The Reason Review—December 2017
A s we bid farewell to 2017 and set our sights on the year ahead, we wanted to make sure we didn’t neglect some of the biggest stories to occur in the twilight days of December; the political transgressions, economic abnormalities and environmental catastrophes that made 2017 one of the most bizarre years we’ve lived through — for auld lang syne.
Bitcoin: Bubble or Boom?
“The total monthly earnings from [this] cryptojacking, taking into account the current Monero rate, can reach $326,000. These are simply outrageous figures.”
If you’re lamenting the fact that you never got into Bitcoin when it was still cheap, you’re not alone. The value of the controversial cryptocurrency soared across the course of 2017, rising from roughly $700 in January to a high of almost $20,000 in December, when Bitcoin made its debut on the futures markets. But if this event marked the moment when Bitcoin went mainstream, it did little to assuage many of the ongoing concerns over the currency.
UBS was one of many financial institutions to warn that Bitcoin’s popularity is almost certainly a bubble, while $2000 was knocked off its value when a South Korean exchange, Youbit, went bust after being hacked for the second time in eight months. Meanwhile, a report into the new practice of “cryptojacking” revealed that one billion web users have been tricked into unwittingly mining Bitcoin on behalf of third parties, thanks to malicious code hidden in four popular video sites.
Moore’s not the Merrier
“Roy Moore won’t concede; says will wait on God to speak. God wasn’t registered to vote in AL but the ppl who voted did speak and it wasn’t close enough for recount.”
Numerous allegations of sexual assault may not have stopped Trump from winning the US Presidency, but allegations of child abuse did apparently prevent Republican Roy Moore from winning the Alabama Senatorial election in December. Formerly the odds-on favourite to win, the disgraced judge lost out to Democrat Doug Jones by 21,000 votes.
Despite this, Moore staunchly refused to admit defeat. His initial response to the results was to state he would “wait on God and let this process play out” — a claim that prompted former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to tweet the quote above. In the absence of the Lord Almighty Moore then turned to Facebook, where he blamed his loss on “Muslims and Marxists”, while attacking Jones’ gay son. What a nice chap.
Retractions and Rebellion
“Whether it’s through incompetence or insincerity, David Davis has been misleading Parliament from the start.”
David Davis found himself in hot water in December after telling the Brexit committee that the UK government has made “no systematic impact assessment” for the economic results of leaving the EU. As alarming as this news was in its own right, MPs were swift to point out that it also contradicted several previous claims that Davis had made, variously promising that between 57 and 60 impact assessments were on the way — each focusing on a different sector of the UK economy. Instead it transpired that the research he referred to had merely conducted broad surveys of several sectors, with no analysis of the potential impact from Brexit.
Labour’s David Lammy and Liberal Democrat Vera Hobhouse (quoted above) were among those to criticise the Brexit secretary for his misleading statements, but Davis ultimately avoided being held in contempt of parliament. Yet the government’s December embarrassments didn’t end there: 11 Tory MPs rebelled against their party in a key Commons vote, ensuring that Parliament will get final sign-off on any deal agreed with Brussels.
Imbalance Reporting
“While national wealth has substantially increased, public wealth is now negative or close to zero in rich countries… this limits the ability of governments to tackle inequality.”
According to the Word Inequality Report, published in December by French economist Thomas Piketty, the world’s richest 0.1% have increased their combined wealth by the same amount as the poorest 50% — some 3.8 billion people — since 1980. The report, compiled by over 100 researchers and contributors, draws on the most extensive database of the historical global distribution of income and wealth within and between countries.
Alarmingly, the report reveals even more disturbing statistics; that he top 0.1% gained 13% of the world’s wealth, and the top 0.001% — roughly 76,000 people — captured 4% of all the new wealth created since 1980. “The global top 1% income share could increase from nearly 20% today to more than 24% by 2050,” says the report. “In which case the global bottom 50% share could fall from 10% to less than 9%.”
A Rising Tide
“No official limits exist in the EU for neonicotinoid pollution in freshwater. But a peer-reviewed scientific analysis…recommended chronic and acute levels that should not be exceeded.”
We’ve talked a lot about the problem of pesticides in past instalments of the Reason Review, but it’s a problem that persists. In December it was discovered that of 23 UK rivers tested for contamination, only 6 were free of harmful neonicotinoids, with 16 showing chronic levels of the chemicals. The Guardian’s environment editor Damian Carrington explores the lasting damage these substances are having on the UK’s wildlife.
Waste Plastics Scrapped
“I don’t know what impact it will have. It is… something to which — I will be completely honest — I have not given sufficient thought.”
In the wake of Blue Planet II’s standout success and environmental analysis it seemed that plastic pollution was firmly back on the political agenda in the last days of 2017. But in spite of British environmental secretary Michael Gove conceding that a plastic bottle deposit scheme might be a sensible move for UK consumers, there was another, far larger, problem to which the minster admitted to having given little thought — China’s refusal to import and process foreign recycling as of January 2018.
Currently the UK relies on China to import some 280,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, and has shipped over 2.7m tonnes of plastic scrap to China and Hong Kong since 2012. Unearthed reports show that the UK government has known about China’s plans since July 2017, but failed to act.
See Something
“Under the Trump administration, every day is Christmas morning for the fossil fuel companies…”
Author and activist Naomi Klein makes a pretty convincing case for becoming a supporting member of 350.org, an organisation for which she is a founding board member. “We need to spread the word and fight for what we do want; a safe, clean and fair future for everyone.”
Read Something
“Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…”
You may know that Weapons of Reason takes its name from a quote by Marcus Aurelius, one of the key figureheads of Stoic philosophy. As we enter what will no doubt be another turbulent year in world politics, The Daily Stoic Journal offers philosophical insight and daily writing exercises to help you develop a sense of clarity and inner peace. If you’re looking for a way to shrug off the existential angst of 2018, this could be just the ticket.
Do Something
“The UK produces billions of pieces of throwaway plastics such as plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic cups and coffee cups every year.”
If you think bottle deposit schemes don’t go far enough and are concerned about the government’s lack of action on recycling, how would you feel about a plastic tax imposed on all corporations making throwaway plastic products? Feels pretty good right?
