Talking points NEWS 2124 August 2019 THE WEEKGreenland: afine piece of real estate“Anxiety is the
dizziness of freedom.”
Søren Kierkegaard, quoted
in theInewspaper
“I suppose lesbian sex is a
bit like cricket, in that it goes
on forever and there’salot
of men watching it at home,
alone, on the internet.”
Catherine Bohart at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe,
quoted in The Sun
“Your mind is like a
parachute: if it isn’t open,
it doesn’t work.”
Buzz Aldrin, quoted on
BusinessInsider
“If you can only be tall
because somebody is on
their knees, then you have
aserious problem.”
Toni Morrison, quoted in
Mother Jones“To the old, the old do not
look old.”
Novelist Howard Jacobson,
quoted in the FT“Every generation,
civilisation is invaded
by barbarians–wecall
them ‘children’.”
Hannah Arendt, quoted in
The Daily Telegraph
“Books serve to show a
man that those original
thoughts of his aren’t very
new, after all.”
Abraham Lincoln, quoted
on INews.co.uk
“Comedy isatragedy that
happens to other people.”
Novelist Angela Carter,
quoted in Forbes
“A narcissist is
someone better looking
than you are.”
Gore Vidal, quoted
in ForbesAyear ago, she was an
anonymous schoolgirl, said
The Times. Now, Greta
Thunberg is on her way to
New York to attend the UN’s
Climate Action Summit. The
16-year-old Swede–who in
the past 12 months has
addressed parliaments and
been nominated foraNobel
Prize–isnot flying across the
Atlantic, however. True to her
commitment to the zero-
carbon cause, she set sail last
week from Plymouth in a
solar-powered yacht, for a
two-week journey that will be
far from comfortable. Crewed
by two expert skippers, the
60ft Malizia II has no toilet, and no privacy in
its cramped living quarters. In the US, Thunberg
hopes to raise awareness of the climate
“emergency”–but insists she does not expect
to influence Donald Trump. The president has
ignored most of the world’s scientists, she says.
“So what couldIsay to change his mind?”
By sailing to the conference–anoption she
admits is not open to most–Thunberg avoided
the hypocrisy charges that bedevil globe-trotting
green activists, but vitriol is still coming her way,
said the FT. An Australian columnist recently
described her asa“deeply disturbed messiah”;
in France, politicians labelled her “a prophetess
in shorts”. She seems able to shrug off such
attacks as mere distractions, which is as well
because she’ll surely have a
hard time in the US, where
climate remainsadeeply
polarising issue. There as here,
toxic libertarians detest being
told what to do by anyone, let
aloneawoman, said Gaby
Hinsliff in The Guardian. Of
course, there are legitimate
arguments to be had about
Thunberg’s call for drastic and
immediate action, but these
are giving way to something
new –not so much denialism
as “nihilism”. People may
accept that “the planet is
frying”, but they’re simply not
willing to give up their foreign
holidays and cars to stop it.In Europe, activists are seeking to shame citizens
into action, said Christopher Caldwell in The
New York Times. In Germany, they call it
flugscham,flight-guilt. But this can only be
effective if most ordinary people agree with the
zero-carbon cause in principle, and it’s not clear
that they do. Thunberg hasasimple message,
but its implications are complex–and she and
others are refusing to engage with them. We
don’t know whatalow-carbon world would
look like; it might have aspects that even greens
would not welcome: the EU slashing emissions,
for instance, is unlikely to be consistent with
mass immigration. Climate change isaserious
issue, but to insist that “we can’t wait” is to
invite problems “just as grave”.Greta Thunberg: sailing into controversyDonald Trump has spent much of
his life in real estate, said Tom
Barnes in The Independent. But the
US president may now be eyeing
up his biggest deal yet: according
to media reports, he has asked
aides to look into the possibility of
the US buying Greenland. Viewed
purely as an investment, it would
make sense, said The Economist.
At 2.2 million sq km, Greenland is
the world’s largest island, and 25%
bigger than the biggest US state,
Alaska. It boasts rich deposits of
rare earth minerals, gold and
diamonds, and possibly oil and gas
too. Then there are its geopolitical
features: already the site of the US’s most
northerly military facility, at Thule, Greenland
offers fine views of Russian missile launches (via
radar), and useful control overanaval “choke
point”, known as the GIUK gap, that is used by
Russian subs to reach the Atlantic. It’s a
drawback that 80% of the island is covered by
ice, but this could bea“temporary condition” –
and “withaname like Greenland, it certainly
sounds like it ought to have golf courses”.
The only trouble is, Greenland is not for sale,
said The Daily Telegraph. It is officially part of
Denmark, but the island’s 57,000
inhabitants (mainly native Inuits)
have considerable autonomy. And
both sides have made it clear they
regard the idea as ridiculous. True,
Denmark has made similar deals
before. In 1917, it sold the Danish
West Indies to the US for $25m
(they’re now the US Virgin
Islands). But it has already rejected
one US attempt to buy Greenland:
President Truman offered $100m
for the island in 1946.The US hasalong history of
buying territory, said Paul
Musgrave in Foreign Policy. It
bought Louisiana from France for $15m in
1803, and Alaska from Russia for just $7.2m in- No doubt Trump would love to secure his
legacy with the purchase of Greenland–but the
colonial days are over. That Denmark would
sell the island and its people is unthinkable.
Which is just as well, when you consider the
way the US mistreats its existing colonies (such
as Puerto Rico)–not to mention the precedent
it would set. Suchatransfer would usher us
into adangerous new era of “great power
competition”, as Russia, India and China started
to scramble for new colonies of their own.
Stillapart of Denmark
Statistics of the week
In 2017-18 there were 106,530
Chinese students in the UK.
Applications from China rose
this year by 32%.
Higher Education Statistics
Agency/TheInewspaper
This year 84,111 girls
took A-levels in science
subjects, outnumbering
boys for the first time.
Joint Council for
Qualifications/The GuardianThunberg:asimple messageWit&Wisdom