London, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I and colleagues were shocked by the number and severity of the extreme weather events in 2021 \u2013 which were unexpected at a warming of 1.2C. Now we have record temperatures in the Arctic which, for me, show we have entered a new extreme phase of climate change much earlier than we had expected.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These astonishing polar heatwaves are yet another sign of dangerous climate disruption by humans. Melting ice at both poles could even trigger a cascade of events that would accelerate climate breakdown.<\/p>\n<p>James Hansen, the leading US climate scientist who warned Congress of the dangers of global warming as early as 1988, notes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Reduced sea ice cover increases the planetary energy imbalance, as a dark ocean reflects less sunlight than sea ice does.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>More starkly put, this is but one climatic effect that could initiate irreversible runaway global warming.<\/p>\n<p>All this comes hot on the heels of the \u2018bleakest warning yet\u2019 on climate breakdown last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.<\/p>\n<p>Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, the UN secretary general, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/feb\/28\/ipcc-issues-bleakest-warning-yet-impacts-climate-breakdown\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/feb\/28\/ipcc-issues-bleakest-warning-yet-impacts-climate-breakdown&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3cshSQ9rR-bOp5NH0AoHeC\">said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018I have seen many scientific reports in my time, but nothing like this. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lyhjpxBoNs4bsQuCxA1Yl\">Today\u2019s IPCC report<\/a> is an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60525591\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60525591&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3FVud24-ncH84qnFgNns8N\">\u2018irreversible\u2019<\/a> and there is only \u2018a brief window of time to avoid the very worst.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A BBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60541816\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60541816&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw354jXSTcFZjQGJleMl5RW7\">summary<\/a> by environment correspondent Matt McGrath, \u2018Climate change: Five things we\u2019ve learned from the IPCC report\u2019, had at the top of its list:<br \/>\n\u2018Things are way worse than we thought.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>McGrath continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>From the melting of the Greenland ice sheet to the destruction of coral reefs, climate related impacts are hitting the world at the high end of what modellers once expected. And much more quickly than previously assessed by the IPCC.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, as the new report makes clear, around 40% of the world\u2019s population is \u201chighly vulnerable\u201d to the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n<p>But the burden is falling mainly on those who did the least to cause the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The IPCC study is the second part of their latest assessment report, and it focuses on the impacts of climate breakdown. It took seven years to prepare, based on the peer-reviewed work of thousands of researchers. The first part, on the science of climate change, was published last August in the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow. That report had already been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-58130705\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-58130705&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3-KKR1n08fsPv1z1ckQH-P\">declared<\/a> a \u2018red code for humanity\u2019 by Guterres.<\/p>\n<p><em>Guardian<\/em> environment editor Damian Carrington <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/feb\/28\/what-at-stake-climate-crisis-report-everything\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/feb\/28\/what-at-stake-climate-crisis-report-everything&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Yxm5zax7bvY0rlEInuvie\">addressed<\/a> the latest IPCC findings in a stark piece titled: &#8216;This climate crisis report asks: what is at stake? In short, everything.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>tackling climate impacts alone will not work. The IPCC sets out in the strongest terms to date that the climate crisis is inseparable from the biodiversity crisis and the poverty and inequality suffered by billions of people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Given this scope, and with a liveable future on the line, the assessment could be seen as one of the most important in human history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>The \u2018Old Loon\u2019 and the Bitter Ex-BBC Functionary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite a few headlines, and good reporting of the latest IPCC warnings in the environment sections of the <em>Guardian<\/em>, BBC News and other \u2018serious\u2019 news outlets, it was swiftly swamped by the pro-Nato <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2022\/doubling-down-on-double-standards-the-ukraine-propaganda-blitz\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2022\/doubling-down-on-double-standards-the-ukraine-propaganda-blitz\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0j8DoxISvPFYliOo3YJxvQ\">propaganda blitz<\/a> devoted to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Fiona Harvey, <em>Guardian<\/em> environment correspondent, had a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/mar\/05\/qa-has-the-ipccs-bleak-warning-of-climate-breakdown-been-heard\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/mar\/05\/qa-has-the-ipccs-bleak-warning-of-climate-breakdown-been-heard&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3kKxsT0pP6uAno-DaAdaSz\">piece<\/a> the week after the IPCC report came out, asking: &#8216;Has the IPCC\u2019s bleak warning of climate breakdown been heard?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>She answered:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>the report has been overshadowed, understandably, by the war in Ukraine, and has received less policymaker and media attention than it deserved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There was, of course, no hint of the corporate media\u2019s structural biases, leading it to bury or marginalise uncomfortable truths about the world; not least the primary responsibility of corporate-captured governments for the climate crisis.<\/p>\n<p>But, as we have long noted, knowledge of Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=34LGPIXvU5M\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3D34LGPIXvU5M&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3iBR2FEHyeFB8JW6x3vIJF\">propaganda model of the media<\/a>, or even a willingness to mention it, is completely lacking in \u2018mainstream\u2019 circles. Or, on the rare occasion when Chomsky\u2019s name is raised, he may be dismissed as an &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/andrewmarr9\/status\/1501876174775103490\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/andrewmarr9\/status\/1501876174775103490&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0ig2nO_WYT7r6zhXTwXg5J\">old loon<\/a>.&#8217; Those were the words of Andrew Marr, the former BBC political editor. In making such an unkind, ageist remark, readers may surmise that Marr still feels the pain of being bested by Chomsky in a famous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GjENnyQupow\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3DGjENnyQupow&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0YyO3HxF_VyoXZpdZOD-BM\">1996 BBC interview<\/a> in which the linguist and political activist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Y2EPgix5_5w\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3DY2EPgix5_5w&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0tytRWBNFyqnOoI_Eugjxo\">told<\/a> the befuddled journalist that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If you believed anything different, you wouldn\u2019t be sitting where you\u2019re sitting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Harvey continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>That does not mean the IPCC report will be ignored. Governments are working on their responses to the scientists\u2019 warnings, and later this year at the next UN climate summit, Cop27, they are obliged to lay out their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But this bland statement obscures the reality: governments have been working non-stop since the IPCC was set up in 1988 to <em>avoid<\/em> taking the necessary action to address the climate crisis. Instead, they have pumped out a never-ending stream of PR propaganda, selling the myth that they can be trusted to do the right thing.<\/p>\n<p>As the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg famously <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GretaThunberg\/status\/1456295342253740037\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/GretaThunberg\/status\/1456295342253740037&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0tr1Jg2Evpw6bbpETMUKds\">observed<\/a>, it\u2019s all: \u2018Blah, blah, blah.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>So, when governments deliver \u2018their responses to the scientists\u2019 warnings\u2019, expect a familiar litany of political rhetoric and weasel words: vows, pledges, promises, commitments, sign up, phase out, green investment, innovation, transition, progress, scaling up, carbon credits, bending the emissions curve, net zero, 2050, 2070.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mutually Assured Destruction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although the \u2018better\u2019 state-corporate media outlets do publish responsible accounts of the latest findings in climate science, any in-depth discussion is generally limited to the environment sections and rigidly confined within \u2018acceptable\u2019 political limits. In particular, there is a dearth of serious discussion or analysis of the profit-driven <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2008\/creative-destruction-the-madness-of-the-global-economy\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.medialens.org\/2008\/creative-destruction-the-madness-of-the-global-economy\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vexA4wbl52DDKEraArnOE\">corporate economic system<\/a> that is driving humanity towards the climate abyss and possible extinction.<\/p>\n<p>It can be tragicomic to observe. For example, one part of BBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60815547\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-60815547&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0VMfRp0m7u2-qjlXFkiwg_\">reported<\/a> the UN Secretary General saying that the rush to use fossil fuels because of the war in Ukraine is \u2018madness\u2019 and threatens global climate targets: \u2018Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-60829459\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-60829459&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ywCJNmXquFkuyIoX7IwTs\">Elsewhere<\/a>, Faisal Islam, the BBC economics editor, prepared the ground in advance of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak\u2019s \u2018Spring Statement\u2019, delivered on 23 March.<\/p>\n<p>The excuses were rolled out by the BBC man: \u2018The instinct of the chancellor, is that he can only do so much.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>And: \u2018Rishi Sunak does not want expanded government spending to define his tenure at Number 11.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In short, as the headline said: \u2018Don\u2019t expect much from Rishi Sunak\u2019s Spring Statement\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In line with its establishment role, the BBC was doing its bit to dampen public expectations that the Chancellor should act, heaven forbid, in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p>There was not a single mention of climate in the BBC article: <em>the<\/em> single most important and pressing issue facing humanity.<\/p>\n<p>The Tory government issued its latest economic \u2018update\u2019 as if the climate emergency had magically vanished. BBC News did not hold them to account; not even by joining the dots in their own reporting, such as it is. The remarkable headline at the top of the BBC News website the following morning was a Tory-friendly bullet point: \u2018Rishi Sunak seeks to combat cost-of-living squeeze\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the state broadcaster led with the bizarre notion that the Tory Chancellor\u2019s economic statement was some kind of \u2018helping hand\u2019 for the British public. There was a solitary, brief mention of climate in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-politics-60848315\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-politics-60848315&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0k1bm4NgGOxYC3y3iBc_3x\">leading story<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And the Green Party criticised him for not mentioning climate issues. Its co-leader Adrian Ramsay accused Mr Sunak of \u201c[looking] after the interests of fossil fuel companies\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A search of UK newspapers in the Lexis-Nexis database using the search terms \u2018Rishi Sunak\u2019 and \u2018Spring Statement\u2019 for the period 19-24 March yielded 5,307 hits. Out of this total, just 259 included the word \u2018climate\u2019: a mere 4.9 per cent of the total.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, browsing through these results indicated that climate was given short shrift. Typically, in a preview of Sunak\u2019s announcement, the \u2018Soaraway\u2019 Sun referred to climate dismissively as a \u2018costly\u2019 policy to tackle. The headline was classic, Jeremy Clarkson-style, pro-car rejoicing:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00a0\u2018AT LAST! 5p OFF A LITRE; CHANCELLOR\u2019S BUDGET CUT ON FUEL Rishi to step in and help motorists\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>After Sunak delivered his update, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1Tz7LVqvRwzoQ_hGJ9rfdS\">Carbon Brief<\/a>, a UK-based website specialising in climate science and policy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/spring-statement-2022-key-climate-and-energy-announcements\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/spring-statement-2022-key-climate-and-energy-announcements&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw22HhNYy82GeEownNlDMWnJ\">observed<\/a> that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>climate change is not a priority in the spring statement, with \u201cnet-zero\u201d mentioned just once in the 52-page document, and \u201cclimate\u201d mentioned three times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The BBC News website had an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-60849054\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-60849054&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3joLuV58x1m6zKtO1S7lJm\">article<\/a> titled, \u2018Spring Statement: Key points at a glance\u2019. Climate was not even mentioned, which says it all.<\/p>\n<p>Alice Bell, co-director at the climate change charity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wearepossible.org\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.wearepossible.org\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Loa9G3yvHG2Wo4H5nqd7D\">Possible<\/a> and author of \u2018Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis\u2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2022\/mar\/23\/rishi-sunak-spring-statement-2022-panel-verdict\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2022\/mar\/23\/rishi-sunak-spring-statement-2022-panel-verdict&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gC4JO0H1QqIxd1oFX86CU\">credited<\/a> Sunak for explicitly referencing energy efficiency, and cutting VAT to zero on energy-saving measures such as loft insulation. But it was \u2018nowhere near enough\u2019: a contender for understatement of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, Sunak was &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10643903\/Rishi-Sunak-says-thanks-Brexit-able-axe-VAT-solar-panels.html\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10643903\/Rishi-Sunak-says-thanks-Brexit-able-axe-VAT-solar-panels.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1xUnSG2m6n0m3vW_n7zDZT\">slammed<\/a>&#8216; for axing VAT on items such as solar panels and heat pumps which only the better-off can afford, while doing virtually nothing to help the vast majority of people who are struggling to pay exorbitant energy bills.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Foster, CEO of the Energy and Utilities Alliance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10643903\/Rishi-Sunak-says-thanks-Brexit-able-axe-VAT-solar-panels.html\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10643903\/Rishi-Sunak-says-thanks-Brexit-able-axe-VAT-solar-panels.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1xUnSG2m6n0m3vW_n7zDZT\">said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Chancellor has clearly not heard the outcry over rocketing energy bills faced by millions\u2026Frankly, consumers waiting to hear good news on their energy bills will be left asking, \u2018is that it Chancellor?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Mirror<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/politics\/rishi-sunak-branded-out-touch-26537902\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/politics\/rishi-sunak-branded-out-touch-26537902&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2kIW5IEPlhRMXuuRvSc2KP\">noted<\/a> a backlash to Sunak on Twitter, with someone making the crucial point:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Not sure how many of those struggling to buy food will be buying solar panels. Sunak woefully out of touch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As for the backdrop of an ever-mounting climate crisis, Bell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2022\/mar\/23\/rishi-sunak-spring-statement-2022-panel-verdict\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dumptheguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2022\/mar\/23\/rishi-sunak-spring-statement-2022-panel-verdict&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gC4JO0H1QqIxd1oFX86CU\">concluded<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>once again, climate and energy policy is stuck in the waiting room. In the meantime, more and more people are being pulled into fuel poverty. Earth\u2019s polar regions are heating up. We don\u2019t have time to wait.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As discussed earlier, catastrophic climate impacts are mounting up, ensuring that the planet is quickly becoming uninhabitable for vast swathes of humanity. Despite some opposition to Sunak\u2019s statement being reported, state-corporate media are continuing to normalise the unthinkable: that tinkering with the economy, blatantly favouring the rich, is rational behaviour while the planet burns. By contrast, a huge mobilisation of human and natural resources is urgently needed as part of a wholesale restructuring of the economy towards a sustainable way of life.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Burke, a Senior Policy Fellow at\u00a0the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/to-what-extent-should-we-be-talking-of-waging-war-on-climate-change\/\"  rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/to-what-extent-should-we-be-talking-of-waging-war-on-climate-change\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1648371764236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1kyVS9IHOkStHPBzywczVu\">cites<\/a> the example of the Second World War:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Only structural change to institutions and economies will deliver a low-carbon world. Viewed through this lens, tackling climate change is more analogous with the \u201cwar effort\u201d. WWII is the only historical event that conveys the need for rapid reallocation of capital and raw materials, new supply chains and innovative technologies. As such it may provide lessons for how economies can be transformed to meet the challenges of climate change, and for the role governments should play.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Unless there is a mass awakening and large-scale public revolt, the tiny elite now running human affairs will be the last to cling on to the vestiges of what remains of a liveable Earth. The majority of the population, on whom the elite rely for exploitation of labour and resources, will have already disappeared, victims of the corporate pathway to extinction.<\/p>\n<p>If all this seems irredeemably bleak, bear in mind the words of Dutch historian Rutger Bregman in his bestseller, <em>Humankind: A Hopeful History<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Catastrophes bring out the best in people. I know of no other sociological finding that\u2019s backed by so much solid evidence that\u2019s so blithely ignored. The picture we\u2019re fed by the media is consistently the opposite of what happens when disaster strikes. (Bloomsbury, 2020; p. 6)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The climate crisis is the ultimate test for humankind.<\/p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/2022\/03\/burying-an-atlas-of-human-suffering\/\">Burying \u201cAn Atlas of Human Suffering\u201d<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/\">Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/2022\/03\/burying-an-atlas-of-human-suffering\/\">Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the US economist and media analyst Edward Herman rightly noted in the aftermath of the mass slaughter of the first Gulf War: It is the function of defense intellectuals and other experts, and the mainstream media, to normalize the unthinkable for the general public. Examples include: The appalling deaths of over one million Iraqis [\u2026]<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/2022\/03\/burying-an-atlas-of-human-suffering\/\">Burying \u201cAn Atlas of Human Suffering\u201d<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/\">Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[879,776,94,414],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":575883,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575582\/revisions\/575883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}