The issues on the agenda today are the environment, renewable energy, the Arab revolt, poverty, and conservation.
Elderly should have no environmental guilt
Sir,-While standing in a supermarket, I overheard the checkout assistant advising an old lady about the harmful effect of plastic bags on the environment.
The old lady apologised and explained that, in her day, the green issue was unheard of.
On reflection, however, I wonder if this old lady had anything to apologise for?
In her day, bottles were returned to the store. People walked up stairs because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building.
They walked to the shops and didn’t fire up a 200hp 4×4 every time they had to travel half a mile.
For many, even making a telephone call meant a considerable walk to the nearest telephone box. Grass was cut using a push mower.
With all this exercise in everyday life, there was no such thing as a gym with its vast array of powered treadmills supplemented by flatscreen televisions.
Disposable nappies did not exist. They were washed and dried on a clothes line using wind and solar power.
Children got hand-me-down clothes, not always brand-new clothing.
There was one television in the house. In the kitchen, blending was done by hand, not by electricity. Water was drunk from a fountain instead of using a disposable plastic cup.
Pens were refilled with ink instead of buying a new pen. Razor blades were replaced instead of throwing away the whole razor.
Children walked to school or took the school bus. There was one electrical socket in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.
No, I really don’t think the old lady had anything to apologise for.
Roy R. Russell.1c Smithy Road,Balmullo.
Diversity of power potential
Sir,-G. M. Lindsay admires my optimism on the future of renewable energy (April 2). I thank him for that but am disappointed by the disingenuous nature of his arguments against it.
He cites the figures for “current UK” energy production. However, these figures are irrelevant as we are discussing future Scottish energy production.
Scotland already generates over 30% of its energy requirements from renewables, with that figure rapidly rising.
Secondly, his disparaging of wave and solar power is equally misleading. Wave is already capable of providing the megawatts he demands, with research promising much more very soon.
As for solar energy, it merely requires light to function effectively in the private home. It does not need sunny weather as he implies.
Stuart Allan.8 Nelson Street,Dundee.
Looming global conflict
Sir,-Could Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel be a casualty of the Arab revolt?
In the new Egypt, a former spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Kamal al-Hilbawi, has called for an end to the treaty.
The brotherhood and its off-shoots, al Qaida and Hamas, have long seen Israel as a powderkeg of enmity and may now have the touchpaper to ignite an explosion that will reach us all.
Some may welcome such a move. Others will see it as a first step to world conflict.
Andrew Lawson.9 MacLaren GardensDundee.
Fair taxation will eliminate poverty
Sir,-Congratulations must go to Comic Relief for the massive sum collected to help reduce poverty in Africa and the UK.
The same credit is deserved by the other organisations who work to relieve distress and hardship.
The irony of these fund-raising successes is that it lets the people who have the power to make significant changes to the lifestyles of the poor off the hook.
The fund-raisers get the majority of their cash through the generosity of the less well off in society and, while impoverished people hold out their hands for a crust, the rich do not even blush. But even they are not the worst culprits because the governments, particularly of the G12, have the real power to redistribute wealth.
Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher’s economic advisor, believed that individuals should go all out to look after number one and leave charities to cope with the poor.
Her successor Tony Blair touted the theory that the poor would be better off if the rich became richer.
President Obama tried to convince greedy America that, far from being evil, taxation is the proper way to redistribute wealth.
The problem is that we live in a greedy world controlled by greedy people who tout anti-taxation propaganda to ensure that they keep as much of their money as possible, even though they very often obtain their wealth by abuse of their positions of power.
Ordinary people’s ability to keep giving is not infinite and greed will never regulate itself. The real solution to poverty rests with governments through wealth redistribution via fair taxation but as long as the greedy hold the positions of political power it will never happen.
Allan MacDougall.37 Forth Park,Bridge of Allan.
Conservation’s sinister side
Sir,-The language of Eric McVicar (April 5) is sinister.
In the name of conservation, he advocates a cull of non-indigenous species.
So conservation is not really as cuddly as panda logos would lead us to believe? Is it instead a cover for the population control of humans as well as animals?
Mr McVicar has previously argued against salmon farming stating that we are protecting predators at the top of the food chain.
Does the protection of human life we are also at the top of the food chain also matter little to him?
Robert Anderson.Kirkton,Arbroath.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.