News Gloss

The news is the problem, not the people

From today's Reuter's newswire:

Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas, an international report said on Wednesday.

Absolutely. But who's to blame?

The study, by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said a rising human population had polluted or over-exploited two thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in the past 50 years.

Untrue, since a declining population, that of the first-world, and more specifically a tiny percentage of it, the priviledged class, are pushing all of this destruction, as hard and fast as they can, to profit as quickly as possible from it.

Note that the report says nothing about rising population. The Reuter's reporter added her own Malthusian spin to the story. The report actually says that the poor suffer the most from ecological degradation.

It's pretty disheartening when the major newswire can't even read a press release without spinning it against the poor.

Actually the report itself is trade-and-development-oriented, and seems to be concerned with making the world safe for sustainable profit. The crisis-inspired opportunities for large & lucrative contracts are listed in great detail. Even though they've understated the crisis, the report is clearly also a fear-mongering effort, spearheaded by the World Bank, to scare people into a catatonic state about the future ... ripening the fields for the reaping of short-term profit, and sowing the seeds of obedience: "there's nothing to worry about. The World Bank is dealing with poverty and ecological destruction. You can go back to work, pay your taxes, open a Bud, watch a movie. We'll take care of things. We are certified leaders."

posted by Greg Bryant @ 9:34 PM