George Monbiot’s claim that “our system of organised lying has created an entire class of politicians, officials, media commentators, cultural leaders, academics and intellectuals who nod along with” capitalist orthodoxy is largely true (Putin exploits the lie machine but didn’t invent it. British history is also full of untruths, 30 March).
I’m a metro mayor. We’ve run a citizens’ assembly on climate change and are implementing its recommendations. We’ve invested in clean energy and our Green New Deal is operational. We promote our Good Work Pledge, directly tackle child poverty, and are investing in the social and cooperative economy. Our policy objective is to create a zero-carbon, zero-poverty North of Tyne. I call for wealth taxes, and without urgent and crisis-level action, we will destroy our planet’s capacity to support us.
I know other leaders in local government who also put their (limited) money where their mouths are, and at least some MPs openly say that we need to replace blind profit-centred economics with an economy focused on social and environmental good.
The reason I’m in such a minority, and that “almost everyone in public life subscribes to the same set of preposterous beliefs” is in part down to intimidation. The first question I was asked by a TV journalist after being selected was “are you a Marxist?” (If anything, I’m a libertarian socialist, but try explaining that in 10 seconds!) Britain’s news organisations, even those not owned by a handful of billionaires, are obsessed with political pantomime. Terrified of being labelled radical, politicians self-censor their views on alternative economics or the lethality of the environmental crisis. McCarthyism is alive and well in Britain.
Jamie Driscoll
Metro mayor, North of Tyne
• I applaud George Monbiot’s ability to call out widespread delusions about limitless economic growth and the appropriateness of the enormous power wielded by those with great wealth. But I take issue with his use of the term “lying”.
The view of empire as a force for good was not built on lies. It was built on self-delusion. To tackle the assumptions about the necessity of “growth” and inequality which Monbiot rightly targets, we need a far better understanding of the process of self-delusion that has driven consensus about what is true – in both the past and the present.
Dr Hugh Firth
Newcastle upon Tyne
• George Monbiot rightly highlights the increasing havoc wrought by “fake news” in recent times on all our lives. Since the very idea of fake news would be unintelligible unless one also had some understanding of what is meant by “truth” and “objectivity”, surely the time has come to make the philosophic analysis of these issues a central focus of the school curriculum. I can think of no better way to inoculate the next generation against this virus of uncritical thinking.
Oliver McAdoo
Pulborough, West Sussex
• To George Monbiot’s list of accepted “truths” should be added the following common beliefs: war “works” (despite its highly uncertain outcomes, and its untold millions of casualties); stockpiling nuclear weapons capable of destroying the planet is the best way to ensure our “defence” against potential aggressors; the military (whose role after all is to kill when ordered to do so) is a noble profession; and employing many of our ablest scientific brains and spending billions annually on researching ever more “effective” ways of killing people is an honourable and sane use of national resources.
Mike Garnier
Bristol
• On reading George Monbiot’s article, I thought: what if, in this platinum jubilee year, the Queen were to announce that she will dispose of her vast wealth – land, real estate, art collections, the spoils of empire accumulated over centuries – and make full reparation to all the countries impoverished by that baleful project? Now that would be a legacy to be proud of.
Cathy Wood
Lichfield, Staffordshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
