Ursula K. LeGuin wrote, “We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art.”
It's interesting how so many quotes of her words leave out those last two sentences, which I think are the most powerful of the entire quote. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.
And yes, art (including the written word) indeed plays a role in this resistance and change, but it cannot be the only step taken. We must push forward to resist in all avenues of life. To topple the capitalism empire for good and replace it with a society for the people and run by the people in mutual aid and library economies.
We cannot live sustainably within today’s economic system. Yet that is what we are constantly being told we can do.
We can buy sustainable cars, travel on sustainable motorways powered by sustainable petroleum. We can eat sustainable meat, and drink sustainable soft drinks out of sustainable plastic bottles. We can buy sustainable fast fashion and fly on sustainable airplanes using sustainable fuels. And, of course, we are going to meet our short- and long-term sustainable climate targets, too, without making the slightest effort.
“How?” you might ask. How can that be possible when we don’t yet have any technical solutions that can fix this crisis alone, and the option of stopping doing things is unacceptable from our current economic standpoint? What are we going to do?
Well, the answer is the same as always: we will cheat. We will use all the loopholes and all the creative accounting that we have conjured up in our climate frameworks since the very first conference of the parties, the 1995 COP1 in Berlin.
We will outsource our emissions along with our factories, we will use baseline manipulation and start counting our emissions reductions when it suits us best. We will burn trees, forests, and biomass, as those have been excluded from the official statistics. We will lock decades of emissions into fossil gas infrastructure and call it 'green' natural gas. And then we will offset the rest with vague afforestation projects – trees that might be lost to disease or fire – while we simultaneously cut down the last of our old-growth forests at a much higher speed.
As we look forward to #COP28 later on this year in the UAE, anticipating another joyous fossil fuel bacchanalia, I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty from our masters about "Net Zero 2050." They'll remind us once again about all those delicious carbon offsets that are going to save the world for capitalism and consumerism, allowing endless growth forever and ever. No need to worry, they'll say, we've got everything under control! 😃
I think my love for the #fediverse was cemented that time when Raspberry Pi brought a surveillance cop as a brand ambassador to do Influencer Shit™ on here and everyone dragged them for days.
After reading @pluralistic's latest piece on planned obsolescence as technofeudalism, I stumbled across this Tumblr post about how a rusty old 100-year-old Singer sewing machine can be restored to FEARSOME, SUPERIOR working order compared to any newish machine, by swapping in standard-sized parts that attach with standard flat-head screws
Meanwhile the modern machine's plastic parts wear out quickly and very little is attached with standard screws. It also depends on software that's now glitching
I love looking out at our free-growing back yard in the morning and seeing it filled with birds, squirrels and bunnies foraging, while our neighbors' well-trimmed lawns sit still, lifeless, and not even pretty (all due respect to the grass).
Working your ass off to kill off nature when you could just sit and enjoy it and do positive good is one of those American things I'll never understand.
This isn't some anomalous occurrence due to the happenstance of a protest. They are like this 24/7/365, lying, cheating, brutalizing, doing everything they can to stay in power, and that's why they must be dismantled.
There is a better future ahead. If their rule was just, they wouldn't have to expend so much effort to maintain it.
Emissions keep going up. Extinctions are on the rise. Nothing has changed.
So, is it time now for some of us to take a step over the line?
Would you commit a "crime" if you knew that doing so could potentially save thousands of lives?
Those are tough questions, and they are given thought-provoking and perhaps challenging answers in this piece...
The environmental movement has offered waves of demonstrations, petition drives, lobbying and other forms of protest. Yet, despite all that, Earth and its inhabitants are losing the war waged against us by capitalism. It follows that a reevaluation of strategy and tactics of the environmental movement is in order, including a closer examination of how nonviolence should be understood and practiced.
In this context, we need to ask ourselves whether the destruction of planet-killing machinery is necessarily an act of violence. The answer should be no, because it prevents violence against nature. But, as a whole, the environmental movement’s dedication to the strict avoidance of property destruction is extreme in comparison to virtually all other social justice movements.
Capitalism requires scarcity to function. Where scarcity doesn’t exist, capitalists will create it.
We will never live in a post-scarcity world under capitalism because capitalists will use whatever means necessary to prevent it.
They will buy up housing so they can charge rent, they will lock features you used to get as part of product ownership behind subscriptions, they will lobby to prevent newcomers from offering sustainable alternatives.
In capitalism, workers create value through their labor, but capitalists exploit this by paying workers less than the value they produce, resulting in an unjust distribution of wealth where workers are systematically undercompensated for their contributions while capitalists accumulate disproportionate profits. Abolish Capitalism!
Let’s get personal, shall we? I’ve been here a while now, and as I’m feeling quite comfortable at Mastodon, I’d like to share a bit more about myself beyond my passion for the climate and the environment.
To begin with, I’m a male, he/him, hetero, strongly supporting LGBTQ rights. I’m a baby boomer, born at 312 PPM 🌏, a United Statesian, although I lived in Europe (mostly Hungary) for several years, and traveled extensively for work before retiring in 2012. I’ve never been good at sustaining long-term romantic relationships, and I’ve finally settled into comfortable singlehood.
I like to say I’m made of contrasts.
For example, I’m rather funny and quite personable, but I don’t enjoy small talk and I hate parties. I currently live in the Bible Belt, but I’m an outspoken atheist. While I can easily fit into most social situations, I don’t feel comfortable around large groups and prefer being alone most of the time. I live near two huge military bases, but I detest the USA’s militaristic, troop-worshiping culture. I’m almost always cheerful, which masks my deeply felt existential nihilism. I’m a neat freak, but also rather lazy, preferring fun over work.
I’ll finish up with some hashtags to add flavor...
Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) with an artful bit of understatement...
"Leaving capitalist consumerism and market economics as the dominant stewards of the only known civilization in the universe will most likely seem, in retrospect, to have been a terrible idea."