The question is, do I think that Joe B. and many other politicians were being honest at the climate justice meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, COP26.
I think that Joe is a human being. There is nothing all that special about him. He is not different from the rest of us. We just allow him to think he is, so that’s how he develops his thinking patterns. When we allow him to think he is separate, when the media overtly supports that thought process, and when the people around him beef that thought process up, then he begins to think differently. His thoughts become his actions, his actions become his habits, and his habits become his character. Do I think he was being honest at COP26? No.
I think that in the closed rooms of discussion for COP26, there were multiple factors influencing how Joe and many other politicians thought about what they did and said. Do I believe that their primary concern was improving the environment for the general population? No, I do not think that’s what happened. There are clearly outlined, documented actions that we can be doing as a global family to protect and improve the climate. The politicians who are making the decisions whether or not to implement these outlined and documented activities are choosing to ignore them. Instead, most choose to implement, as was said in the newspapers, “blah, blah, blah”, to protect perceived economic interests and their own position of perceived power. The primary drivers of the decision making process, in my opinion, were and are weapons manufacturers and the rest of the military industrial complex.
Politicians appear to have no say any more. Talking heads manipulated by lots of money. So, no, I do not think the politicians were honest at COP26. Who amongst them would be courageous enough to publicly admit that the CEOS and decision makers within the military industrial complex are the main reason they have a job. None of them.
Many organizations and individuals who are interested in making money get involved with influencing politicians. Frequently, all parties are geared toward maintaining their powerful self image, which is over-inflated most of the time. Their desire seems to be not to remain in public service anymore, but to remain in a position of power. It is there, in the perceived benefits of power, that I think their judgments are negatively influenced.
I think that politicians someplace inside know that what they are doing is slowly destroying our climate and our planet. Somewhere inside, they know that if they acknowledge it, consciously and upfront, they wouldn’t make the climate decisions that they’re making. They would make the decisions that can take us forward and that are already known.
I certainly have a low opinion about many of the current leading politicians and advisors that were in the rooms of COP26. But you and I are the ones who allowed them to get into those positions. Just as we sweep the kitchen floor when the vegetable scraps and the popcorn and the fluff fall on the floor, we need to sweep out a significant portion of politicians supporting a “status quo” approach to climate change. Currently, many of the politicians in the world are the flotsam and jetsam that we have allowed to build up on the kitchen floor. It’s time for you and I to begin sweeping. I think it’s possible. There are voting systems set up in the world that we can take control of again, to assure that we select more thoughtful people for these positions, many of which are currently filled by naysayers or people interested in maintaining their own perceived power and making money.
Many of the decisions politicians make are influenced by outside players who do not consider the climate to be one of the most important factors in the world today, nor one that we have to take care of before it gets out of hand.
You and I have done things before that have changed societal structure. We’ve done things before that have been extraordinary and that have helped us grow and survive. I believe there’s a good chance that we’ll do it again. It needs to start very soon. We need to start by cleaning out the upper echelon of political leaders in the world, and put in some thoughtful, caring people. We can do this. Most of us are trained to believe that it’s not possible to have leaders who are thoughtful and caring. In my opinion, it is possible. All we have to do is do it. That’s the part that gives me hope. It far outweighs the limited scope of vision that many politicians have today, and that many decision makers have today. It’s within us all, we just need to keep talking about it, and we need to continue doing something about it. And we are. We are doing both of these things.
It will follow, in my opinion, that we will clean our house, and will be able to rectify the deteriorating climatic situation into which we have led ourselves.
VGPN Co-Founder, Tim Pluta