Protesting and the Green New Deal

Johann Hari made a great statement in his article “Why we need the protests” in The Independant on April 3, 2009 about the G20 and No Nato protests. He argues that the current economic and environmental crises make it totally necessary for the people to go to the streets. Only with strong pressure from the people and a powerful social movement will the governments be persuaded to take action.
A Green New Deal is exactly what the world needs right now. From a Keynesian point of view governments need to pump borrowed money into the economy to get it going again. After the economy is healthy again the money needs to be payed back. A Green New Deal would jump start the economy and at the same time help avert the global climate crisis.

Why we need the protests
Johann Hari: The protesters are the ones we should listen to at this summit
The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New Deal
Friday, 3 April 2009
When this hinge-point in human history is remembered, there will be far more sympathy for the people who took to the streets and rioted than for the people who stayed silently in their homes. Two global crises have collided, and we have a chance here, now, to solve them both with one mighty heave – but our leaders are letting this opportunity for greatness leach away. The protesters here in London were trying to sound an alarm now, at five minutes to ecological midnight.
Many commentators seemed bemused that the protesters focused on the climate crunch as much as the credit crunch. What's it got to do with a G20 meeting on reviving the global economy? Why wave banners saying 'Nature Doesn't Do Bail-Outs' today? Because both crises have their roots in the same ideology – and both have the same solution.
We are facing a collapsed economy and a rapidly warming world because an extreme ideology has dominated world affairs for decades. It is the belief that markets aren't just a useful tool in certain circumstances; they are an infallible mechanism for running human affairs. If the economy ebbs, the market will put itself right by punishing wrong-doers. If the climate begins to unravel, business will rectify its own behaviour voluntarily. Now we know how well this market fundamentalism works.
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Read the complete article from Johann Hari.
j.hari@independent.co.uk