You read the title. Indeed, we're dying of heat, both figuratively and literally. ---- Government and media discretion regarding the number of victims of this heatwave? A heatwave that isn't the first. As if to make us believe that superficial measures have been taken since 2003 and that this is enough to withstand the blow? The answer is no. ---- Certainly, a very, very small number of us are more attentive and adopt preventative measures against the heat, and even then, not everyone. But it's not enough. ---- Adaptation ---- The word, that word "adaptation." The magic formula that every government trots out like a magic formula, a mantra. This word is supposed to give us hope for better things in the future. It's just a word without effect, because since 2003, "adaptation" efforts haven't materialized much. Schools, hospitals, nursing homes, workplaces, some public transportation, etc., are still places of heat torture.
Urban greening is largely ineffective. Moreover, plants die in the heat. A mere token gesture.
Some very recent buildings may be satisfactory in terms of thermal insulation, but to what extent in 40°C heat? And when you step outside these buildings, you're exposed to the furnace. But what about older housing, especially inhabited by low-income populations?
I ask myself a question. Are we caught in a trap? Can technology solve everything? Or does it bring benefits on one hand and undesirable effects on the other? I'm not an expert, but I ask myself these questions.
We are suffering, and there are those responsible.
Co-responsible: capitalism and governments. Since the 19th century, greenhouse gas emissions have increased dramatically due to the Industrial Revolution. Transportation and factories began spewing out ever-increasing quantities of carbon dioxide. Capitalism and governments, working hand in hand, encouraged production. First coal, then oil, which would take over, leading to ever-increasing emissions into the atmosphere. Then, in 1972, the Meadows Report warned of the dangers of greenhouse gases. It took decades for this report to be taken seriously and followed by half-measures from the government. Moreover, climate change denial is a powerful force. And capitalism is dragging its feet in its efforts to stop gas emissions.
Trump and most other presidents continue their criminal policies by supporting greenhouse gas emitters and producers.
The deaths caused by heat waves are not without culprits. Those who must be held accountable are the states, the capitalist system, and corporations. These deaths could have been avoided if policies had been implemented decades ago. They weren't. And they won't be in the future. I think this because I don't believe in hierarchical political systems.
Party leaders are exploiting the heatwave issue; it's easy for them to do so, it's pure political opportunism. They won't do anything more than anyone else.
Shame on you, leaders of today and the past.
Rigidity
The world of work is very rigid. We have to keep working even during high temperatures. Sure, there are small measures: teleworking, the start of earlier work hours, sometimes bottled water, breaks.
All of this shouldn't prevent illness or trips to the emergency room, but it should minimize the number of people forced to seek medical treatment, or even die at work.
Furthermore, I have doubts about staggered work schedules. At night, we sleep poorly, we sweat, and we have to get up earlier without having recovered.
All of this is endangering the lives of others. This cannot continue.
We demand, we call for a complete work stoppage during heat waves. The right to refuse to work is currently so contested and frowned upon by employers, sometimes even resorting to blackmail with the threat of dismissal. Capitalism will line its pockets when work resumes; that's something they know how to do.
We can no longer work like this. It's a matter of health, of life and death.
Work and capitalism kill and don't care; there will always be people to exploit and mistreat. It's in moments like these that we collectively realize this.
So, yes, the temperature will eventually drop. And will we just leave it at that? Will we forget? Will we turn the page once the temperature becomes bearable? No, no, and no, we mustn't. We now know that heat waves will return. Let's not be the herd that accepts the unacceptable.
Let's think, let's act.
As we see now, governments don't want to act or even think. As long as things remain as they are, why would they change anything about how society functions? Furthermore, they don't feel innocent of what's happening.
It's up to us to make up for the mistakes made over decades.
The unions are reacting and demanding changes to working conditions, which is very good of them. Let's support them as best we can. Because there have already been workplace accidents linked to high temperatures.
I don't have a solution, but I'm concerned, like you. But just because we don't have a solution right now doesn't mean we shouldn't think collectively to find one, bypassing hierarchy. Let's invite people with scientific knowledge of the climate and its warming, people with good intentions who are working to preserve life, and who don't propose solutions worse than the problem itself.
https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=9067
_________________________________________
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten