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 31, 2016

COP21 – climate and capitalism

Click here to access article by Joe Sabatini from Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century.

Sabatini reviews the agreement reach at the recent climate talks in Paris and concludes that it was more about capital than meeting the demands of climate destabilization. Furthermore in order to seriously deal with the future crisis of climate destabilization, our capitalist masters would have to make colossal sacrifices. They much prefer to stick their heads in the sand of conventional capitalist remedies, chief among them is to let the market solve the problem. 

It is obvious that our masters are so committed to a system that delivers them the opiates of power and wealth that they are unable to cope with the demands of a real solution which would require a change of systems. Unfortunately, Sabatini's revolutionary recommendation doesn't suggest that he has much hope for a revolution.