FRIDAY, FEB 24, 2023: NOTE TO FILE
Telling Truth to Power
Scientist to Minister
Eric Lee, A-SOCIATED PRESS
TOPICS: ENOUGH, FROM THE WIRES, IS ENOUGH, WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE POWER THAT IS NOT LISTENING
Intro: Paris, France, a scientist and a minister go head to head live on the subject of our predicament. Excerpt from 'Le Effondrement' ['The Collapse']..
COOS BAY (A-P) — Video and transcript.
Minister: First off, I want to appease our fellow citizens. We're not all going to die. I'd rather see future problems as challenges we have to take on. And not as something unavoidable or out of our control. Moreover, the international community has agreed to attain unprecedented objectives regarding sustainability.
Scientist: Yeah, right. I know, I do recycle every day, and if we all pitched in, we wouldn't even have this conversation. I doubt that's enough, Madam Minister.
Minister: It's not, but making an effort every day is important. It concerns us all. Recycling helps, just like organic food, solar energy, and wind power. We're developing them.
Scientist: That's a band-aid.
Minister: Let's not forget that nuclear energy's efficiency still ensures our country's independence.
Scientist: Come on.
Minister: So as a matter of fact, the solution lies in our capacity to stimulate growth through green energies.
Scientist: Again with that. NO! Stop it! That's not true!
Minister: It is.
Scientist: Sorry, but it isn't. You're lying to the audience.
Minister: I'm not.
Scientist: That's irresponsible, Sofia. There's no such thing as green growth. It's a complete illusion. A decoy. I get it, you need to lie. It's part of the job. You're also kind of a prisoner of a system that is not serving the interests of human beings, nor of the greater good, nor of life on earth. You're supporting a deadly system whose only purpose is to preserve the privileges of a caste, a dominating caste, and not class, who are blinded by their quest for profit. I'll stop here, or they'll call me an extremist.... Madam Minister, these green energies need non-renewable materials to function. And these green energy sources are not enough. So let's forget about this myth of infinite growth. Our resources are finite. We're at a dead end. But she won't tell you that. She has to lie, because we either keep on focusing on growth, and it all collapses. Or we stop it, and it all collapses.
