Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Abrupt Climate Change and The Failure of Democracy

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

Friday, July 10, 2015

Abrupt Climate Change and The Failure of Democracy

Click here to access article by Chrisopher Black from New Eastern Outlook. (Note: the link he cites in the article for "FirstPost website" must be in error. The correct article can be found here.)

Black is one of a few notable observers who is facing head-on the current and projected calamitous impacts of climate destabilization, and he urges us to face them with him. As laudable as this article is, I have a few problems with it that I don't think is merely nitpicking.

He is clearly befuddled by what to do about the destabilization of the climate which is only beginning to occur because, as he argues, governments don't care--both "the capitalist world and even the socialist world that is entrapped within its systems." This confusing sentence reveals a lot related to his general confusion and depressing statements which suggest that nothing can be done about climate destabilization. His argument seems to pose only a moral appeal to people of the world to force their governments to do something constructive.

And, what is the "socialist world"? He specifically mentions only China. He adds a little later to this confusion with these statements:

...even in the socialist world, though things are done to try to limit pollution and reduce carbon in the atmosphere, as we see with China’s tree planting program, and carbon sequestration initiatives, they are still locked into a predominantly capitalist, for profit world, there still seems no urgency, and the leaders talk in terms of decades instead of months.

This begs the question can democracy really exist in nations of tens of and hundreds of millions of people? What is this democracy?

I think the source of his intellectual confusion--which not only affects him but most others who are concerned--is the ubiquitous indoctrination programs of capitalist elites. They have people thinking that all one needs to do is label a party or government with a "socialism" tag and this makes them socialist (for example, see this in reference to Vietnam). Likewise for "democracy". Capitalist ideologists have deliberately caused this confusion to interfere with their subjects ability to think straight--an ability which is vitally needed to overthrow their deadly system and replace it with a sustainable and equitable one.