(CLIMATE ACTIVISM 101) Getting people from climate change to anti-capitalist politics

[mojo.rhythm]

Hi comrades,

Come tomorrow, Melbourne is slated to be host to one of the biggest climate action rallies in Australian history (we hope!).

While the general milieu at these kinds of rallies are not always the most radical (or even necessarily left-wing), our goals are nonetheless to get people to see capitalism as the root cause of the climate catastrophe, and to see revolution and the demolition of capitalism as the way out.

I'd like to hear thoughts and ideas here: how would you, if given the chance, attempt to convince somebody that capitalism was to blame for global warming?

Feel free to share facts, figures, statistics, rhetorical questions, anything that you think would be useful. :)

[Red Economist]

You can link most environmental problems to over-consumption/consumerism and therefore to human selfishness and irrationality ('the human nature argument'). But this is a dead end as it leaves not solution other than a Malthusian catastrophe because of the 'human nature doesn't change' problem unless you argue human behaviour is heavily conditioned towards being consumerist by advertising, conspicuous consumption, popular culture, Television, etc.

You could certainly argue that the resistance to implementing solutions to climate change is down to the monopolistic character of the energy industry (little competition= little incentive to invest in new technology, infrastructure etc.= bigger incentive to stick with what you have and profit maximize in the short-run from depleting oil reserves irrespective of climate change). Though this is an argument for more competition in the energy sector, so not 'socialist' strictly speaking, but socialism may provide an opportunity is it removes the obstacle of the profit motive for social change.

I think both of these are relatively mainstream 'green' ideas rather than inherently socialist ones.

[mojo.rhythm]

Yeah those are good points.

I was really surprised by how white and middle class the demographic at the rally was. They are basically supporters of Big Green NGOs and the Australian Green Party, and think that they will ultimately save the day.

Trying to break that barrier and showing people the flaws in the system as a whole can be a challenge.

Still, any other ideas and thoughts would be much appreciated for future demos!:)

[Lower Case S]

The best general argument to go with is that capitalism is inherently unsustainable. Capitalism, by its very nature, requires infinite growth. We live on a finite planet that cannot accommodate such a system. It can also be convincingly argued that the profit motive leaves no room for factoring in externalities, as the bottom line will always outweigh any ethical concerns--environmental or otherwise.

There's a book by Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster called What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism. I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, but it might be useful to give that book a read and see how you can apply some of the arguments and information there to your own activism.

[Skyhilist]

Did y'all see the Flood Wall St. protests? Shut down a section of broadway the entire day, and it was pretty much explicitly anti-capitalist. I thought it was pretty badass at least.

[mojo.rhythm]

Thanks for pointers comrades.

I think that the point about the externalities is good.

What would comrades say to someone who thinks that externalities in capitalism can be countered with a simple pricing mechanism?

(P.S. I'll definitely take a look at that book too.)

[Chomskyan]

Did y'all see the Flood Wall St. protests? Shut down a section of broadway the entire day, and it was pretty much explicitly anti-capitalist. I thought it was pretty badass at least.

Indeed it was, surprised nobody posted this.

http://www.socialistalternative.org/2014/09/21/climate-summit-bernie-sanders-kshama-sawant-naomi-klein-bill-mckibben-chris-hedges/

The Nation's Naomi Klein, Truthdig's Chris Hedges, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Socialist Alternative's Kshama Sawant talk about "class warfare" on the Climate.

[mojo.rhythm]

Chomskyan,

Yeah that's a goodie. Although the speaker proposes largely radical-Keynesian solutions, she does draw the link between capitalism and climate change in a punchy, hard-hitting way. Cheers!