Link to a transcript of a speech by João Pedro Stedile:
Tag: Environment
John Bellamy Foster – Be Moderate…We Only Want THE EARTH
Link to an article by John Bellamy Foster about the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Sixth Assessment Report:
Thomas Redshaw – Cryptocurrencies
Link to an article by Thomas Redshaw:
“Cryptocurrencies: A View From the Left”
Bonus link: “The Egregious Arrogance of Sam Bankman-Fried (& His Ilk)”
Christian Parenti – Saving the Planet Without Self-Loathing
Link to an article by Christian Parenti:
“Saving the Planet Without Self-Loathing”
Bonus links: “Greta Thunberg Is No Genius – She’s an Apostle” and “‘Clever Statistics and Creative PR’ Cover Inaction on Climate Crisis” and “How the Rich Plan to Rule a Burning Planet”
Rob Urie – Strike for the Environment, Strike for Social Justice, Strike!
Link to an article by Rob Urie:
“Strike for the Environment, Strike for Social Justice, Strike!”
Bonus links: “Greta Thunberg in Review” and “Greta Thunberg Is No Genius – She’s an Apostle”
Michael Hudson – Global Warming and U.S. National Security Diplomacy
Link to an article by Michael Hudson:
“Global Warming and U.S. National Security Diplomacy”
Bonus link: The State and Revolution
Christine MacDonald – I Went to a Climate Change Denial Conference
Link to an article by Christine MacDonald:
“I Went to a Climate Change Denial Conference. It Made Even Less Sense Than You’d Think.”
This article was published on the magazine In These Times’ web site. The publication is populist, meaning that it constantly strives to demonize its political opponents and construct an enemy. Aside from that, what the article explains about climate change deniers is that they are engaged in what Jacques Lacan called “university discourse” in order to defend a particular social structure. Bruce Fink explained this concept of “university discourse” in his book The Lacanian Subject (1995):
“the university is an arm of capitalist production (or of the ‘military-industrial complex,’ as it was called . . . ), suggesting that the truth hidden behind the university discourse is, after all, the master signifier. Knowledge here interrogates surplus value (the product of capitalist economies, which takes the form of a loss or subtraction of value from the worker) and rationalizes or justifies it.” (p. 132).
“Working in the service of the master signifier, more or less any kind of argument will do, as long as it takes on the guise of reason and rationality.” (p. 133).
See also Peter Sloterdijk, Critique of Cynical Reason (1983):
“What counts today is not the spectacular effects but the solid facades, respectability. What was earlier called swindle today is called expert advice. *** Today, without an academic education one cannot even become a swindler anymore.” (p. 488).
Populists generally avoid getting into these issues, because to do so would tend to reveal the large degree of agreement between them and the political far right. But this article is still a good example of how the right doesn’t care about making “good” arguments as long as they serve their desired (if unstated) social arrangement.
John Molyneux – How Fast is the Climate Changing?
Link to an article by John Molyneux:
“How Fast is the Climate Changing?”
Bonus quote:
“That the capitalist class is most interested in protecting its power, position, wealth and way of life means that the struggle to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of global warming is a class struggle. It is a struggle for power — not a struggle over morality or individual consumer choices. The capitalist class holds out the promise of ‘more of the same’ because that is the way that it can continue to accumulate wealth while working people get the same raw deal of exploitation, racism and oppression that they have for centuries.”
Jodi Dean, “Climate Change Is Class War”
See also “Global Warming and U.S. National Security Diplomacy” and “The Discovery and Rediscovery of Metabolic Rift” and “Endangered Species Act: A Failure Worth Fighting For?”
Rob Urie – How NAFTA Killed the Green New Deal
Link to an article by Rob Urie:
“How NAFTA Killed the Green New Deal”
Bonus links:“Climate Change Is Class War” and “Global Warming and U.S. National Security Diplomacy”
Rob Urie – Toward an Eco-Socialist Revolution
Link to an article by Rob Urie:
“Toward an Eco-Socialist Revolution”
There are many reasons to question the proffered solution here, which would be unpopular and prone to the all the problems that have historically accompanied peasant societies (rigid social hierarchies, etc.). Still, this article thinks seriously about real issues and the necessary scope of solutions, and actually ventures to offer a solution.