There are certain things in geopolitics upon which one may rely; certain factors may as well be carved in granite. One of those is that whenever a communist calls for "collective action," he means "someone else pays for it." Throughout history, communists have always presented themselves with one hand out looking for a donation, normally from a capitalist country — and the other hidden behind their back, holding a knife, to be inserted in the donor's back at a later date.
This is a fundamental law of the universe, which I will henceforth refer to as "Clark's Law of Communist PickPocketing."
So, when a communist calls for "collective action" on climate change, he's looking for a handout from the West. And no, I'm not casually throwing around the term "communist," either. The person in question here is the Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, who is a member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and he is the one looking for a handout.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said the climate change and sustainability of trade are common global agenda, so they warrant collective action and address.
Inaugurating the 3rd annual conference on 'Climate Change and Sustainability of Trade in South Asia' organized jointly by the World Trade Organization and the Kathmandu University in the federal capital on Saturday, DPM Paudel reminded that Nepal is on the forefront of climate change vulnerability, resulting into adverse impacts on socio-economy and infrastructures.
Decentralization of production centres and diversification of supply chain could help reduce risk in trade infrastructures, according to him.
There's a lot of word salad there, and bear in mind this is The Himalayan Times' English-language page, so something may well have been lost in translation. But let's try to pick this apart.
First, it's not at all clear what climate change has to do with trade. Nepal, mind you, is hardly an industrial powerhouse. Much of their economy is based on tourism. But here's the interesting tidbit from Mr. Paudel:
The DPM hoped the conference would be fruitful to whet the pressing issues of climate change in south Asia and build common perspectives among policy makers, researchers and private sector representatives so that they would take proper strategies for future. Efforts made by Nepal despite its negligible role in climate change need to be made visible. The climate actions like mitigation and adaptation should be prioritized, he suggested.
Thomas Sowell — one of my personal heroes — has often said that when faced with such an agenda, the two questions one must first ask are "To what end?" "At what cost?" The "to what end" part here is almost certainly "to elicit payments from more prosperous nations to pump into bogus climate change efforts" and "at any cost, as long as Nepal isn't paying the tab."
Dealing with communists is always thus; it's like going on a date with a hustler who says he or she is going to the bathroom right before dessert shows up and then bails, leaving you stuck with the check.
This whole thing raises a couple of questions.
First: Who would organize this "collective action" and decide what will be done and who will pay for it? It's important to note that two of the attendees of this rather small summit are two of the nations that are the worst offenders in carbon emissions if you're worried about such things: India and China.
Second: This would require action by the governments of whoever will be called upon to join this "collective action." Will dissent be allowed by the subjects of any of these nations?
Third and finally: Why is Nepal, of all places, making this plea? Their economy, such as it is, is largely dependent on tourism. That means well-off Westerners flying in fossil-fueled jets to visit Nepal and spend money. One would think Nepal, of all nations, would just maintain a discreet silence on this topic.
But then, when dealing with communists, you always have to look past their rhetoric to understand what they really mean.
See Related: California's Climate Theater: All Inconvenience, No Results
Collectivists of every stripe, be they communists or any other flavor of socialist, simply cannot be trusted in these matters. One need only look at the environmental records of socialist and communist nations — China, for example — to see that their rhetoric on "climate change" is pure codswallop. It's a fact that the cleanest, most environmentally-conscious countries of the world are the capitalist (or at least mostly capitalist) nations like the United States.
Nepal's Deputy PM is doing what communists do best: Talking a big game, then expecting others to pick up the tab.
