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One phrase I learned this year is “predatory delay,” which is the deliberate slowing of change to prolong a profitable status quo whose costs will be paid by others.
Hat tip, futurist Alex Steffan.
Think: the tobacco industry. They knew but . . . there was money to be made.
Also think: The oil companies and climate change. They’ve known since the 1960s, arguably, and the 1980s, absolutely. But the world runs on gas and there are billions of dollars to be made only if that gas gets burned.
They are not motivated to transition to alternative sources of energy. They are, in fact, adversely motivated.
Here’s John Vaillant:
“The willful and ongoing failure to act on climate science is unforgivable; recrimination is justified, but none will be sufficient. In this case, at the planetary level, there is no justice; the punishment will be shared by all, but most severely by the young, the innocent, and the as-yet unborn.”
In short, earn big money now, kick the can down the road, and force the next generation — our children — to pay the price.
Those poor innocent kids.
Vaillant calls the political inactivity on climate change — i.e., predatory delay — “the greatest inter-generational injustice ever inflicted by one generation upon the next.”
Happy New Year.
Here’s to being better in 2025.
Hat tip, futurist Alex Steffan.
Think: the tobacco industry. They knew but . . . there was money to be made.
Also think: The oil companies and climate change. They’ve known since the 1960s, arguably, and the 1980s, absolutely. But the world runs on gas and there are billions of dollars to be made only if that gas gets burned.
They are not motivated to transition to alternative sources of energy. They are, in fact, adversely motivated.
Here’s John Vaillant:
“The willful and ongoing failure to act on climate science is unforgivable; recrimination is justified, but none will be sufficient. In this case, at the planetary level, there is no justice; the punishment will be shared by all, but most severely by the young, the innocent, and the as-yet unborn.”
In short, earn big money now, kick the can down the road, and force the next generation — our children — to pay the price.
Those poor innocent kids.
Vaillant calls the political inactivity on climate change — i.e., predatory delay — “the greatest inter-generational injustice ever inflicted by one generation upon the next.”
Happy New Year.
Here’s to being better in 2025.
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