"Councils raise rubbish recycling rate to 14.5%" And that only 30 odd years after publication of the Club of Rome's "Limits of Growth" and the first single frame photos of our planet, Spaceship Earth, taken by Apollo astronauts during their voyages to the Moon.

I don't know whether to fly into a rage, or just sit down and cry at the thought of so many wasted years and the consequences it will have for our children and coming generations. 

We are all to blame, of course, not just our politicians; but they are the ones mainly responsible, because they presumed, and took it upon themselves, to lead us. They have failed us - far more, they have failed our children and coming generations - more than words can express.

By now we should be recycling virtually everything we use, while at least half of our energy consumption should be met from renewable sources, instead of the paltry few percent it stands at now.

What I find particularly galling is that the politicians have not failed themselves - except to the extent of what coming generations will think of them. Most of them have done very nicely for themselves, whether in government or opposition, in office or retirement. Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Bill Clinton, for example, have made fortunes for themselves on the after-dinner talks circuit, as well as receiving very generous pensions and being heaped with honours of all kinds. For failing us so badly they have been - and continue to be - very well rewarded.

The reason, of course, is that most people do not realise just how badly they have let us down. Not that they could have done otherwise; they were simply the wrong people to be leading us. Those who should have been leading us, very few people took any notice of, and when it came to elections their names were not even on the list of candidates, or if they were they lost their deposits.

I am angry at the politicians (and others) who elbowed their way into positions of power and influence for the privileges, advantages, profit and honour that it brought them - to be the blind leading the blind. But I am not going to linger on my anger - there is no point. I don't suppose that they are evil people - just blind and stupid. Most, no doubt, would be deeply sorry if they realised what they had done. I cannot imagine anyone feeling comfortable knowing that they will cursed and damned by coming generations, perhaps even by their own children or grandchildren.