Author Archives: George Monbiot
12th June, 2013
West out to grab Africa’s riches again — just like in 1884
ONE of the stated purposes of the Conference of Berlin in 1884 was to save Africans from the slave trade. To discharge this grave responsibility, Europe's powers discovered, to their undoubted distress, that they would
ONE of the stated purposes of the Conference of Berlin in 1884 was to save Africans from the slave trade. To discharge this grave responsibility, Europe's powers discovered, to their undoubted distress, that they would
5th June, 2013
Lawlessness of drones coming to haunt US?
DID the FBI execute Ibragim Todashev? He appears to have been shot seven times while being interviewed at home in Orlando, Florida, about his connection to one of the Boston bombing suspects. Among the shots was
DID the FBI execute Ibragim Todashev? He appears to have been shot seven times while being interviewed at home in Orlando, Florida, about his connection to one of the Boston bombing suspects. Among the shots was
20th February, 2013
Educational charities doing PR for ultra-rich
Conspiracies against the public don't get much uglier than this. As [the Guardian] revealed last week, two secretive organisations working for US billionaires have spent $118m to ensure that no action is taken to
Conspiracies against the public don't get much uglier than this. As [the Guardian] revealed last week, two secretive organisations working for US billionaires have spent $118m to ensure that no action is taken to
16th January, 2013
A fraudulent economic theory has made rich richer, poor poorer
LONDON: How they must bleed for us. Last year, the world’s 100 richest people became $241 billion richer. They are now worth $1.9 trillion: just a little less than the entire output of the United Kingdom
LONDON: How they must bleed for us. Last year, the world’s 100 richest people became $241 billion richer. They are now worth $1.9 trillion: just a little less than the entire output of the United Kingdom
2nd January, 2013
The year the world did it best to abandon nature
LONDON: It was the year of living dangerously. In 2012 governments turned their backs on the living planet, demonstrating that no chronic problem, however grave, will take priority over an immediate concern, however trivial. I believe there has
LONDON: It was the year of living dangerously. In 2012 governments turned their backs on the living planet, demonstrating that no chronic problem, however grave, will take priority over an immediate concern, however trivial. I believe there has
19th December, 2012
No Obama tears for children killed by drones in Pakistan
“MERE words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts ... These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.” Every parent can connect with what President Barack Obama said about the murder of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut. There can scarcely be a person on earth with access to the media who is untouched
“MERE words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts ... These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.” Every parent can connect with what President Barack Obama said about the murder of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut. There can scarcely be a person on earth with access to the media who is untouched
26th September, 2012
Romney and the myth of self-created millionaires
LONDON: We could call it Romnesia: the ability of the very rich to forget the context in which they made their money.
LONDON: We could call it Romnesia: the ability of the very rich to forget the context in which they made their money.
15th August, 2012
Must the poor go hungry so the rich can drive?
LONDON: I don't blame Mo Farah, Pele and Haile Gebrselassie, who lined up, all hugs and smiles, outside Downing Street for a photocall at David Cameron's hunger summit. Perhaps they were unaware of the way in which they were being used to promote the British prime minister's corporate and paternalistic
LONDON: I don't blame Mo Farah, Pele and Haile Gebrselassie, who lined up, all hugs and smiles, outside Downing Street for a photocall at David Cameron's hunger summit. Perhaps they were unaware of the way in which they were being used to promote the British prime minister's corporate and paternalistic
11th July, 2012
A poetic view of environmental collapse
LONDON: The land around Helpston, just to the north of Peterborough in Northamptonshire, central England, now ranks among the most dismal and regularised tracts of countryside in Europe.
LONDON: The land around Helpston, just to the north of Peterborough in Northamptonshire, central England, now ranks among the most dismal and regularised tracts of countryside in Europe.
4th July, 2012
A new boom in oil
THE facts have changed, now we must change too. For the past 10 years an unlikely coalition of geologists, oil drillers, bankers, military strategists and environmentalists has been warning that peak oil — the decline of global supplies — is just around the corner.
THE facts have changed, now we must change too. For the past 10 years an unlikely coalition of geologists, oil drillers, bankers, military strategists and environmentalists has been warning that peak oil — the decline of global supplies — is just around the corner.
27th June, 2012
Governments have given up on Earth
IT is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the First World War. The Earth’s living systems are collapsing, and the leaders of some of the most powerful nations — the United States, the UK, Germany, Russia — could not even be bothered to turn up and discuss it
IT is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the First World War. The Earth’s living systems are collapsing, and the leaders of some of the most powerful nations — the United States, the UK, Germany, Russia — could not even be bothered to turn up and discuss it
23rd May, 2012
Why Mladic’s trial matters
THE term ‘genocide’ conjures up attempts to kill an entire people: the German slaughter of the Jews and the near-extermination of the Native Americans.
THE term ‘genocide’ conjures up attempts to kill an entire people: the German slaughter of the Jews and the near-extermination of the Native Americans.
22nd February, 2012
Who funds the lobbyists?
SHOCKING, fascinating, entirely unsurprising: the leaked documents, if authentic, confirm what we suspected but could not prove.
SHOCKING, fascinating, entirely unsurprising: the leaked documents, if authentic, confirm what we suspected but could not prove.
1st February, 2012
Drones fight a coward’s war
THE ancient Greeks, unlike the Jews or the Christians, invested their gods with human failings. Divine judgment, they believed, was neither flawless nor dispassionate; it was warped by lust, vengeance and self-interest.
THE ancient Greeks, unlike the Jews or the Christians, invested their gods with human failings. Divine judgment, they believed, was neither flawless nor dispassionate; it was warped by lust, vengeance and self-interest.
18th January, 2012
The British boarding school remains cruel
LONDON: Texas is a largely Christian state that appears to believe in neither forgiveness nor redemption. Last week the Guardian revealed the extent to which it has criminalised its children.
LONDON: Texas is a largely Christian state that appears to believe in neither forgiveness nor redemption. Last week the Guardian revealed the extent to which it has criminalised its children.
4th January, 2012
Not a sleighbell winter
“Brrr-ace yourselves! Britain to shiver in -20ºC in weeks as councils stockpile extra grit”. So the Mail on Sunday warned us in October.
“Brrr-ace yourselves! Britain to shiver in -20ºC in weeks as councils stockpile extra grit”. So the Mail on Sunday warned us in October.
8th December, 2011
A nuclear solution
IT’S a devastating admission to have to make, especially during the climate talks in Durban. But there would
IT’S a devastating admission to have to make, especially during the climate talks in Durban. But there would
26th October, 2011
Messages to consume
WE think we know who the enemies are: banks, big business, lobbyists, the politicians who exist to appease them. But somehow the sector which stitches…
WE think we know who the enemies are: banks, big business, lobbyists, the politicians who exist to appease them. But somehow the sector which stitches…
