Some environmental activists argue the only way to stop the impending ecocide is to carry out nonviolent acts of civil disobedience to shut down the capitals of the major industrial countries, crippling commerce and transportation until the ruling elites are forced to publicly state the truth about climate catastrophe, implement radical measure to halt carbon emissions by 2025, and empower an independent citizens committee to oversee the termination of our 150-year binge on fossil fuels. UK-based group Extinction Rebellion has called for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience on April 15 in capitals around the world to reverse our “one-way track to extinction.” Joining Chris Hedges in the second part of a two-part discussion from London is Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion.
In this segment of the interview, both participants emphasize the non-violent nature of the protests. I think this is completely naive. They both see the need to be realistic in proposing their strategy of massive non-violence, but in doing so I think they are being unrealistic about the drugged rule of their adversaries.
Throughout my many years of warnings about the threat of extinction, I have always emphasized the drugged nature of our adversaries in the dominant capitalist ruling classes that make up the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire. The organization of the Empire reflects their own makeup of the latest iteration of capitalist rule (neoliberalism): the transnational character of their rule and the globalization of their activities based on the old cornerstone of capitalism--the sanctity of private ownership of the economy using a hierarchical system of authority. Because of this hierarchical system that they necessarily employ, a relatively few people that makeup this ruling class determine how the rest of humans will participate in their societies. Most important of all is that this capitalist system is fundamentally in conflict with our biosphere, but their addiction to power and the basic conflict between capitalism and a sustainable planet prevents them from acknowledging that fact.
I insist that we recognize the drugged nature of these people: they are thoroughly addicted to power that the system of capitalism delivers to them. Addiction is a strong word, but I use it deliberately to indicate the reality of their irrational behavior that is inevitably leading to the extinction of all of us whether capitalist or ordinary people.
The unrealistic nature of the strategy that Hallam is proposing is based on massive participation to shut down the capitalist organization of most of the world's economies. Both Hedges and Hallam wrap themselves in the completely unrealistic righteous clothing of non-violence. But we are not dealing with rational people. We are confronting a very powerful and addicted tiny class of people who have demonstrated over and over that they will stop at nothing to preserve their power. Thus, we must not advocate the violent overthrow of this regime, but be ready as best we can to confront their violence with our own violent power in defense of our objective--a sustainable planet. To do anything less is to accept defeat which means our disappearance from the Earth. We won't have a second chance at devising a new strategy. We must put everything into this effort to save ourselves if we want to continue our very existence as a human species.
