Excerpt: "Multinational oil and gas companies are so hypermobile that a disaster in one part of the world just means concentrating on new 'energy plays' somewhere else. And then there are the bankers who caused the 2008 collapse. Billions around the world have paid the price for their recklessness, but the financial sector itself has been largely insulated from all but the most token reprimands."

Portrait, author Naomi Klein, 06/15/10. (photo: Creative Commons)

We Take Risks, Others Pay the Price

By Naomi Klein, CNN

20 February 11

hen I met George Awudi, a leader of Friends of the Earth Ghana, he was wearing a bright red T-shirt that said "Do Not Incinerate Africa." We were both attending the World Social Forum, a sprawling gathering of tens of thousands of activists held earlier this month in Dakar, Senegal.

Amid that political free-for-all - with mini-protests breaking out against everything from Arab despots to education cuts - I assumed that Awudi's T-shirt referred to some local environmental struggle I hadn't heard of, perhaps a dirty incinerator in Ghana.

He set me straight: "No, it's about climate change." Specifically, the combative slogan refers to the refusal of industrialized nations to commit to deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Since the hottest and poorest countries on the planet are being hit first and hardest by rising temperatures, that refusal will mean, according to Awudi, that large parts of Africa "will be incinerated."

He was quick to clarify that he did not think that people from wealthy countries actively want Africa to "burn" - it's just that they want "to hold on to their interests," including "interests of profit-making."

But there is something deeper at play too, Awudi said. "It's a mentality that they have imported from the colonial days. A mentality of looking down upon people" from Africa. It is that mentality, he argued, that makes it possible to barrel ahead with economic policies that carry growing and glaring risks.

I decided to focus my TED talk on the psychology of reckless risk-taking, because I see that impulse at work behind so many of the catastrophes of recent years: the BP disaster, the invasion of Iraq, the financial sector collapse, and the ongoing refusal to take meaningful action in the face of climate change.

Again and again, policymakers ignore mountains of evidence warning of catastrophe, opting instead to roll the dice and hope for the best.

There are all kinds of explanations for what drives this sort of short-term decision-making, with greed and hubris cited most frequently. Less discussed, but possibly more important, is the phenomenon that Awudi referenced: that the people taking the risks often feel distinctly distant from, if not outright superior to, the people most endangered by their decisions.

Many of our greatest risk-takers are also convinced that they personally will be spared from the worst consequences should things go terribly wrong.

In most cases, this is not an irrational assumption. The US government's decision to invade Iraq was disastrous for Iraqis, whose country spiraled out of control, but in large parts of the US, that war is virtually invisible.

Multinational oil and gas companies are so hypermobile that a disaster in one part of the world just means concentrating on new "energy plays" somewhere else. And then there are the bankers who caused the 2008 collapse. Billions around the world have paid the price for their recklessness, but the financial sector itself has been largely insulated from all but the most token reprimands.

With climate change, the gap between those who created the crisis and those who pay the price is widest of all.

It is the historical emissions from the industrialized world that are responsible for the dangerous accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere. Yet in North America and Europe, where we have the infrastructure to deal with extreme weather (just don't mention New Orleans), many of us feel we have the luxury to debate whether the phenomenon is even happening.

Meanwhile, African nations like Ghana, that contributed least to the crisis, are already facing crippling droughts and devastating floods, without the tools to cope.

All of this has led me to conclude that the central challenge of our time is tackling deep inequality, and changing the stories that we tell ourselves to justify our enormous privilege.

In a deeply divided world like ours, there is simply too much distance between the people with unchecked power to make grave mistakes and those who have to suffer the effects.

Only when we feel that our fates are genuinely intertwined will we understand that a fire that starts in Africa will eventually incinerate us all.

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+36 # hms 2011-02-20 21:35

Those with an invested interest in not having climate control measures put into action are essentially trying to stall such moves as long as possible (or forever) since they profit massively when not held accountable for the harm they contribute to all. It is thus the greed factor in bold action and since they have very great power and influence (they actually own our country so it seems), it is most likely nothing serious will be changed--and they will make even greater profits-- and everyone's climate will keep getting worse!

+32 # Leanne Bissell 2011-02-20 22:01

Thank you Naomi for speaking the truth. Africa has suffered so much at the hands of people who would destroy her. The real truth is, however, that most Africans hold an honesty and an integrity and a spiritual truth that most of in the western worlds do not have. That immediately makes them the target of those who would incinerate anything that holds real Life. Those who would destroy Africa care not one whit about life: theirs or ours. It would be wise not to ignore this fact.

+17 # Ken Hall 2011-02-20 22:39

Like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Thank you Naomi for your incisive observations in many different areas of human culture.

+20 # giraffe 2011-02-20 23:14

The Koch brothers who have wined and dined Scalia/Thomas - got their win from the Supreme Court to allow Big Multi-national Corp put BIG $$ into campaigns of the USA.

Those same Koch brothers will appear before the Suptemes soon that will lift emmission controls ---

Scalia/Thomas should - must - be forced to recuse themselves from that case.

They cannot sleep with a party who will appear before them on any issue.

Hello Congress + W.H. + DOJ: If a Justices even "appears" to have improprieteous behavior - they RECUSE. In this case it is BEYOND "appearance" of -- it is improper behavior.

Bye bye Scalia/Thomas: Do you want to be FORCED to recuse yourselves or do it YOURSELVES??????

It will be STRIKE 2 for either of those justices if they participate and STRIKE 3 if they allow "more" pollutions.

+12 # rf 2011-02-21 07:24

They won't and the danger is that in the future, no court will think that ANY president is worth the paper it is printed on. Our justice system is currently being destroyed and the Dems are asleep at the wheel. Where are the investigations into these supremes and their law breaking. Thomas certainly should be removed, and Scalia right behind him. Never vote for either major party again!

+16 # banichi 2011-02-21 01:23

Thank you, Naomi.

Greed, no matter what is appears to be concerned with, requires a belief in separateness and a paradigm of scarcity. But we are not separate; the child that starves in Africa diminishes us all, and is a sign that the human race is not sufficiently adult to claim responsibility for what we do.

As Naomi says, "Many of our greatest risk-takers are also convinced that they personally will be spared from the worst consequences should things go terribly wrong."

So if they can't see the detrimental results in their own lives, the consequences are not real, not their own fault. They don't have to take responsibility. Within the underlying paradigm of scarcity, there will never be enough. Enough money, enough food, a better car. This drives the unsustainabilit y of greed-based results of risk-taking with no responsibility.

Making the connection for the well-off between your stock market picks and the melting of the Greenland ice is not such a stretch when the stocks you pick are for companies who dismiss the fact of global warming so as to make a higher profit this year, like coal mining stocks. Or oil companies.

+16 # Adelaide 2011-02-21 01:42

I have come to realize that most of life's conflicts are about holding each other accountable for our behavior, recognizing it needs to be done, whether its possible, and then how, in order to protect ourselves from the bad behavior from happening again. Whether its a child, an adult, a company or a government, the balance of power is determined by how much you can hold another accountable for how they treat you. The challenge in these cases above is not realizing that others need to be held to account, the challenge of each struggle is determining the means by which we can garner the power- either literally or emotionally- to do so. The Egyptians finally found the means tp held Mubarak accountable, hopefully others will be too, but we haven't figured out how to hold multi-national governments (those with international treaties and interests) and corporations accountable. How do we do that? We created them but who are they accountable to, when its not their own people? how do we hold them accountable Naomi, when they aren't even accountable to themselves?

+15 # PAJohn 2011-02-21 03:26

The American pathology is that of the preservation of its own power and privilege at the expense of all others, not just Africa but the entire, third, and second-world. Humanity is one species, not just those few individuals or groups who have achieved temporary hegemony. Unless and until we all protect and preserve our planetary environment, and share our wealth and well-being equally and equitably, rather than hoarding it, our species is in a head-long rat-race toward extinction, dragging many others with it.

+11 # Jawbone Grouch 2011-02-21 05:07

All the governments of the world are corrupted by most of the industries of the world. And supported by the corrupted politicians of the world to ensure their "social Standing" in the world.

In your lifetime you will see the world divides into two groups....the Incredibly small group of the wealthy and the massive group of impoverished... .and no middle class.

And most of the people of the world are to blame.

America included.

SELF FIRST....ALWAYS ............... ..

+10 # DRA 2011-02-21 05:10

It's not just tackling inequality. Accountability has always been the Achilles heel of environmental protection. There is very little immediate personal, corporate, or even governmental accountability for actions taken that either harm or protect the environment, and the national and political will to take a long-term view when short-term pain is necessary is sorely lacking. Over the past 30 yrs, have lost the hearts and minds of most Americans, who now fall prey to the right-wing corporate shills who tell them doing what is right and necessary to save our environment and our future will only cost them their freedom and their jobs.

+9 # Lee Black 2011-02-21 06:54

On one level it is short-term profits, most corporate leaders are rewarded for short-term earnings because stock holders want to see that profit NOW.

On another level it is hard for individuals to associate their everyday living with global problems. We recycle, get energy saving appliances, etc. but I'm sure it is a drop in the bucket of the over all problem.

And, have you noticed lately all the oil company ads about jobs?

+6 # Capn Canard 2011-02-21 11:28

the most guilty love it when these arguments are broke down into digestable segments that allow them to put the blame for their atrocities on those who are the least guilty. PLEASE, I BEG YOU, DON'T CONTRIBUTE by putting these arguments on a wide variety of LEVELS. That is pure newspeak, and at very least its is Orwellian. In short the major problem here is PROFIT. There is no question that our economic system is at FAULT.

+9 # A Adams 2011-02-21 07:23

The single most significant thing the "protesters" in southeast Asia (the Middle East is a very colonial designation)and northern Africa mentioned in their quest for freedom was that they were no longer in fear, of their government, police, armies. In this country we must stand up to corporations and state clearly that we no longer fear their power, we will survive without their benefits, their jobs, their largess of healthcare - all those are ours to begin with and we will support each other in our quest to be free from these octopi of greed.

+8 # Dave Parsons 2011-02-21 07:29

Great article. Naomi, you have a way of tying the intellectual and personal/moral spheres together that is so often missing in commentary. I want to offer a comment on the title though -- 'We' also pay the price. We pay with the PTSD of our returning soldiers, with scarcity of petroleum and no alternative in place, with asthma and cancers and obesity, with cutting social programs while we finance wars to control oil and with the growing social/financia l inequity that will be the fuse that sets off the great unrest that we dread is coming. Everyone is on this hook. Mr Awudi is right to speak up. Tropical and arid regions will be decimated by climate change more quickly but we are in this together.

+6 # Capn Canard 2011-02-21 11:54

Gawd what a mess ...
I have no hope in the economy to solve any of these problems on even the smallest of levels. The profit motive of the capitalist economy is the problem. There is no answer that that system can provide. EVER. The free market system will grind your children into jelly and serve it up as NEW and IMPROVED Soylent Green! Yea! Yum... This economy is the reason for all these mistakes. We are doomed until we get rid of this MONSTER that devours everything and excretes poision. "What side are you on?"

+7 # Activista 2011-02-21 09:53

Naomi says what we know or feel. She is living genious.
She should visit - sample the US unemployed. The gap between "local" oligarch and citizens is growing. Revenue stream is enhanced by new "laws" - speeding tickets, $100 dog at large ... dog visits park 100 feet down the street. This new "revenue" - like $100 ticket - is two weeks of food on the table for the poor.

There are global and local dictators - and gap is growing. We are all Egyptians.

+9 # Dick Huopana 2011-02-21 09:59

I've lived on this planet for 82 years. But at puberty I learned I was responsible for more than achieving and enjoying a happy and fun-filled life. Instead, I was also accountable to help
leave this world better than what I was delivered into.

But, my life has been quite frustrating despite many opportunities for neededimproveme nt. For example, on my birth date in 1928, our federal debt was about $17.5 billion but today it's at a crisis-level $14.1 trillion . My generation can't claim that as an improvement because the government of the world's economic superpower should be debt-free with substantial cash reserves. Instead, the U.S is the world's superborrower with the government now at risk of bankruptcy.

As a 12-year old Boy Scout I learned the necessity to protect the environment and dutifully began re-cycling during WWII. But, because of our ever-growing demand for energy produced largely by carbon-based fuels, the resulting pollution is dangerously depleting Earth's atmosphere which protects us from excessive exposure to the Sun's radiation. Correcting this problem and saving our species' life on Earth into the future should be the highest international priority. But, the leaders of the U.S., the world's largest polluter refuses to provide the international leadership to deal with the current and growing threat of global warming.

+3 # Dick Huopana 2011-02-21 10:04

More intelligent life elsewhere in space may be observing how our species functions here on Earth and especially how we keep re-electing leaders without holding them accountable for non-performance laced with ethical/moral violations and even corruption. If so, then they also see the U.S. making war to protect access to foreign oil - but not aggressively pursuing alternate and inevitably needed energy solutions. They also see our country's government and corporate leaders unwilling to treat Global Warming as a priority. They also see the fiscal irresponsibilit y of our government and corporate leaders - especially excessive dependency on debt and indifference to the need for an adequately employed and paid population. And they see much that leaves them wondering how human life on Earth has survived as long as it has.

If life indeed exisits elsewhere in space, we wonder why they don't visit or at least communicate with us. The answer probably is that they don't wish to risk us contaminating their species - or any life elsewhere in space. In other words, it's best to just let us eventually destroy ourselves and other life forms here on Earth. I sadly agree with the wisdom of their game plan.

+2 # theshift33 2011-02-21 17:38

Read Alien Rapture. The title is weird and the cover is even stranger but the meat of the book is that truth is stranger than fiction. They are already here but to announce it in the media would mean chaos, a breakdown in our economic system as well as our religious system which so far has controlled the masses relatively well. It is an enlightening read.

+3 # Activista 2011-02-21 14:52

I came to USA in 1968 from Europe - I could be naive - but the quality of live - expectations decreased - all ideas were replaced by new money culture.

Just listen to Bill Gates how technology - big corporations will fix the World. Such a joke - BillG does not realize that he and capitalism created the problem.

+5 # James Marcus 2011-02-21 11:02

This snake has a jillion heads. Aim and strike at the Heart of the Beast, or be doomed to endless exhaustion and failure

+5 # robhood 2011-02-21 13:24

I agree. And, in my opinion, the "heart of the beast" is the PRIVATELY-OWNED Federal Reserve. Kill it, like Jackson did, and "we the people" can gain back our great nation.

+5 # Jawbone Grouch 2011-02-21 12:05

We have the responsibility to be active citizens.

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE WRITTEN YOUR CONGRESSPERSON OR SENATOR?

I write to my Representative and Senator frequently. I let them know where I stand and ask them where THEY stand on any given issue.
I get a form answer back very soon...a few days later I will get a specific answer and why they are or will vote.

I even write Senators outside my district. Some don't like to respond, but some do.

We are responsible for who SERVE as our link to government. If you do not contribute to the process and the system you will get what WE all have gotten whether we did the work or someone else did for US.

WE IS BETTER. I AM RESPONSIBLE.

Are you?

Your choice.

Have you earned the RIGHT to carp at what is.....if you DID NOT VOTE?

This civic lesson is free.

Naomi has given you what is!

+6 # wfalco 2011-02-21 12:27

Awudi speaks of a mentality from colonial days that still exists-"a mentality of looking down upon people."
It has never left the corporate profiteers. Poor people exist for labor, if needed.
If they get too uppity-such as the labor unions-then they must be demolished. And this "demolition" has already occurred among the private sector unions in the U.S. where only 7% are organized.

Government employment has a higher percentage of unionization so now they(us?) are being attacked and targeted for demolition.
If middle class citizens of the U.S. are targeted for destruction than what chance does a poor person in Ghana have?

-1 # paulanad 2011-02-22 02:20

while the middle eastern countries revolt and power is 'taken' from these long time 'leaders', does anyone not question who is pulling the strings? In fact, does anyone not suspect that the 'old guard' or thieves are simply being retired, and the replacement governments will BE multinational corporations who will create a colossal regime in the entire area, as originally planned, while we soak it up that this is democracy at work? Does anyone question the authenticity of these 'fallen governments' which were all friends of the US as contrived/a smokescreen for the true intention/outco me? These 'dictators' are ALL friends of the US, and replacement will NOT be without controlled 'selection' of candidates....' election' of whom will most certainly be controlled by the existing 1% of the population. Simply put, the removal of their 'friend' Saddam Hussien cost quadrillions, and the US put one of their own in...Afghanista n as well. The unrest in the Middle East has been so well instigated, the people of the countries targeted are doing it FOR them at a fraction of the cost...with a more positive light shed on the US for 'supporting the protesters', and now free to designate whomever they choose to control the entire Middle East.

0 # Activista 2011-02-22 09:12

disagree with you conspiracy - college graduates - Tunisia - were selling vegetables and did not pay enough taxes to police.
In California for new teacher graduates are 0 jobs. Choice? Welfare or Afghanistan.

These revolutions are genuine uprising - power of the powerless - hope that they are not so naive as Americans and get brainwashed by media.

0 # Neal Goldstien 2011-02-22 19:07

Get real, folks. To the Corporate Rulers of the World and their Bankers, we are all Africans.

0 # nik 2011-02-23 22:02

Fact will remain that until we give up our oil addiction by understanding it and making conscious choices - we are all responsible for supporting all these mother f*rs whether they are in this country or that...
(http://niksnexus.net/weblog/2011/02/mid-east-revolutions-and-failed-democracy-at-home/ )

0 # Morris Townson 2011-02-24 11:38

Geo Engineering is taking place right now and has been for the past 12 years. It's called chemtrais. Look into it. It is not some conspiracy theory it is live and in progress.

BTW in Sitchins translations of ancient Sumarian text, the ancients talked about the gods mining gold to put in their atmosphere to protect their plant from their sun.

Makes you go HUMMM

0 # Morris Townson 2011-02-24 11:49

Geoengineering of the earths atmosphere started 12 years ago. It is called chemtrails. Yes, look up some chemtrail sites and read about them.

BTW Sitchin's translations of ancient Sumarian text told of the ancient gods enslaving the people to mine gold. This gold was used in the atmosphere of their home plant because of a crisis with there atmosphere.

0 # Robyn 2011-02-28 19:50

A wondeful and timely talk on the state of the world and all the issues that we and future generations are facing.
Thank you Naomi.

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