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

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Harvey & Climate Change: A Comprehensive Guide

Click here to access article from Climate Nexus
The science of attributing extreme weather to climate change is complicated and developing every day. Here’s a guide of what we know about the links between climate change and Harvey to help unpack the elements that contributed to this historic and unfolding storm. 
Obviously any website sponsored by the Rockefeller foundation (as this is) is not going to provide any relationship between the growing incidence of climate disasters and capitalism. Nevertheless the article does analyze the evidence from not only Hurricane Harvey but many other such events to indicate that a process of climate destabilization is continuing to wreck havoc on our habitat, and will very likely accelerate in the future if humans continue with literally "business as usual" (def.). And, of course, capitalist ruling classes will continue because they are fatally addicted to a system which provides them with the drugs of power and wealth. So, it is up to us, the vast majority of working people, to end this fatal disease of capitalism and to create a new system that can function in harmony with nature if we are to have any chance of surviving.