Food for thought

In "Climate Change or Revolution", The Toronto Star of March 6th .the Star staff commented on a series of essays jointly produced by The Center for American Progress and The Center for Climate and Security in Washington. The thrust of the essays was to emphasize the connection between climate change, food prices, and politics, and to show that these are the stressors that help fuel uprisings. To quote Princeton scholar, Anne-Marie Slaughter, "...consequences of climate change are stressors that can ignite a volatile mix of underlying causes that can erupt into revolution." Furthermore, the study argues that climate change played a significant role in the Arab Spring. Troy Sternberg, a geographer at Oxford University, a contributor, wrote that a drought in China, heat waves and floods in other wheat-growing countries, and a wet season in Canada, sent prices skyrocketing which led indirectly to regime change in Egypt.
Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell of the Center for Climate and Security said that from 2006 to 2011, up to 60% of Syria's land experienced the worst long-term drought ever recorded causing herders to lose 85% of their livestock and the livelihoods for 800,000 people. One may assume the above worthies quoted above are upholders of capitalism. The point is, if they can clearly see the connection between climate change that the effects of capitalism are causing, droughts, floods, and uprisings against governments, then it is to be hoped that the majority of the world's population also will and organize for the only thing that can prevent global disaster -- socialism. John Ayers