Forum Post: Capitalism vs. the Climate
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 14, 2011, midnight EST by puff6962
(4052)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
This article in the Nation is worth reading:
http://www.thenation.com/article/164497/capitalism-vs-climate
I read this and I agree with most of what Klein's saying here. I'm not comfortable with the idea of denying clear science simply because you don't like the results, and I have no more patience for global warming deniers than I do for creationists. I do also feel like we're going to have to address this on a public policy level as well as on a private level, and that's going to have to start with more sustainable development planning and a concerted move toward solar and wind power in place of coal and oil (including no Keystone XL- tar sands oil is incredibly dirty and needs to be treated as such).
That's a great article! Some highlights...
" More than that, climate change implies the biggest political “I told you so” since Keynes predicted German backlash from the Treaty of Versailles. Marx wrote about capitalism’s “irreparable rift” with “the natural laws of life itself,” "
" When demonstrators are cursing out the corruption of their governments and corporate elites in Athens, Madrid, Cairo, Madison and New York, climate change is often little more than a footnote, when it should be the coup de grâce. "
It's no surprise that this hasn't gotten any attention here. The ramifications from our misuse and over-consumptive habits are brewing. I'm really not entirely sure we have the will to turn this train around, but I think there's still hope left... even if its slowly being extinguished.
I've done the math. If you divide the mass of earths atmosphere by 7 billion people, then correct it to 14.7 psia, each person gets a "box" of atmosphere one mile by one mile by 815 feet high. That's it... no more! If every human lived like the average American, the earths atmosphere would be pretty screwed up, pretty fast. Are there capitalists that seek to profit off climate change? YES... that's what capitalists do. Capitalists are not for or against any thing, they simply seek profits from every thing.
Thanks. Everybody should read this, on both sides. People need to understand from where their ideas originate.