Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial by John Fund about Roşia Montană¹, a small town in Romania, where Western “environmentalists” such as George Soros and Vanessa Redgrave are trying to stoke up opposition to a proposed gold mine. This is a place with 70% unemployment, where the filthy remnants of Soviet-era mining remain a scar on the landscape, and where 80% of the population voted for a mayor who supports the project because it will create 700 new jobs. The mine will also clean up a lot of the damage done in the past, according to its backers.

The editorial contrasts two documentary films. Opposed is Gold Futures, by Hungary’s Tibor Kocsis, partly funded by Soros. In favour is Mine Your Own Business by Irish journalists and filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. No surprises which side I back. A Google search suggests that Gold Futures hasn’t exactly aired (on America’s PBS) to rave reviews either.

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1. Rosia Montana, if you can’t see funny characters [↩]

In the rather lengthy comment thread on my child labour post, one point that was made went as follows:

If all you see worldwide is an improved quality of life, then you might be looking at surveys funded by investment banks, businesses and governments. Reports about severe violations of human and environmental interests are repeatedly leaking to the public, although the government is doing everything to avoid such reports, abolishing freedom of information and opinion, punishing citizens for giving information to journalists, imprisoning critics.

Not only does it make me fear for my own safety, but also for the safety of Hans Rosling, of whose TED lecture Jonathan Davis over at Limbic Nutrition reminded me.

If you haven’t seen it, you really should. Even if you’re not at all interested in the data, the data visualisation is spectacular.