No crackpots

This is in response to Rakesh Wadhwa’s “The Crackpot Environmentalists,” published in THT on March 21. Capitalism’s model of business is to “provide the best product at the cheapest price” all in the name of benefiting the customer through cost-cutting mechanisms. This business mentality has no social or environmental obligations. Companies such as Nike and Ford leave town to exploit the cheap labour sources and lax environmental regulations of other countries. There is the famous example of Erie Canal catching fire due to excess toxins discharged directly by competing companies into it. A dam holding cyanide trailing belonging to the Aural Gold Mining in Romania overflowed, lacing a river and smothering life in its wake for several miles downstream. Because plants and animals can’t speak for themselves, environmentalists fight for corporate accountability on the former’s behalf. They try to bring justice to a system which manipulates justice in its favour to lower its expenses to turn a profit. Without brilliant environmentalists like Jon Muir, our environment would be in ruins. Capitalism needs to incorporate environmental responsibility into its working modality. Public and private corporations need to begin to include environmental impacts on their balance sheets and pursue the “common good.” Without the dedication of environmentalists, capitalism will continue to “provide the best product at the cheapest price” and consume and degrade everything in its path.

George Fowler, via e-mail

Take action

It is sad to know that several students who, under normal conditions, should have been sitting for School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams, have been duped by schools who had yet to acquire permission to enrol students for SLC. The first open incident of such irresponsible attitude had first come to public notice last year when more than a dozen students were made a victim of the school’s irresponsibility. Episodes like this show that the education ministry has not been properly monitoring the private schools, many of which have only fleeced students and parents. There is a need to keep a close eye on whether the schools are registered with the government. The duty to do so also falls on the parents and student guardians before blindly believing the school management. To begin with, punitive action must be initiated against those running such schools. That will set an example and deter others. Parents, meanwhile, also need to know that the advertisements about enhancing students’ academic abilities are not always true and due care needs to be taken before getting carried away by such ads.

Pranav Gautam, People’s College, Kathmandu

Ignored signs

With regard to the article, “Detaching development aid from politics,” published in THT on March 30, I agree with Prabha Thacker that the reality in Nepal is different from the one normally perceived by outsiders. It is true development projects have been politicised by those in power. Very little of the money and other resources have reached the poor in the country. Philanthropy, as pointed out, has indeed declined. But we still continue to look to others, probably abroad, for philanthropy in Nepal.

Accountability and transparency are non-existent. The descent to the present state of crisis was long coming. As pointed out, it is true we have ignored the warning signs of moral decay and bankruptcy even when being alerted.

Rohit Niraula, Hetauda