Electoral triumph does not mean total victory
The triumph of Boris Johnson may prove to be a pyrrhic victory (20 December). Indeed, the first 20 years of this century might well be seen as a dark age of such pyrrhic victories by the defenders of the capitalist status quo.
The evidence of history, however, suggests that the increasingly unfettered combination of growth, global heating and the multiple inequalities of capitalism is both dangerously volatile and unsustainable.
The defence of current economic and business models and rejection of modest reforms means that the pressure for change is mounting. In time that pressure will explode, and there will be no going back.
The result may be not merely a new and better variety of capitalism but a whole new economic order. Capitalism is not for ever.
Stewart Sweeney
Adelaide, South Australia
Money does incalculable damage to democracy
In his article Trump illustrates damage that big money can do to democracy (13 December), Robert Reich analyses how big money has taken control of the US government. The executive branch, much of Congress and the supreme court are all almost completely controlled by individual and corporate financial interests. Surely it is time to stop pretending that the US is a democracy and label it for what it is: an oligarchy.
Chris Kennedy
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Robert Reich’s piece on the wealthy, elections and the inevitable consequences thereof inevitably mentions Trump, the hotelier whose chain of luxury lodgings in the US doubles as income producers and campaign fund cash cows. The wonder of it all is that, as a still-operating business person, his tax returns remain a mystery, the reason being, as has been suggested, that he doesn’t pay any, and that as such he is a bona fide member of the elite, who his working class supporters have ironically declared their enemy.
Richard Orlando
Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Digging in biochar doesn’t reach the problem’s roots
Reading your article on biochar (6 December) I could tell you reached into the Hope File to pull one out. The thought of getting our livestock to eat charcoal so we can feel good about our stupid commute to some mind-sucking job is a real stretch. How about an article about not commuting to the next town where there is an ample supply of folks within walking distance, just like ourselves, to do those same tasks?
We need to take our situation far more seriously. It is failing to do things that matters, rather than making up stories to tell ourselves that doing something more will help.
Sufficiency in our communities – and not trade with foreign lands or the desire for the next cool plastic thing – is what we need to be discussing now.
Mark Havel
Willamina, Oregon, US
Perhaps Denmark could teach China about energy
It is remarkable to read that Denmark is building an artificial island as a base for wind turbines that will generate electricity “for 10 million households”, Global report, 20 December. With a population of around 6 million people they will have masses of energy to spare.
Perhaps the Chinese government should take note and convert those South China Sea islands they have constructed to a different type of power play.
Anthony Walter
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Martin Chulov captures spirit of Saudi Arabia
Regarding your 13 December story As Iran eyes regional influence, its bitter rival opens up: with his astute vignettes of street life in Riyadh, Martin Chulov closely captures the heady social climate in Saudi Arabia – the nuances of hesitant defiance among women, young and old.
RM Fransson
Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
Venice is leading the way to global destruction
Substituting “Earth” for “Venice” in your editorial on the flood of water and tourists affecting that city (29 November) will give you a reasonable assessment of the world’s response to the climate crisis.
Andre Carrel
Terrace, British Columbia, Canada
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