There are a number of gaps in the human rights platform that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. The first is that in eighteenth century France, it excluded women, which was more than a minor oversight. It means that where womens’ rights had prevailed, there were the beginnings of a more balanced society. But while womens’ voices were heard in occasional outbursts and as far away from the functions of government as could be managed, the bigger flaw in the liberal vision remains the exclusion of the planet and the natural world from future vision. There is no way that humanity can be left to destroy the planet’s resources from the highest levels of the atmosphere to the deepest recesses of the oceans. It is not just ironic that a species which claims the world’s resources for itself should make such a good job of destroying life on the planet, its own included. It is also extremely offensive, not least because of the high levels of coercion that the world’s rulers apply to those around them.
Urban Food Chains
the links between diet and power
