We Are All Becoming Cassandras

 "About three decades ago, climate change also became a major public issue, with scientists, politicians, and environmental organizations issuing prophetic statements about the extreme dangers ahead. Today, following a remarkable display of inaction, massive wildfires and floods sweep across nations, the polar ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, and millions of climate refugees are fleeing for their lives."

"Substantial majorities of people polled around the world also feel seriously endangered by climate change. A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of people in 26 nations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa found that a median of 68 percent regarded climate change as a 'major threat,' 20 percent as a 'minor threat,' and only 9 percent as 'not a threat.' "

"When it comes to nuclear weapons, polls have shown that most people favor eliminating them. A 2018 public opinion survey in 21 nations worldwide found that large majorities in nearly all the nations supported the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Recently, public opinion surveys in Europe, Japan, and Australia reported similar results."

"The COVID-19 pandemic also sparked an exceptionally strong demand for remedial action. In late 2021, an Ipsos survey of people in 15 nations found overwhelming numbers intending to be vaccinated in a variety of nations, including Brazil (89 percent), Italy 85 percent), China (82 percent), Spain (82 percent), Mexico (80 percent), South Korea (80 percent), Canada (79 percent), Australia (78 percent), and Japan (74 percent)."

"Even so, governments have not taken adequate action to stave off the catastrophes of nuclear war, climate change, and disease pandemics. Why?"

"One key factor is the control of public policy by self-interested economic forces. Seeking lucrative military contracts from the U.S. government, giant corporations campaign relentlessly for the building of new nuclear weapons. In 2020. the major nuclear weapons contractors in the United States employed 380 lobbyists and spent $60 million on lobbying, with great success."

"Nor should we forget the immense role that wealthy fossil fuel corporations have played in sabotaging action to avert climate catastrophe. Although ExxonMobil and other oil companies knew decades ago about what their products were doing to the environment, they funded a massive misinformation campaign designed to deny the findings of climate science, subvert public opinion, and block international treaties that could curb greenhouse gas emissions. Thus far, they have been very successful."

"As for the giant pharmaceutical companies, they treat the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to reap vast profits. Public health, of course, is dependent upon the worldwide distribution of antiviral vaccines as quickly as possible. But the corporations manufacturing the vaccines, determined to maximize their income, refuse to waive their patent rights, thus preventing other companies or governments from producing or distributing the vaccine and, thereby, competing with them. In this scarcity, they sell the vaccines to the highest bidders among governments -- overwhelmingly those of the richest nations. Consequently, as if August 30, 2021, 57 percent of people in high-income countries had received at least one dose of the vaccine, while only 2 percent had received it in low-income nations."

"A second key factor behind the inadequate response to these crises is the absence of a system of global governance. Even when the baneful influence of a system of powerful corporate entities is overcome, on occasion, in individual nations, there is no structure that can take remedial action on a global basis."

"Consequently, until corporate influence is curbed and the United Nations strengthened, our modern Cassandras' warnings seem likely to go unheeded."

"Curiously, though, there is a major difference between the Cassandra of the Greek myths and her modern counterparts. In the myths, Cassandra was ineffective because she was simply not 'believed.' By contrast, most people 'do' believe our modern Cassandras and want action taken to avert catastrophe."

(Source: Rearranged excerpts taken from: Lawrence Wittner, "We are All Becoming Cassandras: Leaders Must Heed the People on Climate, Disarmament, and Pandemic ," History News Network.)