Ordinary people can make a difference
Considering the dire problems the world faces, it is a tremendously encouraging thing to see people taking effective action. It is very inspiring when ordinary people, such as Greta Thunberg, work to resolve problems where politicians have been unable (23 August).
Perhaps in people power there is the real hope for humanity and our planet. We are all in this together and only by coming together can we stop the climate crisis.
In such difficult times we should not remain silent, but do something. Each one of us has some time, skills or talents to give; we can use our voices and our presence at events to help. Little or big efforts add up to a lot, so we can all make a difference.
Those who really care about the dismal state of our world can attend events such as last Friday’s schoolstrike4climate held around the world. We need to act to protect a liveable earth for all its inhabitants. Never give up hope; together we can prevail.
Steven Katsineris
Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia
• The contention that global warming is being promoted by air-conditioning, The big con, 6 September, is confirmed by my experience this summer. In early June my A/C unit conked out. Parts are still on back order.
A pleasant summer was spent with open windows and electric fans. The electricity bill decreased by 50%, meaning that only half the usual amount of power had to be generated, warming the planet significantly less.
Heddi Walter
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
West Cameroon language crisis is complicated
Your article on schoolchildren facing dangers (13 September) gives, in spite of the explanation, a very superficial picture of the situation in West Cameroon. While it is correct that the Amba Boys are fighting their own people as well as the government, one is given the impression that the crisis erupted because they wanted to establish their own state of Ambazonia.
The main reason for the civil war is not the Amba Boys, as they are only a recent phenomenon. The tensions between the Francophone and Anglophone populations, of whom the Francophone are in the majority, go back decades. There has been a massive increase in encroaching Francophone influence over the English-speaking people of West Cameroon, not least in the courts, where French-speaking lawyers and judges conduct proceedings in French to an English-speaking population. The initial peaceful “strike”, met with violence on the part of the government, was by lawyers to demand fair treatment for their clients.
The fact that the government acted with such violence led to the creation of groups such as the Amba Boys, which complicate an already difficult situation.
Urs Tobler
Boll, Switzerland
Free speech requires that we act responsibly
Nesrine Malik’s excellent and disturbing article on the crisis in free speech (13 September) brings to mind the teachings of John Locke and JS Mill. Rights carry with them obligations to others that include avoidance or at least minimisation of harm or impairment of freedoms.
Without any restraints on individual freedoms, not least that of speech, civilised society itself is at risk. We all have responsibilities to see an appropriate balance is reached in our everyday lives and beyond in society as a whole.
Robert Logan
Carterton, New Zealand
Constitutional, not institutional royal news
I understand that the Guardian Weekly adopts a very broad definition of the word Culture in that section of the paper, but it is still surprising to find two four-page articles about the same television programme, The Crown within 11 months: 12 October 2018 and 13 September. Surely there are other, perhaps more interesting, cultural activities to cover.
More worryingly, is the Weekly joining other less worthy parts of the media in providing a stream of reports on the royal family, both directly and indirectly, that aid the normalisation of that institution.
Should more space be used in the Weekly to explore how the monarch joined with the prime minister in closing down our elected parliament at a time of national crisis?
Raymond Pay
Worcester, UK
Decline of language is worse than we thought
A 6 September letter about your 23 August feature Lingua fracas!! points out that “an”, not “a” should have been used before the word “outspoken”. That is right, but the words “a” and “an” are indefinite articles, not prepositions.
Maurice Berne
Monnet La Ville, France
