New Internationalist – September 2019

6 NEW INTERNATIONALIST

Small steps

I found the article ‘Progress
and its discontents’ by
Jason Hickel (NI 520) very
informative in its discussion of
global poverty and inequality.
Although Hickel references
Hans Rosling and Steven
Pinker, neither of them
are primarily concerned
with income distribution
and he does not give a fair
representation of their main
points.
Hans Rosling was all about
having accurate data and
highlights various facts that he
has found that most educated
people do not appreciate. Here
are a few examples:
In all low-income countries
worldwide, 60 per cent of girls
finish primary school.
Over the past 100 years
the number of deaths from
natural disasters has halved.
Eighty per cent of the
world’s one-year-olds have
been vaccinated against some
disease.
Eighty per cent of the
world’s population has some
access to electricity.
The point is that even 30

or 40 years ago, all of these

would have been much worse.

It is obvious there is still a

way to go, but his point is we

shouldn’t therefore deny the

improvements that have been

made.

In the case of Stephen

Pinker, his main work has

been on the reduction of all

kinds of violence over the past

600 years when looked at as a

proportion of total population.

This can be clearly seen in the

decline in war deaths. There

are still peaks and troughs but

the trend has been downward.

The fact that people still die

needless deaths in war should

not obscure us from seeing

the overall improving long-

term trend. Pinker also makes

clear there is no guarantee

the decreases in violence will

continue and that the decrease

is not smooth.

Small improvements are

still improvements.

BARRY SPIVACK

Myths bust

Re: Jason Hickel’s excellent

article ‘Progress and its

discontents’ (NI 520). The

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Why I... write climate fiction

I completed my BSc in Climate Change and realized

that climate change would be the defining issue of our

generation. If we fail to make major changes, the future

could be unbelievably bleak. I also saw that one of the

biggest challenges we have is our inability to get the

message across to the wider public about the seriousness

and urgency of the threat we face, which is partly down

to the complexity of climate change.

I came across several articles about the rise in ‘cli-fi’ or

climate fiction novels, which explained how fiction could

be a more appropriate medium for communicating the

science behind climate change, because of the vicarious

element of novels, which allows readers to engage with

the story at an emotional level. Therefore, by encourag-

ing people to care, we stand the best chance of coming

together to demand action from our leaders.

RYAN MIZZEN

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LETTERS

Have your say

Is there a topic you have been itching for New Internationalist

to cover? We are currently accepting ideas for our Big Story

themes for upcoming issues. If you have any you would like

us to consider, please email [email protected] by

30 September 2019.

Corrections

Unfortunately the following errors, which we regret, crept

into our July-August edition (NI 520):

Page 13: the water equivalent of a beef burger was regular

use of the toilet flush for six months or showering over three

months, rather than the continuous use of both.

Page 21: in the city population density chart the scale should

have been persons/km^2 rather than thousand persons/km^2.

And the 883 million people who live in slums worldwide

were equated to being a quarter of the world’s population

(currently estimated at 7.53 billion).

Page 72: Leesa Gazi’s father was referred to as a military man

when he was a freedom fighter.

issues were really well

explained and myth bust with

great clarity. I felt the same

excitement and realization

reading this article as I did

when I was studying Human

Geography at A-level 20 years

ago!

SALLY EL-SAYEH

Ultimate irony

Re: ‘First-class lifeboats’,

(NI 519). That will be the

irony [of the rich trying to

escape climate apocalypse].

To have used their wealth to

be left alive upon a barren

Earth. Good luck to them. The

ultimate in ignorance and

greed-driven stupidity.

JOHN TAVENDALE

VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Act now

Thanks for the How to avoid

climate breakdown edition

(NI 519). It’s wonderful to get

the idea that it isn’t too late,

that we can act for change.

MAGGIE ARMSTRONG

PUGLIA, ITALY

6 NEW INTERNATIONALIST