It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both

Via The Tomb - many thanks for this:

Guardian - It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both

There is no meaningful response to climate change without massive social change. A cap on this and a quota on the other won't do it. Tinker at the edges as we may, we cannot sustain earth's life-support systems within the present economic system.

Capitalism is not sustainable by its very nature.

In reality, power concentrates around wealth. Private ownership of trade and industry means that the decisive political force in the world is private power. The corporation will outflank every puny law and regulation that seeks to constrain its profitability. It therefore stands in the way of the functioning democracy needed to tackle climate change. Only by breaking up corporate power and bringing it under social control will we be able to overcome the global environmental crisis.

Read it all: It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both
By Robert Newman Guardian Thursday February 2, 2006

COMMENT: Let's apply the above to what's happening closer to home. We're all interconnected. (Earth to Vermont? Are you listening?) Burlington can't just operate in its own little bubble. Would that the profit-minded Reprogocrats on City Council keep this in mind in their deliberations on the draft zoning ordinance. Our representatives claim to have Burlington's future at heart, but are short-sighted in their rush to grab all development dollars they can consume.