Progressives should stop deluding themselves
Gary Younge is right: many progressives are in the grip of a self-deception when it comes to widespread re-election of the right around the world (31 May). Hence the paralysis consuming the forces of humanity down under as we wallow in our despair at the re-election of our conservatives into office.
It’s time for us to face up to the fact that a significant number of Australians big enough to swing an election result the wrong way are, to quote Younge, “racist, xenophobic and discriminatory”.
We must concentrate on educating voters – most of whom are decent and fair-minded citizens – out of a regressive frame of mind to rise above their insecurities in support of a genuine fair go for all, regardless of their colour, creed, race or gender.
It’s a matter of finding much better ways of getting the message across than were in play in that last lot of dismal electioneering. It won’t be easy. But it must be done if good is to triumph over evil in this land of plenty.
Terry Hewton
Adelaide, South Australia
Northern Canada is not a space for colonisation
What Gaia Vince calls “cooperating as never before to radically reorganise our world” is a colonialist fantasy (A 4C rise, 31 May). Northern Canada is not an empty space where English planning regulations can be arbitrarily applied. Rather, it is the traditional lands of the Inuit, the Innu, the Dene and other First Nations. It includes the territory of Nunavut, whose consensus form of government upholds Inuit values. Did Vince consider whether Canada’s First Nations want “compact, efficient, high-rise cities with reflective roofs” and billions of settlers on their traditional lands?
The environmental crisis shows that those who ignore Indigenous culture do so to the detriment of all. Grand Chief John P Kelly seized the irony of the situation back in 1977 in his presentation to the Royal Commission on the Northern Environment.
He said: “Your leaders are telling you to prepare for a less wasteful and more natural existence, while at the same time destroying my people’s efficient and non-destructive lifestyle.”
Xander I Selene
Outremont, Québec, Canada
• In view of the climate emergency eloquently delineated in your story, much of the rest of the news looks totally absurd. Billionaires flying to the moon. Nasa flying to the moon. Unscrupulous, tech-savvy populists undermining democracy by duping millions.
A queue of people waiting to summit Everest. Abortion bans. Brexit. A gaggle of deluded hopefuls wanting to succeed Theresa May. All insanities, distractions. Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
Edward Butterworth
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
European-minded people must start to organise
In his article We mobile citizens deserve to be heard in the European Union (10 May), Alberto Alemanno gets to the crux of the matter. Those who are most European in mindset have very little political clout.
National interests hold sway to the detriment of EU understanding and co-operation. Brexit is a clear example of the dangers of this trend.
We are also a European family, born in one country, working in another, while having residence and retirement in another.
We suggest that we all find a way through social media to politically mobilise other open-minded Europhiles. Thanks for bringing this crucial question to light. Let’s work on it together.
Katrina Osborn
Montrejéau, France
Why do so many mediocre men rise to the top?
Isn’t it just a case of the Peter Principle, enunciated some 50 years ago, where people get promoted till they reach their natural level of incompetence? (Oliver Burkeman, Why do so many mediocre men rise to the top? It’s more than sexism, 24 May). After all, we’re all probably mediocre at some level, and women may just be more perceptive of this than men.
Malcolm Faddy
Maleny, Queensland, Australia
Prepare for the future – or get ready for a dunking
Thank you for the early sea-level rise warning of The Damned Village (24 May). I spent my childhood close to sea-level near the village of Saltmarsh, East Yorkshire, which through global heating will eventually return to being salt marsh. Yet, as with Brexit, I’m astonished at the lack of British preparedness for future problems.
A stop-gap solution might be the hiring of King Canute and a little Dutch boy able to put his finger in the dyke.
Douglas Porteous
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
