26 Dec 2010

Protest works: Government U turn on Booktrust


I don't think things are good.

Globally it is simple, we don't have an economic system that works. Banks are structurally unstable, global imbalances threaten economic chaos but more fundamentally the economic system, capitalism, only works if we work more, consume more and throw more away.

This doesn't add up ecologically.

From over population to technofixes virtually everyone is ignoring the basic driver of environmental chaos, the present unfit for purpose economy.

Here in the UK politics is very blocked. The electoral system makes it difficult for Greens and the Left to gain representation and we have a right wing media based on the Daily Mail and the Murdoch empire.

However there are signs of resistance achieving change. The student protest has been inspiring and the news that the government is going to U turn and no longer scrap the book scheme aimed at encouraging children to read is very encouraging.

Change won't come from the supine Labour Party but it may come from an increasingly self-confident and angry British public.

Good news on Boxing Day, lets see if we can build a commons based democratic economy where prosperity does not come at the cost of our likely survival or lead to exploitation of the working majority by a billionaire elite of Trumps lording it over us.

A big task but necessary and books for children is a little part of it, so good news!

Oh and you can donate to Booktrust here.

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