Media push for WWII-style rationing to ‘fight climate change’
Mainstream media outlets are advocating for meat, fuel, and energy to be rationed in order to “fight climate change” because doing so would cut down on carbon emissions.
“How to fix global warming? Bring back rationing, say scientists,” wrote The Times Monday.
“Rationing: A fairer way to fight climate change?” read a headline from ScienceDaily.
“Is THIS the key to tackling climate change? Scientists claim World War II-style RATIONING of petrol, energy and meat could help countries slash their carbon emissions 'rapidly and fairly',” wrote the Daily Mail.
The news outlets cite a research paper published last month in which the researchers use World War II as a test case to argue for rationing to “fight climate change.” The authors conclude that “egalitarian rationing,” a Marxist concept in which everyone — including the rich — would be afforded the same portions of meat and energy, is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
They acknowledge that the idea of rationing is unpalatable to people, so lawmakers who were elected by the people may be averse to mandating rationing.
“Rationing is often seen as unattractive, and therefore not a viable option for policy-makers,” says the paper. “It is important to highlight the fact that this was not the case for many of those who had experienced rationing. It is important to emphasise the difference between rationing itself and the scarcity that rationing was a response to.”
But the researchers say that policymakers can and should mandate rationing because ration recipients during World War II went along with it.
“As long as there was scarcity, rationing was accepted, even welcomed or demanded,” they said in the paper.
“Of course, people did welcome the end of rationing, but they were really celebrating the end of scarcity, and celebrating the fact that rationing was no longer necessary,” they added.
So, in order to get people to “accept, even welcome or demand” rationing, governments must make supplies scarce. This can be done by regulating “polluters” such as oil and fuel companies, long-haul flights and intensive farming so that the public has less access to fuel, energy and certain foods.
The researchers note that propaganda used by the British government to promote rationing during World War II employed a moral argument: “RATIONING MEANS A FAIR SHARE FOR ALL OF US”, read one poster from the era. COVID-19 propaganda, similarly, urged people to don face masks and inject themselves with an experimental serum “TO PROTECT YOURSELVES AND THOSE AROUND YOU”.
