This article by Michael Shellenberger for Forbes (written more than three years ago), describes beautifully why nuclear energy ignorance and fear are prevalent in our political and regulatory apparatus in today’s society.
“After World War II, the working class in developed nations become materially rich, undermining the case that only a radical, socialist transformation of society could end poverty.”
“All the problems which had haunted capitalism,” acknowledged Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, “appeared to dissolve and disappear.”
“What could Marxism mean, Hobsbawm wondered, to workers “who now expected to spend their annual paid vacation on the beaches of Spain?” The problem posed by the existence of nuclear energy was that it proved we didn’t need to radically reorganize society to solve environmental problems. In response, radical critics of capitalism shifted their focus. The problem was no longer that capitalism was causing material poverty but rather that it was destroying the environment.“
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Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.