We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, January 11, 2015

McKibben’s Divestment Tour – Brought to You by Wall Street | Part VIII: The “Social Capitalists”

Click here to access article (On 4/12/2015 I discovered that this link no longer works. Access the article from The Art of Annihilation) by Cory Morningstar from The Wrong Kind of Green.

It appears that I have been remiss in missing most of this series devoted to a devastating exposé of the fake nature of "green capitalism" that is being propagated under various names and organizations in order to maintain the capitalist system and fool people into thinking that progress is being made. Many of these organizations such as McKibben's 350.org are non-profits (Morningstar refers to them as "non-profit industrial complex (NPIC)") which are the domestic versions of NGOs that we have seen operating in foreign countries on behalf of the Empire's capitalist interests. Such astroturf organizations function within the US to propagandize people into believing in "green capitalism". Empire operatives have a global perspective to go along with their global Empire aspirations, and thus there is no reason to separate their functions abroad from their domestic applications to manage the views and opinions of ordinary people. 
 
In this article and series Morningstar continues to argue that such organizations are being funded by very rich capitalists and for their interests. These non-profits funnel money of the rich to these organizations in an effort to head off growing criticism from the new-economy movement and their focus on changing the system.
...it matters little whether or not the money is moved from direct investments in fossil fuel corporations to so-called “socially responsible investments.” The fact of the matter is, all corporations on the planet (thus all investments on the planet) do and will continue to require massive amounts of energies (including fossil fuels) in order to continue to grow and expand ad infinitum – as required by the industrialized capitalist economic system.

The windmills and solar panels serve as the beautiful (marketing) imagery, yet they are somewhat illusory – the veneer for the commodification of the commons, which is the fundamental objective of Wall Street, the very advisers of the divestment campaign.

Thus we find ourselves unwilling to acknowledge the necessity to dismantle the industrialized capitalist economic system, choosing instead to embrace an illusion designed by corporate power.
Morningstar also contrasts what is currently being done to meet the threat of climate destabilization with what is really needed to be done:
Massively cutting our energy consumption for essentials such as heat will be very difficult if not impossible. Virtual zero carbon emissions would appear to be no easy feat. But deep and immediate cuts in emissions would be achievable simply by the eradication of, or even the collective rejection of, energy-intensive products, flying [travel by air] and energy-intensive food sources. Think no more “Black Friday.” Think the relinquishing of air conditioners, personal automobiles, fast food, flying, gadgets and everything else we believe we need, but which are in reality, for the most part, no more than short-sighted wants.