Social and environmental commentator George Monbiot is that rare thing: an informed visionary and iconoclast who is able to muster every argument imaginable to shed light on the unethical practices of eg Big Business. He has no fears at all about speaking the truth as he sees it, which often brings him into conflict with, for instance, climate change deniers, multinationals, and those who are determined to support the gap between rich and poor.
He himself walks his talk, living in rural Wales and catching his own fish from a kayak; I believe he's also a smallholder. I consider his weekly blog posts my most valuable and focused dose of political commentary (www.monbiot.com).
This one, on the Guardian of 13th February is, as usual, well worth reading:
THE BIG GREEN QUESTION: Is environmentalism compatible with social justice?
'It is the stick with which the greens are beaten daily: if we spend money on protecting the environment, the poor will starve, or freeze to death, or will go without shoes and education. Most of those making this argument do so disingenuously: they support the conservative or libertarian politics that keep the poor in their place and ensure that the 1% harvest the lion’s share of the world’s resources...'
'It is the stick with which the greens are beaten daily: if we spend money on protecting the environment, the poor will starve, or freeze to death, or will go without shoes and education. Most of those making this argument do so disingenuously: they support the conservative or libertarian politics that keep the poor in their place and ensure that the 1% harvest the lion’s share of the world’s resources...'
I never quite understand why he has not become a bigger and more significant figure in global politics; but that, of course, might well be incompatible with his function as a revolutionary.
I hope this link works:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2012/feb/13/protecting-environment-social-justice?
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