I'm not sure what the author expects the rest of the world to do. Indonesia is a sovereign state that also claims to have a full fledged democracy and the rule of law. Surely they have all the tools to fix this problem.<p>The outside world has complained to Indonesia about these illegal fires for decades and each time Indonesia has said it would take care of it, giving assurance they will never happen again.<p>But as history has shown us, those assurances are worthless as those fires keep happening. And they keep happening, not not because the world does not care, but rather, the sovereign state of Indonesia is corrupt to the core.<p>Now, hopefully this time will be the last, only because this time around has been the worst ever and the Indonesia population is now being directly effected with multiple deaths and widespread suffering. The have a vote, they should use it.<p>But I doubt much will change, as those corrupt politicians will still be there this time next year.
Because states, corporate powers, & hoarders of capital sweep systemic issues under the rug of their rhetoric...<p>Our cultural consciousness sees this as an isolated event, where the only party involved is Indonesia; meanwhile, we continue to invest in & buy their palm oil, made in the monoculture petro-chemical tradition.
Do not buy anything with palm oil in it.
Find and buy shares of companies that are developing synthetic palm oil alternatives.<p>That's all I've got, apart from impotent fury.
The forests will burn until they're all gone. Future generations will only know about them from pictures and stories. But hey, for one beautiful moment in time, a lot of shareholder value was created.