The problem is, as always, that if anyone does anything about it, they, their family, their neighbours, their community, and their country, will be smashed. They will resist the smashing, and in doing so all principle will be lost. The upshot will be that whoever wins, it will be a shower of psychopaths. At least, that is what has happened every time so far, from Wat Tyler to FARC. Passive resistance doesn't seem to help either, witness Burma.

What can be done? Don't ask me, if I knew I'd be running for President of Europe, like my contemporary the Kelly Killer. The lifestyle choice route is a non- starter too, all they'll do is make it impossible, or slot a nice comfortable ethical product into the market to salve your conscience. And it will probably be bogus.

For example, the PAT testing rules mean that it's often illegal, and usually risky, to sell or even give away second hand electrical goods, which is why most charity shops won't accept them. Buy organic, if you believe them- how "free range" are the eggs you buy? How can you know? The supply chain is obscure unless you grow the stuff in your own back garden, and subsistence farming isn't an option in cities.

I suppose I'm of the opinion that we have little choice or influence. The world will survive. Human society will not necessarily do so. In the worst analysis, the solar system's got about 4 billion years to go, so if we kill everything back to bacteria, "intelligent" life has time for another 2 or 3 tries.

Perhaps a quasi- religious movement could generate a new ethical framework, in which discipline is imposed voluntarily. But any structure powerful enough to do that will be a standing temptaion to those who could use that power for their own purposes.