The Logic of a Madhouse
Mohammed Nasheed, President of the Maldives
In my mind, a block of carbon-neutral developing nations could change the outcome of Copenhagen. At the moment, every country arrives at the negotiations seeking to keep their own emissions as high as possible and never to make commitments unless someone else does first. This is the logic of a madhouse – a recipe for collective suicide.
The Maldives is a nation of about 360,000 people living on about 200 of 1197 islands in the Indian Ocean. The average island is about a kilometer1 in diameter. The highest elevation is 7’1″ above sea level. 80% of the islands are only 3′ above sea level. If we cause the ocean to rise, this nation will disappear beneath the waves.
And an apology to the Islamic students of Harvard and the world, I totally spaced out about Ramadan and so I am late in conveying to you the good wishes of President Nasheed – for a blessed Eid.2
1Just googleA it.
2I have great respect for Karl Marx, especially the portion of his work that is critique of capitalism, but it seems to me that portions of his work are not economics, but eschatology. In that light, the ‘opiate of the people’ remark loses a little steam. But Tom Friedman is just a dork. The strife in the Middle East is not about the ‘desert religions’. It is mostly about land and oil. The extent to which it is about religion, it is not because they all originated in a place where it’s too hot to think. It is because they are genetically related. It is a family feud. And it has gone on far too long.
AI realize that google hasn’t yet achieved a place in the language comparable to kleenex, but I like to look ahead. Otherwise, I might know what is gaining on me.
- previous:
- The Late Larry and FAS Arts
- next:
- The Clamor over Climate: Copenhagen
