March for climate, March 15th, 2019

Frank would like to be able to keep taking naps in the shade without burning to a crisp

 Long political rants ahead...

Today is the worldwide March for climate.
Unpopular opinion: climate change is a political issue. 

But let's face it, most people don't even want to think about it. And many of those who do will fight you and tell you you're stupid and know nothing.

Here in Belgium, students have been protesting every Thursdays for weeks. Not a few dozens but thousands every week. We have 2 young girls leading the movement.
They are both teenagers, they are not extremist, they just say common sense stuff and yet they get death and rape threats from adult males.

Today headlines in the major news outlets (in that order): football, the gruesome terrorist attacks in New Zealand…and somewhere deep down, the climate protest.
This may change later in the day (it’s only noon here as I write)...maybe.

Belgium is a strange little microcosm. No one talks about Belgium. Not many people noticed/cared when it fell into the hands of far right parties. Here you’re not even allowed to say they are extreme right parties. Let’s just ignore the fact that their leaders and members attend all extreme right rallies in Europe, attend birthday parties of old Nazi collaborators. All is good in the kingdom of Belgium.

And which political side is opposed to any laws against climate changes policies?

Here we also have a very odd tax oddity, “business cars”.  It has been going on for years. In short, your boss gives you a car and he gets tax cuts, and you don’t pay taxes on that gift either.
Now, Belgium has a population of about 11 millions. There are 700.000 of those business cars…700.000 that’s half the cars in Belgium. And it’s just an estimate, because, believe it or not, no one in the government/state officially keeps count.
Most of those cars are German. The Belgian roads and motorways are completely
saturated. Yet, no one in the political world addresses this problem. “ we would lose too many jobs if we change the system”…but the truth no one will admit is that car lobbies are omnipotent and very generous.
How can you fight climate change with that many cars in such a tiny country? There are close to zero investment in public transport. If I wanted to go to the seaside (140 km away) using public transport it’d take me about 5 hours one way.

Shall I talk about how food and health are also political? Shall I talk about how obesity is a political problem? (and immediately get accused of fat shaming…) Food lobbies are just as powerful and bad as car lobbies, and energy (read oil and nuclear) lobbies, and health lobbies. Shall I talk about our decrepit nuclear plants that are all past their prime (like in: all spare parts providers have gone out of business).  

Shall I talk about how anti GMO activists are being convicted to actual jail time for tearing off some GMO plants in a field? When at the same time politicians convicted of major frauds only get suspended sentences?

 “You’re attacking my freedom, my choices with your idiotic political ideas!”

Your freedom of choices? Really? You go into a standard supermarket, you get the choices in between 200 fresh products and 80.000 processed food items. You really think you are choosing?
You think it’s your choice when you’re constantly told that happiness is a big car and lots of useless stuff and deadly food?

So yeah, I am really happy  young people are protesting. It gives me hope!