Climate extremists are a threat to democracy - run them out of town on a rail

Democracy is the problem.You didn't realise this, of course, because you are part of that problem, you are a voter. And there's a chance that you might vote the wrong way, support the wrong things. Especially if you are an older voter. Don't take my word for this take the word of Cambridge University expert David Runciman:

The climate crisis is an issue that requires long-term thinking across the generations, yet electoral politics is geared toward responding to immediate grievances. Politicians can talk about taking the long view, but without institutional changes to the way we practice democracy, they are unlikely to look beyond short-term political gains.

 Runciman is an academic so, no doubt, considers himself above all that rough-and-tumble of day-to-day politics. But I might not be alone in considering that we should worry about someone who can even consider this:

The authoritarian Chinese system has some advantages when it comes to addressing climate change: One-party rule means freedom from electoral cycles and less need for public consultation. Technocratic solutions that put power in the hands of unelected experts could take key decisions out of the hands of voters.

Frightening stuff and all driven by the refusal (or so Runciman says) of political leaders to fully embrace the idea that we are in a 'climate emergency' requiring immediate action - mostly action read off the back of Greenpeace-produced pamphlets. We're told repeatedly that governments aren't doing enough and, even when they are doing things those things are the wrong things (because they're not printed on a handy crib sheet by environmentalist campaign groups) or there aren't enough of them.

The secret to the problem with democracy is (as Runciman spots) "...when it comes to actual voters, the math favors the climate skeptics or at least the people who have other priorities." Ah, there it is - how dare you ignore cute Swedish girls and say you want to prioritise jobs or health or education rather than drive the economy into the wall because that cute Swedish girl reads out environmentalist slogans saying it's an emergency.

What Runciman proposes ("citizens assemblies and civil disobedience") reminds us of the worst parts of the French revolution - mob violence combined with self-appointed assemblies claiming to speak on behalf of the people. That cute Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg tells us “I come from Sweden. And I speak on behalf of future generations." The first part of this statement is probably true whereas the second part of it definitely isn't - Ms Thunberg speaks only on behalf of Ms Thunberg.

Ah, you say, but the young people, what about the young people, they all care deeply about the climate so Greta is speaking for them, no? It seems not, or at least this is what David Runciman tells us (while trying to suggest the opposite):

...for nearly half of all voters aged 18 to 24, global warming represents the most pressing issue of our time

So for a majority of young people, climate change is not the most pressing issue. Greta doesn't speak for them now does she? The young people who're more worried about education or crime or the economy? We're told that we aren't listening to young people's concerns but the truth is we're listening selectively to the likes of Greta Thunberg and not to the billion or so children in the developing world who'd like a stab at a life half as good as the one Greta enjoys. Yet the message from the climate campaigners is that we should sideline those voices and the voices of older, maybe wiser people and end democracy as we know it - the planet demands this!

The point about democracy is that it gives people a brake on the authoritarian delusions of people like David Runciman, allows us space to argue that there isn't a climate emergency and permits voters to kick out governments that fail them. Our systems aren't perfect but it is a crazy idea that we should tear down established democracies to replace them with either mob rule or a dictatorship (and we should remember that the mob rule of the French revolution resulted in a military dictatorship).

Climate extremists - with or without pigtails - are a threat to democracy in the same way as fascists, communists and Cambridge University polisci academics. All of them should be run out of town on a rail.

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