The Mouse That Roared: Vanatua Vs. the World

"The best laid plans of mice and men do often go awry."
--To A Mouse
Robert Burns

"My idea was sound. Only an idiot could have won this war, and he did."
--Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy, The Mouse That Roared

Do you remember The Mouse That Roared? The 1959 film classic was a satirical comedy about an event that takes place during the cold war. In the film an impoverished backward nation declares war on the United States of America, hoping to lose so that the U.S will help stabilize its economy. Unfortunately things don't go according to plan.

The spoof features Peter Sellers playing three different roles: the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy and the inept Tully Bascombe who's been appointed to lead the armies of Grand Fenwick. 

The trigger event for this conflict between the most powerful and least significant nations in the world has  to do with the wine business. A U.S. winery is producing a knockoff of Grand Fenwick's primary export, and undercutting their price. As a result, Grand Fenwick is on the brink of bankruptcy.

The government of Grand Fenwick conceives a scheme--declare war, be defeated and have their economy subsidized by the U.S. Regrettably, the bumbling Tully Bascombe successfully brings the U.S. to it knees by acquiring the world's most powerful new weapon, the Q-Bomb. This unanticipated tactical disaster throws a monkey wrench into the mix. 

This film is what came to mind when I read that a group of students at Fiji’s University of the South Pacific rolled up their sleeves to dream up some bold new climate policies. Among them was a determined law student named Solomon Yeo, who rallied a core group to do more than just imagine—they set out to carve a legal path for every nation, big or small, to step up and face the global beast that is climate change.

What started as a class project quickly grew into a worldwide push, led by these young folks from the Pacific Islands. Their mission? To spell out, in no uncertain terms, what the world's biggest polluters owe to the countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.

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Is environmentalism the new Q-Bomb?

RELATED LINKS
Vanuatas Youth Go To Court 
Landmark Climate Change Case

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The Mouse That Roared isn't the only film in which Peter Sellers played multiple characters. In the film Dr Strangelove Sellers played three roles: Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove himself.

Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck takes the title of his little novel or novella from the poem "To a Mouse (on turning her up in her nest with the plough)." It was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785. The idea of the poem (and the book) is that despite all our crazy plans, men and all animals (yes mice included) are subject to the harsh realities of life, including death. Although we make plans, the universe is chaotic and things go awry.

WARNING: This blog post may reflect the author’s opinion.