Pursuit of wealth depletes natural capital and threatens human species

TWO news stories from recent days eloquently reveal the madness of a world order that we have come to accept as normal, as “the way things are”.

On Monday, RTE’s Ray Kennedy reported from Niger. Not from Nigeria, but from Niger. Fair play, incidentally, to our beleaguered national broadcaster for sending him to a place that most of us would have difficulty finding on a map.

Kennedy has a compelling news story to tell, though many commercial news organisations will ignore it. The Government of Niger has been unable to persuade the international community to pledge €700 million to avert a famine. Yet another sub-Saharan disaster looms.