Letters to the editor, Nov. 15: ‘There is still hope that we can avert climate breakdown and potential extinction, but only if people rise up en masse’

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Drained

Re “Can we go back to the optimism of the 1990s, before the extraction economy took over?” (Opinion, Nov. 8): This captures the zeitgeist of our times.

We encounter the extraction economy and monopolies in every part of our lives. They extract our work, creativity and privacy. They addict us with their platforms to extract even more data and take advantage of us.

Western democracies allowed antitrust laws to weaken. They have deregulated and allowed massive tax cuts and subsidies for the accumulation of enormous wealth, with little accountability to society or our planet. Why are we creating a difficult future for the many?

We keep believing this is the only way economic growth can take place. Meanwhile we are losing our democracy.

Hiedi Vamvalis London, Ont.

It is difficult to argue with this j’accuse against the behaviour of financial and technological overlords during our contemporary Gilded Age. However, it leaves the impression that exploitative, extractive practices are novel in the way capitalism has been routinely conducted throughout the ages, when they should be seen as predictable standard variants of the very mechanism itself.

Regarding the antecedence of how technological practices have historically and commonly interacted to deliberately enhance and reinforce political and corporate power, as well as their related consequential societal inequalities, readers should peruse of David Noble’s prescient 1977 classic America by Design: Science, Technology and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism.

As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same, alas.

Toby Zanin Toronto

The metaphor of redistributing a growing pie reminds me of an old exchange between political commentator William F. Buckley and economist John Kenneth Galbraith.

Mr. Buckley gave the typical metaphor (or maybe it was that of a rising tide floating all boats), but Mr. Galbraith countered with an image of sparrows trying to harvest bits of undigested oats from the steaming stools left by a horse.

Given today’s reality, I think Mr. Galbraith provided a more apt description for both his time and ours.

Evan Bedford Red Deer, Alta.

That’s a marvellous editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast depicting corrupt 19th-century Tammany Hall leader William Magear (Boss) Tweed, which you’ve used as a symbol for greed today.

Tweed himself credited Nast for bringing about his downfall. You didn’t print the cartoon’s original caption, but in one way the omission is appropriate: As Tweed put it, the largely illiterate public would not understand the captions, but they could interpret the pictures.

Nast included a recurring tagline accompanying his prolific attacks: “What are you going to do about it?” Constant repetition heavily underscored Tweed’s arrogance.

Maybe there is a gifted cartoonist today who can provide the same service to topple the current U.S. presidential office holder? The image of a diaper wearer, for example, is one that beckons.

Randal Marlin Author, Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion; Ottawa

Make it sing

Re “Mark Carney’s budget will make Canada the strongest economy in Eurovision” (Opinion, Nov. 8): A brief mention of Canada’s potential participation in the Eurovision song contest is grist for the mill.

However, Canadians have actually won the contest: Celine Dion in 1988, for instance. Sure, Ms. Dion was supposedly representing Switzerland, but nobody doubts her Canadian citizenship.

This is hardly a critical issue, but anything that reinforces our ties to Europe and looks away from the current American idol seems like a good idea to me.

Paul Thomson Brockville, Ont.

Time ticking

Re “A decade after the Paris Agreement, the clean economy is winning” (Opinion, Nov. 8): “The transition is now inevitable.” Perhaps it is. But will it come in time?

Optimism is derived from a projected reduction in the anticipated temperature rise this century from 4 C to around 2.5 C. Not only is this prediction dubious – two German scientific societies recently stated we could hit 3 C by 2050 – but its calamitous impacts are downplayed: According to the British Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, a 2 C increase in global temperature would likely cause more than two billion deaths.

There is still hope that we can avert climate breakdown and potential extinction, but only if people rise up en masse to demand government action. Unfounded optimism, and glossing over the urgency and severity of the threat, lessens the likelihood that will happen.

Michael Polanyi Toronto

On merit

Re “Sobey Art Award loses focus after dropping under-40 requirement” (Nov. 8): For reasons that baffle me, the Canadian art world seems to have abandoned merit and fairness in its institutional culture.

I am an art historian. In the period I work on, 18th-century France, the first public exhibitions of French contemporary art propelled it to the forefront of European culture and provoked the invention of modern art criticism that spoke for the public.

This was based on the ideal of emulation: virtuous, respectful competition between peers. Competition sharpens our skills, builds mutual respect and ultimately benefits the nation.

Today we reject meritocracy when it has been unevenly or unfairly instituted. But the instinct seems to be to abandon merit altogether, rather than do the hard work of improving the system. The result I see is muddle-headed, counterproductive thinking – and a lot of bad art.

Let’s bring back merit to every part of society. We would be stronger, better and smarter for it.

Ryan Whyte PhD, Toronto

Fighting words

Re “ ‘They were magic’: Canadians share how the Blue Jays’ playoff run stole their hearts” (Online, Nov. 7): At the risk of sounding like a pre-Christmas Scrooge, I have a different take on celebrations for the Blue Jays’ successful playoff run.

I am glad the team’s success brought family members together in renewed love and kinship. But wouldn’t it be much better to have done so over something that matters more? The success of a professional sports team, composed of mind-bogglingly paid athletes with little loyalty to the country or city, doesn’t make life better for anyone not directly associated with the team.

Far better if friends and families come together for a cause that does. Why not volunteer together at the local food bank, or work together to end child poverty, homelessness or any other endeavour that truly improves people’s lives.

There is a long list of causes that could benefit from our time and energy, and we will have made a difference.

Mark Roberts Gananoque, Ont.

Re “Matthews usurped by Guerrero as Toronto’s sports star of the moment” (Sports, Nov. 8): Perhaps Blue Jays fans should point out to Maple Leafs fans that the Spanish word guerra means “war,” and guerrero means “warrior.”

Kenneth Roy Edmonton

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