THE WORLD OUT THERE

This blog was supposed to be about the move to Perth but every so often I get so concerned about the world we live in that I have to comment. Last week, I started to write this and it was going to be in response to two Guardian articles but today it has to start with Bondi Beach and an acknowledgement of the horror of antisemitism.

I've been listening to the Empire Podcast about Gaza and there was a discussion about the Balfour Declaration - the first time that the British government expressed interest in the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Zionists wanted it because they didn't think they could ever feel safe in Europe (or North America for that matter) but many Jews were fearful of the idea because they thought it let governments off the hook in terms of protecting their Jewish citizens. And we all know how it's played out - a Jewish state at the expense of the Palestinians. A Jewish state inhabited by many people with PTSD from generations of suffering. And a Jewish state that has just caused irreperable damage to the people of Gaza thus contributing to an increase in antisemitism. However, at the end, the only people we can blame for the massacre at Bondi beach are the Muslim father and son who murdered people and the main person (apart from the police) we can thank is the brave man who tackled one of the gunmen, a 43 year shop owner named Ahmed al-Ahmed who is also Muslim.

There is goodness in the hearts of some people.

Back to the articles I was planning to talk about:

George Monbiot in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/01/uk-sue-foreign-oligarchs-corporations-litigation-offshore-courts

I had no idea that corporations could sue governments if they believe that the government, our government, potentially, has a passed a law which will impact on their profits. And impact, particularly when we should be trying to deal with climate change, is shocking:

“This year, fossil fuel and mining firms have lodged a record number of suits against nations rich and poor, challenging – as in the case of the Cumbrian coalmine – government attempts to stop climate breakdown. Corporations have so far won $114bn (£86bn) through ISDS, of which fossil fuel companies have secured $84bn (£64bn). That equates to the combined GDP of the world’s 45 smallest economies. The average payout these companies have received is $1.2bn (£910m). In some cases they threaten to suck the poorest nations dry. This is climate finance in reverse: huge payments to fossil fuel corporations from governments with the temerity to try to stop an existential crisis.

These suits also exert a major chilling effect on governments that would like to go further. France, Denmark and New Zealand have all curbed their climate ambitions for fear of lawsuits, and there are likely many more.”

What happened to sovereign nations making decisions for their people rather than corporations owned by people who are already billionaires and who demonstrate no capacity to want to change the world for good?

The next article was also from The Guardian, this time Bernie Sanders talking coherently and terrifyingly about the impact of AI on us and our democracies: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/02/artificial-intelligence-threats-congress?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Sanders ponders on the impact of AI on democracy (is there any realistic overview on what the companies implementing AI are doing?); jobs (how will people survive if 50% of white collar jobs disappear?); on being human (if our ‘relationships’ are with AI); on the environment (massive use of water and electricity by the mega data centres); warfare (if robot soldiers are used); on human control of the planet (if AI becomes smarter than us). 

Sorry to depress you but we do need to consider how we  - collectively - leave the world a better place than when we arrived in it, not worse.