barack obama

one helluva speech he gave.  quite brilliant, and certainly serves to emphasise the embarrassing inadequacies and profound idiocy of his predecessor.    please find below his inauguration speech, in full.

 

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world … that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive … that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

a few cartoons for the weekend

Hot air from Rudd

Nobody puts it better than a past lecturer of mine from University of Melbourne.  Professor Robyn Eckersley was an inspiration during my time undertaking a Masters of Environment in 2004/05. 

Below, in full, is her response to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s announcement of a 5% reduction in emissions by 2020, that appeared in yesterday’s The Age newspaper here in Melbourne. 

Like so many others, I feel this policy response is nothing short of disgraceful.  After just one year in office, to pander to the wants and needs of the elite few, those powerful primary industry leaders with vested interests in ‘business as usual’, at the opportunity cost of society, perhaps of all humanity was a callous act.  To my mind, he has lost the limited integrity and respect he had built up these last 18 months or so, with one woefully weak response.  Robyn is right in arguing that the issue needs real leadership.  I fear we need new leadership already.  This is not the man on who’s promises so many Australians’ hopes and dreams were placed last November.  We voted for something better.  Sadly, we got the same.  Kevin, your social and political capital have just been reduced dramatically.  It is a shame the same won’t be said of our emissions.

Please read on.

Real leaders would set real targets.  Robyn Eckersley, December 16, 2008.  The Age Newspaper.

Climate change was one of a handful of policies on which the Labor Party distinguished itself from the Coalition during the 2007 election campaign. Following Kevin Rudd’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol immediately after his election, the international community hoped that Australia would shift from a climate laggard to a climate leader.

Twelve months later, the long-awaited white paper on a carbon pollution reduction scheme, the centre-piece of the Rudd Government’s response to climate change, suggests this hope has been misplaced.

The success of any national carbon trading scheme depends on the comprehensiveness of its coverage of greenhouse gas emissions, the fairness of its distribution of the burden of mitigation, the effectiveness of assistance and other compensatory mechanisms provided to disadvantaged members of the community and, above all, the robustness of the emissions reduction trajectory or targets.

An Australian cap-and-trade scheme that is impeccably fair from the perspective of domestic stakeholders may be still considered a travesty by the international community, particularly the most vulnerable nations, if its emissions reduction targets are weak.

It is the medium-term 2020 target that really matters most. This is not simply because today’s cabinet will no longer have to take responsibility for meeting this target from their retirement homes or graves in 2050. It is because the best available climate science tells us that deep and early cuts in emissions in the next decade will be most effective in reducing the risk of dangerous climate change.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended — and Australia supported — emissions cuts of 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 for developed countries to reduce the risk of warming beyond 2 degrees, which still carries significant risks of coral bleaching, species extinction, water scarcity, extreme weather, coastal damage, mass migration and increased incidence of tropical diseases.

Instead, the Rudd Government has committed to a minimum, unconditional cut of 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020, rising to 15 per cent if “all major economies commit to substantially restrain emissions and all developed countries take on comparable reductions to that of Australia”. “All major economies” includes developing countries such as China and India.

The white paper’s version of “comparable reductions” is interpreted in a self-serving way to adjust for Australia’s fossil-fuel dependence and rising population. So, for example, Australia’s target is considered “comparable” to the European Union’s 20 per cent cut, rising to 30 per cent if other developed countries accept strong commitments.

Against this background, the Rudd Government’s preferred target of a 5 per cent reduction falls desperately short of what is required of an affluent nation such as Australia, which is among the world’s top per capita carbon emitters and in the top 20 per cent of aggregate emitters.

The targets are weak not only in terms of well-understood scientific requirements but also the moral and legal requirements of leadership under the climate regime. The Government accepts the pessimism of the Garnaut Climate Change Review Final Report that an international agreement to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at about 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent, while desirable, is unlikely, and that Australia must adjust its own emissions reduction trajectory accordingly so as not to penalise domestic industry.

The white paper acknowledges that “leadership from the developed world encourages other countries to join the global fight”.

Leadership surely means showing the way by going first, inspiring others and, as an affluent country, observing the burden-sharing principles of the climate change regime by performing relatively more of the heavy lifting. It does not mean waiting to see what others will do before taking concerted action. Nor does it mean postponing concerted action until substantial commitments are made from countries in which millions of people live below the poverty line.

An unconditional minimum commitment to a 5 per cent reduction by 2020 is unlikely to unleash the depth of technological innovation and collective commitment that is necessary to shift towards a low carbon economy and inspire countries such as China and India to leap-frog over the fossil-fuel development path.

The core burden-sharing principle of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requires developed countries to take the lead in combating climate change on the basis of their greater historical responsibility for emissions and their greater technological and financial capacity to pursue mitigation.

This is summarised as “equity and common but differentiated responsibility”. The preamble to the convention also explicitly declares “that the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries, that per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low and that the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs”.

While it is widely recognised that most of the future growth in emissions will come from rapidly developing countries, the best way of addressing this problem is through exemplary leadership, the demonstration effect and massive technological and financial assistance, rather than through the subversion of the burden-sharing principles of the climate regime.

Regrettably, most of the debate in Australia over the Garnaut Review, and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme green and white papers, has focused on who should bear the burden of adjustment within Australia. From the standpoint of protecting the planet, these questions are secondary to the relative burden Australia should accept as a developed nation.

Robyn Eckersley is a professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

change is good

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”[1]

 

Many of us are afraid of change.  We establish habits and norms that we become accustomed to and consequently, increasingly comfortable with.  To change is to take a risk, to give up a current state in a quest to potentially reach a more desirable one.  We therefore tend to resist change.  As individuals we fear failure or feel uncomfortable with the uncertainty surrounding that change.  Organisations are no different.  Familiar processes become embedded within organisations and people’s comfort as players within their chosen or given environment increases. 

 

For business, this presents increasing challenges.  The latest IBM CEO study asserts that the gap between the expected rate of change facing business today and its capacity to meet that change has tripled in just two years.[2]  Further, the three external factors that have gained increasing weight through each consecutive survey period are environmental considerations, social implications and employee relations; namely staff attraction and retention.  That is, those key factors most closely related to corporate sustainability.

 

Adding fuel to the fire are the pre-existing and growing levels of uncertainty in the global economy.  Those linked with the current credit crunch, increased talk of a global recession and long-term escalating fuel prices associated with the imminent peak in our traditional sources of energy.  Although we have been given a short-term reprieve with respect to this last point due to shrinking demand, increased levels of uncertainty make instigating positive change all the harder.  After all, greater uncertainty typically engenders heightened resistance to change within an individual or an organisation. 

 

Is it surprising then that the overwhelming business response to an economic slowdown is to batten down the hatches, identifying cost-cutting measures to see them through the slower times?  Talking to a number of businesses today with regard to corporate sustainability, the majority response has been ‘now is not the time,’ or words similar to that effect.  The irony is that a strategic approach to sustainability is necessarily a cost-cutting exercise in the first instance.  Identifying the ‘quick wins’ at the operations and processes level in terms of reduction and efficiency measures is one of the first very definite outcomes. 

 

So what is the right approach?  The associated issues of sustainability and in particular climate change appear highly complex, indeed alien to us.  One might argue that we have never been here before.  Indeed we haven’t.  The context and goalposts are shifting so fast it is hard to keep up.  The short answer is that it requires a robust, comprehensive, rapid and transformative approach.  That is, one not dissimilar to that taken by an organisation in a time of crisis.  It essentially requires a fundamental shift in a company’s functioning with its desired goal being to significantly improve the current and future performance of the organisation, better preparing for and aligning itself to the prevailing and changing market conditions and demands. 

 

The typical pitfalls organisations must avoid are being responsive, short-termist or tactical or worse still, some combination of the three.  That is, being reactive to a specific market condition or trend.   Whether it is an issue of compliance, finances via cost-cutting, organisational culture, product or service development, business strategy or systems processes and procedures, such approaches tend to prove piecemeal at best.  Responding to one specific issue often leads to unearthing the root causes of other problems.  In essence, it only serves to uncover inter-related aspects of the different processes and functions within an organisation.  It restricts business from making optimal use of the natural synergies, the subtle interplays inherent in complex systems such as business.  This process can thus prove to be both lengthy and tactical as each of the forces of change serves only to expose other problems that require due attention.  Ironically, the complete cycle of internal change can then take much longer than the external challenges an organisation faces.  The result?  It becomes both more difficult and a lot less likely that business can remain ahead of the curve.  At a time when the myriad of challenges and the requisite degrees of change needed are likely to both increase and accelerate, now is not the time to be reactive.  On the contrary, business needs to be proactive, be thinking both short- and long-term and take a more holistic perspective in developing an integrated, whole-of-organisation, strategic approach. 

 

So it is necessarily all-encompassing.  An approach that considers every aspect of the business from the ‘inside out’, but also constructs a detailed analysis of the external environment, the existing and emerging trends and the associated implications for the business and its sector – looking ‘outside in’.  Organisations must leave no stone unturned whilst thinking scenarically about the future.  And it needs to be done at a pace.  All aspects need to be analysed in parallel if an organisation is to realise optimal value from the real synergies that likely exist.  Creating this sense of urgency necessarily achieves broader recognition of the need for change and subsequently gains greater organisational buy-in.  Building a powerful cross-functional steering group and supporting teams at the outset and engaging whole of organisation in the process early, necessarily affords greater commitment.  Subsequently, realising those short-term ‘quick wins’ and the communication of them internally, will serve to further fuel positive momentum for change.

 

So where do you start the process of commitment to change?  It starts with leadership.  Leadership that is hungry for change.  The first very necessary step is for leaders to gain a very clear understanding of the global issues of sustainability and climate change, the likely impacts both globally and on Australia and to consider the relevance to their specific business and industry sector.  If the CEO or the project leader – who must have the CEO’s full and committed support – does not fully understand the long-term implications of these issues and the requisite challenges and opportunities that they afford, then it is unlikely to achieve either desirable or optimal outcomes.  Never has the old adage of the man who does not plan ahead may find trouble right at his door, been either more relevant or pressing. [3]

---

[1] Lao Tzu, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_tzu>  

[2] IBM Global CEO Study, The Enterprise of the Future, May 2008, < http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/ceostudy2008.html>

[3] Confucius, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius> 

it’s the end of the world as we know it

One proposition that gains greater media traction is the positive role a green revolution has to play in pulling us out of the current global economic crisis.  This has been met with a degree of scepticism, even cognitive dissonance by many business leaders of today; those still of the opinion that economic growth and sustainability are diametrically opposed.  But until such a time as we come to the collective realisation that in fact they are mutually supportive, the ‘tectonic’ stresses that we face, to quote Thomas Homer-Dixon, will continue to threaten the very rules of the game.  So articulate and compelling are Homer-Dixon’s arguments in his last book The Upside of Down, that I sold every share I owned back in February of this year.  Foresight can be a wonderful thing.  But Homer-Dixon is not alone.  We have been warned of a number of stresses for a considerable time; an impending credit-fuelled financial meltdown, a global population explosion, accelerating climate change and soaring energy prices underpinned by the inevitable peak in oil production, to name but a few.  As Jonathon Porritt the environmental advisor to Prince Charles and Marks & Spencer among others recently posited, the current financial crisis was “guaranteed” to happen.  Yet as a majority we continued unabated, it seems oblivious to the implications of continuing to live way beyond our means. 

 

There are an ever-increasing number of opinion-leaders, experts and academics with no selfish or vested interests but who share a common belief.  A belief that our system is out-dated, indeed lacks relevancy to contend with the growing stresses we are faced with.  Will we continue to ignore the warning signs at our peril, or will we gain a sufficient understanding of the issues and thus address the flaws in our system accordingly?  Mine nor their intention is to apportion blame, but rather to awaken a majority in consciousness among the leaders of today and tomorrow as to the nature of these existing and emerging threats, the rigid flaws in our system they will only serve to expose and to then help realise the very real challenges and opportunities these present, for all of us. 

 

You’d think the world was coming to an end when economists predict a two-percentage point drop in retail sales in the run-up to Christmas this year; this represents the first ‘real’ drop in years, and federal government fiscally, and somewhat misguidedly, is trying to re-fuel conspicuous consumption as a result.  But maybe the world as we know it is slowly coming to an end.  I feel a little heartened by this latest economic prediction.  Whilst one wouldn’t doubt that the credit crisis and associated consumer uncertainty are partly culpable, I wonder if reduced consumer demand isn’t also about society re-evaluating their values as citizens.  What if this is the start of what will be the inevitable shift in human consciousness that some of us predict, and have been for some time now.  A shift toward a society that is more socially just and environmentally sound.  Perhaps a significant percentage of the population are increasingly questioning their individual role in society.  Understanding that less can in fact be more, spending quality time rather than money, living within one’s means and feeling contented, rather than spending beyond one’s lot and feeling anxious.  The realisation that we actually can live on less and be happier as a consequence; getting to know our neighbours, playing with our kids, reading a book or growing some food in the backyard; less gadgets, less three-car garages, less second homes and third refrigerators, less TVs and not buying the latest iPhone.  As I heard someone say recently, “more isn’t better.  It’s just more, and often that means less!”

 

So what does all of this mean for business?  Whether this is the end of the world as we know it, or not, business needs to consider the long-term implications of these so-called tectonic stresses and trends.  As IBM’s latest CEO report asserted, the gap between the expected rate of change and businesses’ ability to manage that change has tripled in just two years.  The three external forces that have consistently ranked higher in each consecutive survey are socioeconomic factors, environmental issues and people skills.  It is not surprising that those factors identified are directly, indeed inextricably linked to corporate responsibility and reputation.  If you like, they provide the basis for ensuring the long-term prosperity of business.

 

“There’s a danger” however, as Lord Stern (of the Stern Report) points out, “it needs leadership.”  Of course it needs good leadership, but good leadership only comes with a requisite knowledge and understanding of the context.  Our current thinking is too short-termist and too often we base strategic decision-making on a history of the past whilst what we need also do, is build a history of the future.  Leading companies have come to the realisation that it requires a significant shift in organisational culture as the first very necessary step. To inspire and instigate the positive change that will inevitably create value and sustained comparative advantage in the long-term thus requires a deeper level of understanding of a new world and with it, embracing a new set of appropriate leadership skills.  It may indeed be the end of the world as we know it.  But I, like others who recognise it, feel fine.

 

 

 

governmentium

courtesy of Liam Egerton.  a good friend.

A new addition to Chemistry’s Periodic Table –  
Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every action with which it comes into contact.

A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second to take from four days to four years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.  

 

just a thought … for the day

“Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross domestic product … if we should judge America by that – counts air pollution and advertising for cigarettes and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of our forests and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armoured cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts rifles and knives and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

Yet the Gross Domestic Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither wit nor courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”

Robert Kennedy, 1968

perplexed

I am deeply perplexed.  I read today in The Guardian (UK newspaper) that the UK government’s Independent Climate Change Committee is recommending cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 80% by 2050 and that reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy should be abandoned within 20 years.  It is clear that we are becoming more UNsustainable not less as a human race, as borne out by these ever increasing and accelerating targets being called for by climate scientists, ngo’s, governments and activists alike. 

What puzzles me is, as my friend and fellow change-agent Mel said earlier today, why are we so far behind the eight-ball here in Australia?  If you have read Clive Hamilton’s Scorcher, or Guy Pearse’s High and Dry, you will be more than aware that the very powerful few, termed the ‘climate mafia’,  have influenced, even controlled, federal policy on climate change for many years.  Those with a vested interest in ‘business as usual’ have profited greatly from this, and at the expense of the rest of society.  Is government’s role in a democracy not to serve the populace that elected them to power in the first place?  If I had the right to vote in this beautiful country I’d be asking for my money back!

I digress.  The reason that targets are increasing and accelerating at such alarming rates is for very real reasons.   As Tim Flannery noted in his keynote speech in Federation Square a couple of weeks ago, it is deeply concerning.   Of all the scientific indicators and measuring tools that inform the predictions set out in the latest IPCC report (that is the UN Panel on Climate Change), the data now available shows that against every single one of those ongoing measurements, we are on the very upper limits of, or in some cases even vastly exceeding, those predictions and guidelines.  The consequences of continued inaction are dire.

I don’t know about you but I find this troubling, frightening even.  Here are a few simple facts.

First, because we are clearly not doing enough to address what has been termed the ‘greatest market failure’ we have ever had to contend with, these emission reduction targets are going to keep rising at faster rates until we reach the second tipping point, 100% in 0 years.  That is obviously the point of no return, where climate change tips over the edge and accelerates until our planet becomes simply uninhabitable.  Sir James Lovelock, the pre-eminent scientist, believes this to be our very destiny.  A world in which the sky turns a greeny-purple, the sea a dark, rancid, flat and bubbling slick and the atmosphere incapable of sustaining human life.  No thank you.

Secondly, the scale or degree of action required, necessitates participation from EVERYONE.  There is only so much we can do at the individual level and I believe that most people are; based on latest research I have been privy to.  Further, I believe governments’ role is as the ‘catalyst’ for change.  To build the appropriate regulatory and legislative framework that provides the ‘carrots’ to positively encourage sustainable business practice and the requisite ’sticks’, that punish malpractice and increasingly over time, ‘business as usual’.

Third, society can collectively play an important role.  Social capitalism 3.0, individual empowerment, the information/technological age, call it what you like, provides an immediacy of access to a breadth and depth of knowledge that is simply unprecedented.  This unparalleled knowledge wields considerable power.  I am increasingly voting with my feet and my dollars, to support businesses and organisations that are doing the right thing.  To a lesser extent I’ll buy goods and services from those who are comparatively behind best practice but demonstrate a definite, positive intention.  At the other extreme, I increasingly buy nothing from those who are doing little or nothing, or worse still engage in the so-called process of greenwashing.  A process that only serves to exacerbate eco-fatigue and further fuel broader levels of distrust, to some extent tarnishing the good with the same brush as the bad. 

Finally, it is clear that the majority of solutions are going to come from business.  Business has the money and with that comes power.  Some businesses to date have done great work, but a far greater level of work needs to be done.  That much is clear.  The sooner business realises that ‘business as usual’ simply won’t cut it, the more optimistic we can be.  Given the increasing urgency of the problem, coupled with societies’ growing understanding, I believe that customer loyalty, within as little as 3 years (in the developed world), will be based on comparative behaviours, actions and practices with respect to our environment and sustaining our planet, above all else. 

As the recent IBM CEO Global Study asserts, the business world is faced with growing degrees and complexities of change.  It states that the gap between understanding these changes and a requisite ability to address them has grown three-fold in just two years.  This is a worrying trend and one I predict, like the problem of climate change itself, will only increase and accelerate. 

Society, indeed a multitude of stakeholders are increasingly looking to business to positively contribute in both efforts and deeds; and on the scale that is required.  Corporate reputations will come under ever greater scrutiny.  As society is further empowered, it is abundantly clear that what business says will be of lesser significance.  However, what business is in fact doing is where its enduring and long-term value will lie.

I’ll prolly write about leadership next.

Who is John Galt?

what planet are we on?

What planet are we on?

Increasingly we read that together as a society, we are on a direct collision course with our planet; that more resources are being consumed, and more readily, than at any time in human history. Since the late 1980s it has been posited that our collective ecological footprint has surpassed our planet’s capacity to replenish and repair the damage being done. And yet we continue unabated, it seems regardless of the consequences of our actions. Are we hell-bent on passing that second ‘tipping point, the one of no return? Being the very destroyers of that which created us? Our planet?

I had the pleasure of an in-house seat at Tim Flannery’s talk in the BMW Theatre in Federation Square last night. Two things struck me. First the diversity among the sheer volume in attendance and second, the man we’d all come to see. As I reflect, what I admire is Tim’s unquenched thirst for knowledge, a deep, considered understanding of what is required, a never-to-be-defeated calling for requisite change and his unparalleled optimism.

But the important point, as I’m sure Tim would both agree and find heartening, is the increasing numbers who come to listen. It may require a majority in consciousness to achieve the other ‘tipping point’; the one that is necessary. We’re so close to the truth of the fact, the fact of the matter, it will hit us all like a thunderbolt from the heavens, despite the many warnings gone unheeded. I find that the most positive take-out.

Tim’s tone was so becalming whilst the content of his subject matter so frightening, at once one felt dumbfounded; yet it left an enduring sense of comfort. To his audience it brought a collective humility, a real acceptance and a deep-sweet-centred wish for change. The change that we will all necessarily make, as the human race.

Don’t get me wrong, and Tim freely admits it’s the toughest part of the job; how does one grasp the sheer scale of the problem? It is truly bewildering to comprehend, but once majoratively we have, I too believe that it will be a significant moment. Together we have the opportunity to save our planet, our Earth, our Gaia, that in the first place created us. I thank you Tim, having read, studied (though it never ceases) and now working in the area of ‘sustainability’, for the first, undoubted time, I believe that together we can do this. We can be the generation that collectively identified the problem, took a shared onus of responsibility and subsequently addressed the issue. I thank you. I thank you all.

who is John Galt?