George Monbiot

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If Trump gets in, our new government will need to stop seeing the US administration as an ally, and recognise it as our greatest threat. And that changes everything. I explore some of the shocking implications in today's column: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I never thought I’d argue for rearmament. But a looming Trump presidency changes everything | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com A Putin-friendly president would pose a grave danger to Europe. Like it or not, this calls for greater defence, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

If a foreign state had done what the Tories have done to the UK, we would call it sabotage and treat it as a hostile act.

After 14 years of corruption, destruction, chaos and misrule, today, 4th July, is our Independence Day.

In this talk for the Hay Festival, now free to view, I seek to define capitalism and neoliberalism, show how they have trashed our lives and propose some radical alternatives. Do watch if you have a chance. Thanks. www.hayfestival.com/p-21301-geor...

George Monbiot - Hay Festivalwww.hayfestival.com The environmental campaigner exposes our ideology of neoliberalism, conceived by the powerful few, arguing that it’s time to follow a different path.

Whether the far right talks and dresses like Russell Brand or like Nigel Farage, it leads in only one direction: The persecution of minorities, scapegoating as a substitute for policy and the triumph of capital over humanity.

Last night’s debate reminds us that we can afford no tepid or faltering response to the resurgence of oligarchic power. Defending democracy against plutocracy demands steely determination and a powerful new story. They are lacking almost everywhere. 🧵

Timid measures of the kind Labour proposes won't stop the rise of a new oligarchy. Instead we need a political and economic programme of the kind that General MacArthur oversaw in Japan. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Things are not going to get better as long as oligarchs rule the roost in our democracies | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com If we want the kind of fair, functioning state Britain saw post-1945, we need to take on the economic powers that wrecked it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

How Britain’s oldest animal welfare charity became a byword for cruelty on an industrial scale. My column on the RSPCA's astonishing betrayal of its principles. It now does more, in my view, to promote animal cruelty than to prevent it. Plus bonus🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

How Britain’s oldest animal welfare charity became a byword for cruelty on an industrial scale | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com As it celebrates 200 years, the RSPCA is helping endorse indefensible abuse in factory farms, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Philip Adams, one of the greatest broadcasters of our age, is about to retire. This is one of his last ever interviews for ABC. Please do listen. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

George Monbiot on the invisible forces behind neoliberalism - ABC listenwww.abc.net.au In his new book, George Monbiot says the trend towards neoliberalism began in the 1930s, and has so dominated the political narrative that its now seen as the natural way of things. So as the far-righ...

The Israeli government's devastation of Rafah and its people intensifies, yet Joe Biden, having promised to cut off the supply of weapons if it went ahead, still equips Netanyahu's administration with all the deadly arms it needs to pursue genocide in #Gaza.

Our joint column on what's good about Labour's manifesto, what's bad and what just isn't there. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Does Labour’s manifesto deliver what the country needs? Our panel’s verdictwww.theguardian.com Our experts previously revealed what pledges they wanted to see from Keir Starmer in The manifesto Britain needs. Are they impressed by the real thing?

Everything that Labour ought to stand for - but doesn't - is in the Green Party manifesto. My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Who should hold the next prime minister to account? Our best hope lies with the Green party | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com The party’s manifesto, which pledges to use a wealth tax to revitalise our public services, shows it can push Labour to raise its ambitions, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

How do we tell a new political story? My interview with the wonderful Ayeisha Thomas-Smith for the New Economics podcast: neweconomics.org/2024/06/how-...

Neoliberalism: the invisible ideology, with George Monbiotneweconomics.org Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by George Monbiot

In some ways, elections are the opposite of democracy. But these two entirely different concepts have been hopelessly confused. The result? Oligarchic rule continues, regardless of which party wins. It's time to explore better ways. My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

General elections are a travesty of democracy – let’s give the people a real voice | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com Our system is designed for the powerful to retain control. Participatory democracy and a lottery vote are just two ways to gain real representation, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

#IDThought 7: Nigel Farage and his ilk are human smoke bombs, generating a camouflaging cloud of xenophobia and culture wars. What are they hiding? The economic warfare waged against us by the predatory capital which funds their campaigns.🧵

My talk in Oxford on Wednesday is sold out. But don't worry - now I'm doing another on Thursday, at Wolfson College. Do come if you can: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/george-mon...

George Monbiot on "How Neoliberalism Drives Us Towards Systems Collapse"www.eventbrite.co.uk George Monbiot will be in conversation with Prof Anne Deighton about "How Neoliberalism Drives Us Towards Systems Collapse"

Many thanks to Peter Geoghegan for this very kind review of The Invisible Doctrine. www.theguardian.com/books/articl...

The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison review – neoliberalism’s ascentwww.theguardian.com An incisive analysis of how the controversial ideology has permeated modern life

#IDthought 6 At every general election, we are faced with a binary choice. With one cross, we are deemed to have signalled our agreement everything in a party’s manifesto and everything else – if it wins – it can ram through Parliament over the next five years. 🧵

How many of you know what happened yesterday? A new "independent" review for the government, proposing that the last rights of left-wing movements to protest are terminated. Blatantly partisan, dictator's powers, yet scarcely any coverage. My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Who are the real extremists? The people challenging injustices or those trying to shut down our rights? | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com Look at a new report proposing horrifying clampdowns on protest – and ask where the threat to our society truly lies, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

#IDthought 5: Until the neoliberal era, inequality declined for some 60 years. From the 1980s onwards, it returned with a vengeance. Since 1989, America’s super-rich have grown about $21 trillion richer. The poorest 50 per cent, by contrast, have become $900 billion poorer.🧵

#IDthought 4: It is simply wrong to define neoliberalism as ‘free-market economics’. It's nothing of the kind. The ‘freedom’ that neoliberals celebrate – which sounds so beguiling when expressed in general terms – turns out to be freedom for the rich to exploit the rest. 🧵

Could we please stop denigrating wild animals by associating them with the worst possible human traits? I'm thinking in particular of loan sharks, weasel politicians, wolves in sheep's clothing and Laurence Fox.

#IDthought: From 1945-1975, economic life within the rich nations was fairer than ever before or since. But relations between rich and poor nations remained grossly unjust and coercive. Neoliberalism has made economic life grossly unjust and coercive everywhere.🧵

#IDthought 2: Democracy is the problem capital is always trying to solve. Neoliberalism is the means of solving it. It uses the power of the state to destroy democratic resistance: sweeping organised labour, protest and meaningful political choice out of the way.

There is a new, highly profitable asset class in England, traded between corporations, whose units are each worth £100,000 on the books. What are these units? Children in care. An almost unbelievable story. But all too real. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

How can a child in care cost £281,000 a year? Ask the wealth funds that have councils over a barrel | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com Children crying out for stability are paying the highest price for Britain’s chaotic and exploitative residential care, says the Guardian columnist George Monbiot

#IDthought 1: Throughout the media we see an unremitting, visceral defence of capitalism, but seldom an attempt to define it, or to explain how it might differ from other economic systems. We propose a definition that seeks to distinguish it from other forms of economic activity.

Over the next few weeks I'll post a series of ideas and observations from The Invisible Doctrine, under the hashtag #IDthought. First one coming shortly. www.penguin.co.uk/books/455534...

The Invisible Doctrinewww.penguin.co.uk How can you fight something if you don’t know it exists? We live under an ideology that preys on every aspect of our lives: our education and our jobs; our healthcare and our leisure; our relations...

It's UK publication day for The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came to Control Your Life). To our astonishment, it has already had to be reprinted 5 times, to keep up with demand. Thank you for your support! 🧵 www.penguin.co.uk/books/455534...

Big congrats to Friends of the Dart for securing a record 4 bathing water designations on different stretches of the river. It took long and dedicated campaigning just to secure this water testing regime. As for actually getting our rivers cleaned up ... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

England gets 27 new bathing sites – but no guarantee they’ll be safe for swimmingwww.theguardian.com Water campaigner Feargal Sharkey says newly designated sites will join ‘ignoble, floundering list of failure’

How our lives, our planet and our mental health got trashed by something we scarcely understand: a doctrine that changed everything. Neoliberalism. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why is Britain’s mental health so incredibly poor? It’s because our society is spiralling backwards | George Monbiotwww.theguardian.com Even as neoliberalism destroys our dreams of a better life, politicians tell us ‘there is no alternative’. But there is, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot