archived (Wayback Machine)
This article serves as a case against delusions of infinite economic growth and a compelling argument for an economic revolution, but its arguments regarding climate change in particular are misguided at best. Posting this here just to demonstrate the sort of climate narratives that are floating around out there and to point out that we cannot wait around for systemic changes to solve the problem.
Challenges assumptions that rising greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to consumers’ behavior and the fact that the wrong leaders are in charge
Rising greenhouse gas emissions, whether household or industrial, ARE (for the most part) attributable to consumers’ behaviour, and any economist can explain how that is so if you simply ask them about supply and demand. Anarchism would solve any problems related to leadership, but it wouldn’t prevent people from doing irresponsible things.
This article advances the argument that the inaction of states, politicians, companies, consumers, etc. can only be understood within the context of the parameters of capitalist production
Yes. “Capitalist” from the root word “capita” meaning head. Of livestock. The production of livestock has gotten us here, and again, that is largely governed by supply and demand. The business case for increasing production in order to take advantage of economies of scale still requires that consumers buy a product at some point, even if <100% of production reaches the end consumer.
In the end, this flawed way of thinking is merely a form of victim-blaming, in which individuals are made to feel guilty for massively destructive social forces far beyond the control of individual decision-making, all in order to take the focus away from any substantive social movement aimed at replacing the capitalist mode of production with a more sustainable and rational society.
Sure, overthrow the capitalists, 100%. The world will be a more pleasant place without them. But humans are definitely not the (only) victims in this story; humans are the oppressors, and humans are responsible for the current climate crisis.
When we look with sober senses at the crisis we are entering, and when we ask about the reason for inaction to counter the crisis, we are compelled to come to terms with the immense and insurmountable forces we face when we try to address the problem within the confines of capitalist competition. It is high time we fight against the false promises of green capitalism as well as the faulty logic that reduces this crisis to one of “human consumption.” Only by recognizing the real forces behind capital’s destructive growth can we start to imagine what form of society would be needed to escape this mad logic.
There ARE systemic problems that must be addressed, and not ALL greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to individual consumption habits. However, each and every human being on this planet has the option to either participate in the single greatest atrocity ever committed, the ongoing holocaust of non-human animals, which is the leading driver of human-caused climate change, or to abstain, to refuse to be complicit. Individuals DO have the ability to change the course of the current climate crisis. To suggest otherwise only discourages people from trying.
For now, vegans are a tiny minority. But throughout history, that is how every revolutionary movement started. There is no time to waste. The time for action is now.
“Never underestimate the ability of a small group of dedicated people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
(I’m not going to go through this article’s faulty emissions accounting point by point, but I will instead refer the reader to this page for a well-researched and much more realistic breakdown of emissions.)