There are reasons to be cheerful despite global challenges - Andy Brown
Reasons to be cheerful is one of the finest records ever recorded. In the depths of the late 1970s gloom, as unemployment climbed its way towards three million, our manufacturing industries were hollowed out, and once proud places were coming like a ghost town, a bit of cheerful optimism from Ian Dury was just what we needed.
Looking around at the moment it sometimes feels even harder to find the positives in the world outlook. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to have the planet dominated by a few very rich oligarchs, like Putin, Trump and Musk, as we try to find a route past a multitude of dangerous wars and economic stagnation. Nor is it easy to watch £2bn worth of cars being washed down streets in Valencia as their occupants call out desperately for rescue and conclude that the damage being done to the environment is being safely and securely managed.
Yet there are some good reasons for a bit of optimism. Despite everything we have some wonderful people in this country who work hard every day to look after the community without any hope or intention of getting rich as a result. Some very brave nurses and care workers put their own lives at risk during Covid and got us through a very challenging time without a complete meltdown of the service.
There are similar people who put amazing amounts of energy into making lessons for our children fun and interesting and display the patience of saints as they encourage challenging kids to make the best of themselves.
There is also much to be optimistic about when it comes to Britain’s astonishing creative energy. In music, film, gaming, TV and theatre this country punches well beyond its weight. Largely because those excellent teachers value and foster creativity. Despite all the efforts of bureaucrats to make the curriculum a tedious diet of rote learning, our respect for individuality still produces amazing young talent.
The British music industry continues to generate hefty sums of foreign currency for this country despite all the difficulties of touring post-Brexit. It is one of the areas of our society that has the strongest traditions of being utterly colour blind and respecting talent regardless of which class or part of the country the artists come from.
All that creativity also has an impact on our science and industry. New inventions and fresh designs often originate in this country - even if we aren’t always great at turning that into mass sales and local manufacturing.
New technology opens up amazing opportunities in healthcare. When I had surgery for prostate cancer the surgeon sat in front of a computer operating robotic arms and the scar was so small I can’t locate it. The recovery time from such skilled microsurgery is massively quicker than from work of even the most skilled human hand.
Much of the new technology that has been invented gives great grounds for optimism. Modern electric cars are a joy to drive and dirt cheap to run. The shift towards using a technology that is superior in every way to inefficient, expensive and polluting petrol cars is starting to bring huge benefits. Heat pumps and solar panels are dropping energy bills for thousands of people.
As all those petrol cars start to disappear from roads and more energy comes from renewables the demand for oil will plummet. That won’t just be good for the global environment – it could be very good news for global politics. Cutting consumption of oil cuts off the major source of revenue for some very unpleasant regimes.
Year by year the oil and gas revenues are going to drop for Putin’s Russia. It is simply not possible for anyone running that country to spend sums that currently consume 40 per cent of the government’s budget on armaments if the oil money dries up.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran are also heavily dependent on fossilised technology. The vast majority of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and there has been a constant flow of funding coming from that country to help foster its own extremist interpretations of Islam across the planet.
When riches go to the country that controls territory on which oil can be found there is always an incentive to launch wars. If electricity comes from the sun on your roof or from your local wind farm then things will become more decentralised and more locally controlled with much less incentive for warfare.
So there are plenty of grounds for optimism. We still have people who believe in working for the good of the community. We still have many elements of the welfare state functioning to look after those in need. We still have lively talented young people making great art. We have great technology already available that can meet our collective needs without wrecking the environment. Locally generated energy can both cut fuel bills and make the world a safer place. We just lack enough politicians with the vision to take advantage of all that potential.
Andy Brown is the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley in North Yorkshire.