Just reading his book 'The Age of Consent', which is a bit of a manifesto for a new world order - basically establishing a world parliament of sorts which would represent everyone, rich or poor - one member, one vote. A political manifesto for the anti-globalisation movement.

Only half way through but it's compelling stuff. Uncomfortable reading for the UN, the IMF and the World Bank...

[url]www.monbiot.com[/url]

I've read a lot of excerpts from this book.......his arguments against existing global centralized powers are good but he is still and idiot in the end.

The main point it seems is that the world has democracy but no choice because we are hopped up on capitalism.......and because of how mobile capital is and how mobile the people and companies that posess capital are, we must become one global state in order to control them.

Drop this book immediately and never read it again. It is not an anti-globalization book...... it is the globalization manifesto.........another author who pretends to care about people only by talking about the economics behind taking care of them.

He is another baffoon who believes that our problems can be solved by working together......when in fact our collaboration and cooperation is what has created this capitalistic stomping ground in the first place. By unifying ourselves under one government, with one moral conscience we are making ourselves even more pliable for capitalistic use.

Take the United States for example. It [i]is[/i] actually true that the reason we have a strong central government now, instead of a loose federation of states, is for business/security purposes. The more we have centralized, the easier interstate commerce has become. During the centralization of our country have we seen a peaceful transformation :lol: Hell no! Take the Civil War for instance. The United States was trying to globalize itself and the South did not agree with the course of action.......as everyone knows it led to the most bloody war in the history of our country. Globalization is why we have terrorism as well. Some people simply don't want to participate......and if they can't have a chunk of land where they can live by their own rulez they flip out.......of course we are killing terrorists now because they are forcing people to live by their way of life. But if they proposed the formation of a fundemtal Islamic state and let people live their by choice and then we attacked them......well then they really would be freedom fighters.

Everyone on the face of this planet has a choice.........you can embrace capitalism, money, and consumerism......or you can decide it is not for you. And if you want to be in the middle you can do that too. Once you make your decision there is no bitching allowed, and you cannot have it both ways. Either take your vow of complete unhindered freedom and poverty (fight club style). Or sacrifice some of your freedom and work towards a better tomorrow for everyone. Monbiot knows everyone has this choice...... but he decides to leave it out because he wants people to be controlled in the name of peace! It's like the movie equilbrium.....and money is the dope that makes everyone complacent. Why do you think he is so hell bent on distributing the wealth evenly......the same reason that all socialist are hell-bent on economic equality......they believe it is the only way to achieve peace......of course.....they are wrong.

And the other fundamental problem with globalization is that the U-gen.....people born from 1975 on, are pretty much identical everywhere in the world. Despite their similarities in mannerism, behavior, style, etc. they actually have much less respect for government authority than past generations. Most U-gens want the government to take a hike. Young Republicans screaming for uncle sam to give them back their hunting licenses, and their hard earned money. And young liberals screaming for their freedom of speech and freedom from capitalism (and that's just America). Monbiot says that segmenting people into local sovereignties is bad because without the presence of a central control humanity has perpetrated some horrible things (holocaust, imperialism, etc.) but what that well intentioned globalist doesn't take into consideration is that capitalism has created peace not by doping people but by making wealth more accessible to all people.

You no longer have to have a vast landscape with an abudance of resources. The internet has made sure that you don't have to trot the globe in order to sell your merchandise. And alternative fuels are more accessible to all people than traditional fuels. You don't need a giant oil field to make solar energy or a large deposits of natural gas to syntheize hydrogen fuel cells. People don't need equality of wealth......people need access to the tools of capitalism, so they have the ability to decide how much capitalism is right for them.

Haha, this got really long, oh well kudos if you read it. Take Monbiot's book and throw it away......

Re:: George Monbiot anyone?

mylexicon - to quote you from the last forum, you're still a 'buffoon'...

I've not even finished the book yet but Monbiot doesn't call for all countries to be ruled by one government - it's only so global organisations such as the UN (and we all know their problems) have some accountability.

The reason for terrorism is the vast differences between the West and the rest of the world - all the power and money is in the hands of the 'developed' countries. More importantly, more and more power and money is in the hands of multi-national companies who have no accountability.

You seem to forget that a very large majority of the world live in poverty without access to basic food and water and are still subject to diseases the West haven't seen in over a hundred years.

I don't agree with everything Monbiot says, but he certainly isn't saying we should abandon our sovereignty and hand power to a global goverment. The problem is that the rich countries continue to get richer and the poor countries continue to get poorer. And why are the rich countries rich? Because we built vast empires and fortunes by plundering Africa, Asia and South America. And now we don't give these countries a chance.

Monbiot is only arguing for a fairer system - and, to be honest, we might not even have this level of global terrorism if there weren't such great disparities.

Everyone on the face of this planet does not have a choice. People in many parts of Africa don't have "access to the tools of capitalism" because they are burdened by billions of dollars of debt to the West.

Take your head out of your arse and take a look at the rest of the world - it's not as bloody simple as you think it is. :MadNow: