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The Money Democracy and Cap & Trade

Recently, I watched a video that summarized in a very entertaining way the general concept of the Cap & Trade scheme. Annie Leonard invites us in this short video to a more critical viewpoint on this issue. Considering that even Albert Einstein is quoted saying that “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Annie may have a point here.

I am wondering if this situation may have to do with the type of government we have today. I don’t mean any specific administration but the system as a whole. This is neither the democratic system our founding fathers had in mind nor is this the type of democratic system we should want to be part of. After the Citizens United landmark ruling and seeing what’s currently going on in Wisconsin and other states, I get the feeling this society has evolved into a Money Democracy. If president Obama ever intended to keep his promises and to realize the visions he shared with us during his campaign trail, he must have found out the hard way that billionaires not visionaries may determine the future of this country. So are we really leaving it up to the people who have created today’s problems in the first place to now “solve” the global challenges of the 21^st Century?

I say no! I think the change we need grows neither on Wall Street nor in the White House. Change, if we truly seek it comes from within ourselves and thus the everyday decisions we make; from our career and educational choices, which sites on the internet we visit and what we purchase at the grocery store to name a few. While I am not stating anything new here, I just felt compelled to reiterate on this crucial point:

If we are truly concerned about the state of our oceans or feel guilty about rain forest destruction and people living in extreme poverty, climate change, and the list goes on, then we ought to think next time in the grocery store or mall about the types of signals we send when spending our dollars. Every purchase we make tells companies what they should produce more or less of. We hold the true power over supply and demand. Isn’t this a more powerful and more effective Cap and Trade scheme than the one developed by and for Wall Street? It is our collective buying power that determines what future we and our grandchildren will live in. Collectively, we still have more money than all the billionaires and Wall Street combined – so let’s get to work!

Love, peace and green degrees,

Rick