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Joining 350.Org: The Next Phase
Today I joined the newly formed Board of Directors of 350.org, coinciding with a range of exciting new changes at the organization. I have been a supporter of 350.org since I first heard about the wacky plan to turn a wonky scientific target into a global people’s movement, and I’m thrilled and honored to be officially joining the team.
In the past three years, we have all watched the number “350” morph into a beautiful and urgent S.O.S., rising up from every corner of the globe, from Iceland to the Maldives, Ethiopia to Alaska. In the process, 350.org helped to decisively shift the climate conversation from polar bears to people – the people whose island nations, cultures and livelihoods will disappear unless those of us who live in the high emitting countries embrace a different economic path.
What has always mattered most about that magic number is that we are already well past it. That means there is no time to waste on stalling tactics like action plans that only get serious in 2020 and shell games like cap-and-trade. Our single goal has to be radically cutting our emissions right here, right now – not a decade from now, and not by paying someone else to do it for us.
If there is one thing that the failure of cap-and-trade has taught us, it is that trying to win this battle by lobbying elites behind closed doors is a disastrously losing strategy. Not only did it fail to deliver even weak climate legislation in the U.S., it made climate action look like just another opportunity for cronyism, helping to alienate a large sector of the public.
As 350.org has known all along, the real task is to build the kind of mass movement that politicians cannot afford to ignore. That means showing how making the deep emission cuts that science demands is not some dour punishment that will destroy our economy (as the Koch-funded right is perpetually claiming) but rather our best chance of fixing an economic system that is failing us on every level. Shifting to renewable energy and re-localizing our economies could create millions of good new jobs, while leaving us with cleaner cities and a healthier food system. And as 350.org’s Global Work Party showed, a big part of averting climate chaos involves rebuilding and strengthening our frayed communities – and that is a joyful process.
But it’s not enough to dreamily imagine the world we want. We also have to confront, head on, the forces that are determined to use their power and wealth to stop us. Which is why 350.org just launched a campaign targeting the deeply anti-democratic influence that major polluters have over the political process in Washington, starting with the biggest fish of them all, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (chamber.350.org).
I see this campaign as a breakthrough moment in the history of the climate movement, recognition that the struggles for economic justice, real democracy and a livable climate are all profoundly interconnected. As 350.org founder Bill McKibben puts it: unless we go after the “money pollution,” no campaign against real pollution stands a chance. The same can be said for any progressive goal, from labor rights to net neutrality. As we recognize these (and many other) connections among our various "issues," I am convinced that a new kind of climate movement will emerge, one that is larger, deeper and more powerful than anything we have seen yet. There is no question that 350.org will be helping to lead the way, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
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92 Comments so far
Show AllYawwwwwn
Yes, you're boring. She, on the other hand, is important.
And you are....?
I guess someone who gets pissed off by worthless, idiotic comments.
The fact is that days these type groups never seem to succeed at anything. Especially during the last 10 years.
Stop climate change? Please. You can't even stop your local bank from screwing you out of your home or stop Washington's thugs from bust'n up the planet. Things you CAN change. But the climate thing is so abstract, isn't it?
Nice logo though.
yo people should get out into nature more..
Climate change is nothing to be debated any more..
I have lived in Oregon all my life and the obvious changes that are occurring are
not to be denied.
I think the Amerikan people could give a flying about the people on the islands that
are disappearing.. and the polar bears.
Hell they don't even care about sending the their neighbors kids off to kill kids half way across the world so they can fill up the old suv with the last of the cheap oil.
The only way to get amerikans attention is to address issues that hit them in the
wallet or purse. If we indeed had a liberal news organization in this country they would be connecting the dots between record heat, record floods, etc ands 350.org
You have to deal with children poising as adults, as children.
Soon even the ditto heads will have to get a little scared.
Speaking of not being able to stop someone from screwing you, what do you think of the odds that Naomi Klein's mom Bonnie (who directed Not a Love Story) will show up at SlutWalk Vancouver?
They are on facebook
A Billion stream, a billion scream.
It is 0k to take a stream any stream, green, environment, antiwar, socialist, feminist, spiritual, gay/lesbian, peace group, radical or middle road, men/women, in fact we must, ultimately all rivers flow run into the same SEAS.
If something as pathetic & FICTITIOUS as UNITED CITIZENS exist, surely the many rivers that we are with universal truth as our common-ground taking to the seas in all our diversities is a prerequisite to any vision of a genuine transformation & evolution.
Citizen united is a made up name empty, sterile, cold, inhuman & no resonance, it is barely few years old, we are a billion year flesh & blood not shares.
First we must accept sincerely that we have different tasks. diversity can only enrich us, we should know by now that ALL IS CONNECTED, FIRST, FOLLOW YOUR BLISS, the rest WILL COME NATURALLY.
United we will never be defeated.
No Terror No Torture Just Truth.
If we all yawn instead of organising to save our beautiful planet from the mental illness that is greed/power/money that is fast destroying it - then we will all go to the long yawn of annihilation - but then I guess that is what nihilism is all about - a yawn of fear and inaction in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds; yet we must overcome our collective yawn and realise that if we act now there is still just time to save the planet for our grandchildren to enjoy! Wake up!!
Here is the basic problem:
There are many issues that need attention.
There are fewer people to address them. The progressive lot is very, very small. VERY small. Its basically irrelevant at this point.
I suggest tackling the warmongers and Big Finance first. Then the rest will be easier. These (2) are at the root. Cut the roots.
So many organizations, so many visions left blowing in the wind.
But, good for Naomi. If it makes her feel good, great.
I suggest you take other people's work more seriously. Dismissing their work and acting so smug, superior and patronising ("But, good for Naomi. If it makes her feel good, great.") is, as Crowley said, "counterproductive". But it's not just that, imo. If you do not take people seriously and respect their opinion and especially the work they put into supporting it, you're using the same kind of undemocratic thinking that imo got us into this mess. I may not be right, and I know I do this too, so I'm a hypocrite, but I find these kinds of posts, directed against people doing actual good work, just because you disagree on some strategy or whatever issue...well, I don't think that's very nice. And it's not like your assessment of the situation (that warmongers and big finance are more important than global warming) is uncontroversially right. There's a very, very good case that could be made for the opposite statement.
Seriously, I haven't seen any results.
Too many well intentioned, smart people just not getting it done.
I'll say it again, few people trying to do too many things.
If there were an opposition party in this country, perhaps we wouldn't be inundated with so many major problems, they could have been avoided as we went along, but we don't have an opposition party, now do we?
What I'm saying is focus on the obvious. It may not be the sexiest subjects (as 'green') but finance and our foreign policy are the main roots of this issue.
Oh wonderful! An opportunity to state clearly:
There is an "opposition party in this country!"
The light is Green. Go!
Don't just say you'll vote Green, say you'll roll up your sleeves and work. The Greens need good, solid candidates, not superficial charismatics serving up pitchers of kool-aid.
lots of things are getting done...lots of people changing consciousness in many ways...if you don't see it in the "news" doesn't mean it isn't growing. it's like spring in the desert -the flowers are there, just have to look. corporate america is not supporting green, it's grassroots, like the peoples movement in WI and across the land. one day it wasn't and the next day 100's of thousands.
a brilliant person like Naomi Klein will give more analysis, strategy and visibility. don't tear us down, add to the chorus.
moonpie says.. "Seriously, I haven't seen any results."
-- I haven't either. But the good news, for me, is in this statement of Naomi's:
"I see this campaign as a breakthrough moment in the history of the climate movement, recognition that the struggles for economic justice, real democracy and a livable climate are all profoundly interconnected."
-- I have always been disappointed in some of the environmental movements because they never seemed to deal with the reality that REAL POWER does not lie in the political system... it lies in the economic system. In a recent Democracy Now show, Klein talked about how most of the environmental movements refused to deal with the economics part of the equation, and that they needed to understand that they will have to focus on the economics if they are to have any chance of making a difference.
So, I think that while it is true that we have seen very few positive results from the past decade of the environmental movements... it IS good news that the movement is finally going to address the economic parts of the problem, instead of just pleading politicians for continued half-measures. This new recognition in the movement *could* finally help direct the focus to the obvious.
Eric.A.Blair,
Words and more words and you feel good huh? That's good for you. By all accounts moonpie is right!
We'll keep on talking just like in the Palestinians/Israelis talks been going on for more than 40 long years!
Huh? What are you talking about? I'm sorry that your despair is so overwhelming that is does not allow you to see the somewhat good news of Naomi joining this movement. Also, you must be confused because I didn't really disagree with moonpie. If you take the time to go back and listen to the entire Democracy Now show with Naomi Klein you might see why I think it is a good thing that she joined this movement because it could help the environmental movement focus on exactly what moonpie is speaking about. Or not... and you can continue to wallow in despair and be confused by my words.
Let me help you...here is the DN show I am speaking about:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/9/
naomi_klein_on_anti_union_bills
Despair is all that's offered by most CD commenters. It wouldn't surprise me to learn they're right-wing plants to imbue the site with hopelessness and apathy. It's what they're best at.
from the article:
~ As 350.org has known all along, the real task is to build the kind of mass movement that politicians cannot afford to ignore. ~
Ms. Klein,
there is no non-violent mass movement a politician cannot afford to ignore...
voting is a hoax, and all the rest is either business, or begging...
the role of the politician is not what you seem to think it is...
they do not do things for the populace, they do things to them...
for their masters...
I no longer understand your position...
you write knowingly of Disaster Capitalism, and yet...you favor private property?
can you not see that private property drives the devastation you decry?
She's, you know, willing to accept reality to achieve stuff. I don't know if she favours private property or not, but it's pretty clear that if you think global warming is important, it's not realistic to say "we're going to start doing something about it only after we can abolish private property". Sometimes you have to be a bit more realistic, but of course it doesn't mean that you have to give up your principles.
I don't consider politics reality...
I'm questioning why she, or you, or anyone else, for that matter, does...
or says they do, at any rate...hmmmm...ulterior motive?
how can you continue working without destroying the planet?
how can you quit your job without sacrificing your right to necessities?
the banker is behind it all...why not say so, and quit pointing fingers at politicians set up for precisely such pointing, that the bankers might go unnoticed?
Oh, she does say so. But just telling the truth doesn't really change anything.
telling the truth does a lot..it's an important ingredient...first step is awareness....shine the light ..the dark is exposed...
Hello there sorry but '''TRUTH''', does MATTER.
For decades trillions were spent distorting the MEDIA just to DENY US the truth.
Man&woman were killed, tortured, to bury the truth.
I'm sitting right here typing these words & as I do, a couple of ass holes beneath & around my flat, are sitting too, their job is surveillance & make my life hell, covert electronic harassment/attacks with every means @ their disposition, I WANT GO INTO THE DETAILS IT WILL NO DOUBT FREAK YOU, IN THIS CONTEXT TRUTH IS WORTH KNOWING NO MATTER HOW PAINFUL IT IS.
IT IS ABOUT THAT WORD & ALL ITS COMPLEX LAYERS, 'CONSCIOUSNESS'
Governments will be fully accountable for the cold blooded torture that IS taking place right now right here & the crimes elsewhere.
They will be accountable they are fully aware they have names for these things, these ops, collateral , containment policy, or the most trendy one preemptive, they don't use it anymore, they don't have to, the UN just oblige them to go for it inspired by the master piece, IRAQ the great template, .
You see they take a GIANT LIE repeat it enough for a billion people to believe & voila it works.
Truth works exactly the same way, similarly to the BIG LIE, TRUTH also required repetition than action to reinforce it.
Truth is so important for Bradly Manning he took the risk to sacrifice his life & he may just pay the price for his stand, NOT IF WE CAN HELP IT, HE IS US & WE ARE HIM.
PERHAPS AFTER THE READING OF THIS SENTENCE ANY TIME OF YOUR CHOOSING ALLOW HIM
TEN SECONDS OF YOUR TIME, BECAUSE I GUARANTY U THAT WE ARE IN HIS MIND MOST OF THE TIME,
WE ARE THE ONLY HOPE HE HAS, HE NO LONGER HAS A GOVERNMENT NOR DO WE FOR THAT MATTER, WE MUST REINVENT GOVERNMENTS, NOT WITH A PIECE OF PAPER EVERY 2,3 OR 4 YEARS BUT EVERY F'''''G DAY. FIXING OUR EYE LIDS, IN THE MIRROR, CALIBRATING THE LEVELS OF COMFORT OF OUR TIES IN THE MIRROR ARE ALL
LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. WE MUST DO THE SAME WITH WHAT IS AT LEAST EQUALLY important
SECOND THOUGHT EXPONENTIALLY MORE important IN TERMS OF THE PATH, VISION & DIRECTION WE ARE TAKING.
Julian Assange in his own style, is no doubt the equivalent of a battalion & no regrets he has 250.000 questions a whole bunch of truth.
The great Rachel Corey an angel in modern times she too was seeking the truth, she was murdered in cold blood she too was asking questions literally seeking the truth. All of them were young, educated, had families, comfort, health wealth & safety.
The truth is we need the truth GATES and our respective members of the coalition of the killing, the so called leaders who are everything but that, the INDUSTRIAL MILITARY COMPLEX our respective governments the so called chamber of commerce, the republicans in particular, the corporate REPS will never stop lying.
Corporations have invented a whole world called marketing, advertising, public relation, the entertainment industries, the propaganda machine, the flags, the bibles & the drums most of these props & tools, exist solely for that purpose, manipulate the truth.
THE MATRIX IS REAL AS LONG AS WE CAN SEA IT FOR WHAT IT IS AN ILLUSION, IF WE DON'T WE BECOME, THE ILLUSION.
So let the fun begin IT STARTS BY ASKING THE QUESTIONS, TO OURSELVES, TO ONE ANOTHER ABOUT HOW, WHEN & WHERE FROM HERE? AND TO THOSE WHO MISUSED THE POWERS ABOUT HOW, WHEN, WHERE & EQUALLY IMPORTANT WHO?
We are entering a new stage of the repression/oppression in what is defined as the west in terms of demographics &cultural structures, where infiltrating, & framing up citizens, organization is not enough but a direct CRIMINAL, COVERT attacks by governments, corporations, the industrial military complex alike WITH DEGREES OF STEALTH COLLABORATION AND COMPLICITY IN ITS VIOLENCE BECOMES A FRIGHTENING REALITY IDENTICAL METHODS, MORE ADVANCED & MORE ADAPTED TO OUR TIME & SPACE. USED BY STALIN & GERMANY.
THEY DON'T WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO COME & ASK THE QUESTION, THEY GO TO THEIR HOMES & GIVE THEM WHAT THEY THINK IS THE APPROPRIATE ANSWER.
THEY HAVE ALREADY STARTED WITH SOME OF US THIS IS NOT 1942 THIS NOW.& HERE, I EXPECT IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO SINK THAT'S OK & THAT'S THE TRUTH.
No Terror NO Torture Just Truth.
I'll give you this much dubet; you're absolutely right about the "bankers". If we could get off the money-as-debt merry go round, it would be a lot easier to address these other issues.
dubet
I like getting free stuff and you don't like private property, so it seems we are a perfect match.
Now if you could just let me know when to come to your place and grab your stuff I would really appreciate it.
I have told you when...the same day your stuff becomes available for general sharing...the day we all agree upon as the day of transition...if you really want all the old VCR movies clogging the shelves in my basement, buddy, I'll bring them to you...
I have suggested September 22, 2012 as a possible date...
or, we can continue competing for jobs and tiny plots of meaningless ground while our 'government' and industry goes on killing, jailing and enslaving others, while destroying the living world in the process, to keep you wallowing in the phones and cars and movies and computers and garbage and toxins and Corexit and radioactivity you love so much, and the time to sit on your ass and play with them, until you get cancer, or lack viable air, water and food, and wither away into death, which still puts you way ahead of the future fetus...
and all under the watchful eye of the drone...
lovely...
what's your plan?
To actively take part of the change for better that I want to see in the world. We don't just have common dreams, but also common choices.
"…to keep you wallowing in the phones and cars and movies and computers and garbage and toxins and Corexit and radioactivity you love so much…"
What the hell are you talking about? You must be addressing someone else.
I was questioning your disdain for private property, as being probably 1 inch deep.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you will transition yourself into a beggar, and have zero private property, and give away more than the crap you aren't using anyway.
Then you can lecture, and criticize the lessor of the rest of us.
So, some day we are all going to agree on general sharing? Is that the same day, every person has some kind of spiritual epiphany, and the beast in all of us becomes a lamb? ( pardon the biblical flair)
Or can we stop off somewhere before then like Norway, Sweden, Austria, or some other terrible society that still has property rights but essentially lives in peace, and few go without the essentials of life.
If this bloody mess of civilization grinds to a halt, and we find ourselves living in mud huts, won't we will still have "property"? Sticks, stones, flint if we can find it, a well to drink water. Some will want to give it to others, some will want to take from others. The song of the next millennium, sadly.
I don't disagree with your idealism, but to sit aloof AS IF you have given up "private property" as you criticize the rest of us born into this world of stuff, isn't honest.
Get real.
Man, aren't we the divisive ones?
I hope everyone understands: Divided We Fall.
So, if everyone could just follow ....... me, think of how united and strong we'd become.
Liberals, progressives, and leftists can't even agree on what to call themselves while conservatives stay "on message" no matter how idiotic.
But it is said that "diversity is strength" and we've got to hope that's true. The case needs to be made to the populace as well as we can and since the message on the left side, mixed as it is, is way more humane when looked at than what the right wingers are trying to pull off, maybe the public will get it in time.
Speak out however you can and just because we're divided doesn't mean we're conquered yet -- uncharacteristically positive sentiment but that's what I'm thinking at this moment.
"Never mistake motion for action." -- Ernest Hemingway
This is an exciting and important movement, and it will be worldwide and local. A people's movement to try to save our planet. To keep the earth habitable. To keep it healthy for our children. This is a way to pressure and influence politicians and corporations. To alter our lifestyles for the better. All cultures will embrace this concept. The youth will rise to the occasion and push this movement. And women especially will join. They are our vital link with Mother Earth. There is no other issue out there that comes close to this in importance.
Thank you Naomi.
350 is a good organization.
The good news is the most expensive renewable, solar panels, are now cheap enough to PAY FOR THEMSELVES in 5 to 10 years, depending on the State.
So load up and start generating. I am generating twice the juice I need with a 5.6 KW system (<900KW per month).
For the price of a new (inexpensive) car you can 'save the planet', and get your money back...DIYers clean up.
Do this, and then join 350.org!
3 cheers for 350.org, Naomi Klein, and Common Dreams (for hosting this).
Jeers for our hand-wringing and blame-passing to the greedy focus of wealthy elites. Shame on all of us who proclaim global awareness and concern while we fail to muster equivalent focus of consensus and determination to Get Things Done as is commonplace in commercial marketing and productivity.
Our greatest and fast-approaching common challenge of collective-self control can be perceived and coped with while there is time, or we can surrender to apathy and irrational, fatalistic fear.
The challenge demands rapid education, with emphasis on science and reason over partisanship and emotionalism. There is no time for talk of a socioeconomic restructuring. No time for political pigeonholing and tribalism. We must all focus and take action together to commence a sharp reduction of carbon emissions now. 350.org is right on target.
Sign up, donate, and get involved Right Now.
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1879/t/11555/
There's much I'm sure we can agree on about the authoritarian and wealth-concentrating trajectory of USi society and others. It seems to me that where we don't quite see eye-to-eye is about giving up, instead of standing up- also in terms of using what we have sociopolitically and technologically to avert the worst outcomes in an accelerating pace of events that will not allow us time to tear everything down - our political, economic, and (inextricably) ecological structures for example - and build it all back again. It simply can't be done without setting ourselves, our environment, and the diversity of species back a very long way.
In the most dysfunctional and repressive of broken-down democracies, I consider the apathetic public equally culpable as "The Man". Nothing is happening without our consent- be it informed, engaged, or otherwise. We are going to need all of our collective wits, and all of our technology intact to meet the existential challenges ahead. This has always been our story.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0214-20.htm
http://www.culturalcognition.net/
http://www.celsias.com/article/identity-politics-climate-change-hell/
http://libcom.org/thought/approaches/primitivism/
http://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/?p=730
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/books/review/Sanghavi-t.html
Peace to you too, highkarate
I don't mean to ignore any of your points. Let's try not to talk past one another. What I mean by "giving up" is your apparent readiness to write off every institution as irredeemably corrupt: "Academia, Technology and every other important system has been co-opted by the Miltary/Prison/Techno Complex." Because I haven't read any expression of how to remove or replace the underpinnings of society, then I am left to assume that you consider allowing them to collapse (which would most likely involve an ecological collapse) as the right thing to do, or to allow to happen.
You mention Chomsky, although the mode of activism he personifies is not one of abandonment of our institutions, nor does he exhibit despair at the prospects for reforming our societies. We don't find Chomsky advocating the hasty dismantling or abandonment to entropy of our present social structures. He is a prominent activist and a social critic, but not one who promotes ecological and economic collapse as an inevitability or a desirable outcome.
Hedges, perhaps. DMG and Immortal Technique, I am in ignorance of. Any links you may offer that provide a look through their perspectives (especially in the context of environmentalism) would interest me.
What I'm most interested in understanding about you is this: If you can agree that the most likely mode of initial aspect collapse will be ecological- How can you defend the notion of accepting or encouraging the collapse of the present global socioeconomic system (even abandoning its reform through committed activism) as an environmentally responsible position to take?
"Where did I talk about giving up?"
I am speaking of giving up on democratic reform:
"We must put ourselves on the gears of this war machine, not start filling it with ethanol, or cry over the new shiny windmill... If you think there is time for incrementalism, you are sadly mistaken."
"Chomsky was mentioned to allude to his political theory and analysis."
What specific theory and analysis?
"The collapse is here, it is economic and those who are caught up in the Rapture of a green economy, or are fooled by the ping-pong game of politics, are going to be lost in the spiritual awakening that is happening with a significant, albeit mostly poor and working class, who are using the matrix of eons of Empire and super-imposing it on the new NWO matrix grid."
I'm trying to follow: You say that underprivileged are superimposing old empire on present amidst a collapse.
"if you are invested in Empire, if you are privileged, if you are an academic, you have much invested in Empire and it's new technocratic clergy."
Since Noam Chomsky is an academic, does that make him part of a technocratic clergy in your estimation?
How are the classes you describe as "using the matrix of eons of Empire and super-imposing it on the new NWO matrix grid" not also invested in pre-existent structures?
Where do you draw the line between people and organizations that can be reformed to protect the environment (along with the vulnerable among our own species) and those who are beyond redemption?
"once you take the red pill, follow the rabbit down the hole, you realize that history has conspired against the weak"
It's not a deep or obscure concept, unconscionable exploitation of the underprivileged. What I'm trying to understand about your view is what you find of value in prior human achievement, what you would have us discard, and how we can expect to solve global problems in the absence of present sociopolitical structures.
"the big 500 pound gorilla in the room is not the NWO. It is not the fall into a technocratic nightmare like the idiots Orwell, Huxley, Gilliam, Twain, Jefferson, Eisenhower warned us about. What a bunch of idiots those guys are! Add Lennon, MLK, and might as well throw in St Marie, Dylan et al. We might as well throw out the whole renaissance while we are at it."
That's quite a lot of thought to dimiss, and this is what brings me back to my question. We're talking about how to reduce carbon emissions here, and I'm trying to follow your reasoning here.
"Most people in other countries have nothing to lose, they see reality clearly."
I assume you are speaking of the considerable variety of people who do not live in the USA. It's a rather sweeping generalization, and I'm not sure what vulnerabilities or perceptions you consider as distinct from life in the USA. Please be specific.
"your arguments are way too sophisticated to be going off on ridiculous tangents."
"They got us by the balls man."
You say that I am mischaracterizing your comments to describe them as expressions of political resignation. Please straighten me out- I really can't make out where your suspicions of insidious and elite control in every organization leave room for any intelligent collective agency. Nor do I understand what alternative systems you are seeking.
With regard to the environment, and the growing imperative for us all to do something intelligent together about the challenges before us: How do you maintain a sense of environmental consciousness/responsibility, while advocating the downfall of present social structures without a clear concept of replacement, and at great risk of tremendous human and ecological upheaval in entropy and strife?
Because we're fast approaching serious environmental crisis, I think it's rational triage that we focus on reducing our burning of hydrocarbons now, and before undertaking major restructuring of economic and political systems.
350.org: "Our theory of change is simple: if an international grassroots movement holds our leaders accountable to the latest climate science, we can start the global transformation we so desperately need."
Does that make any sense to you?
"why is confronting the corporate control of our institutions and the organizations and people behind it a call for overthrowing and overturning those institutions?"
Your posts here convey a despair towards democracy and present social institutions. If you will review the framing of my question to you, then you can discover that I am trying to learn not only about how to justify the abandonment of present socioeconomic structures (actively or passively). I'm inquiring as to how you might separate an ecological collapse as a component (if not breaking point) of social collapse. I'm seeking a basic outline of what you see as more practical and ecologically-sustainable alternatives to demanding decisive reductions of hydrocarbon combustion in the near term.
If:
You consider our sociopolitical institutions to be beyond the influence of democratic solidarity and activism;
and -
You consider global warming a serious ecological threat
Then:
How do you propose that all of us who are informed and concerned about the challenge ahead should proceed?
or-
If it all seems hopeless to you, then I have nothing further to explore about the topic here with you.
Alternatively,
if you have a concept of how to allow for or finesse the collapse of present political and economic systems in an ecologically-responsible way, that's something I'm interested in hearing about from you.
Or,
if I've completely misunderstood you, and you do see substantial promise in informed democratic organizing and activism for the purpose of mitigating disastrous climate change, then that interests me too.
If you're just not sure, that's fine too.
I am not trying to characterize your position and perspective, conduct "psy-ops" or make any sort of trouble for you. I'm sincerely trying to understand both, by asking without hidden agenda for your indulgence in explaining your outlook. Although what you've expressed so far remains murky to me, I encounter similar opinions every day, and I that's why I would very much like to know more from you.
"how about giving some personal stories to let us know you are not a trained monkey or a closet sociopath?"
If I am either, you still have nothing to fear from me. If I am sincere, then we can enjoy in complete personal security a sharing of worldviews from new angles. Within the general context of topic in discussions here, I'll do my best to describe things as I see them: where I am, how I got here, and what it looks like from here.
Peace, highkarate!
The issues are what we should gather around, not political parties which take too much energy to create and maintain. The Greens are run by Democratic Party moles; that's why they've done nothing in 30 years. They're kept weak as just another pressure group on the Democrats, and we see what good that's done for the unions, women, and people of color.
I remember in the 60's when I became aware of the system being the problem - - I was new to the antiwar movement but got exposed to others' ideas by going to meetings and listening..........then I began to read - a lot - and figured it out.
I'm saying that naysayers are usually agent provocateurs because they want to discourage people - "resistance is futile" - or "unless you start a violent revolution right now, you're just not doing anything" sort of trash talk.
Don't pay attention to their nonsense. I'm glad for Naomi Klein because she's on our side. Any group she joins will absolutely benefit.
Global Warming/Climate Change are still happening, despite our attention on other disasters like Japan's. We need to fight on many fronts at once; that's what a serious activist does.
"unless those of us who live in the high emitting countries embrace a different economic path"
She means chuck/burn the personal/societal raison d'etre prevailing among 8 out of 10 whiteys living during the past three/four centuries. Quite a shift. Remember the natives said "White man build big fire, stand far. Red man build small fire, sit close".
"one thing that the failure of cap-and-trade has taught us"
The elites concocted Cap/Trade to snooker the people into believing the cap part was going to benefit people/planet while the trade part allowed elites to continue the enslavement/plunder of people/planet. Funny that anyone would pretend that elites can do something to benefit people/planet when their basic priority is to enslave/plunder.
I'm certainly a fan of taking action to save the environment but while people continue to 'fight global warming!' they continue to ignore that the ruling elite have already figured out how to manipulate weather and cause disasters such that we may never know again what is natural and what is man made. The environmental movement focus MUST be on POLLUTION or else it is doooooomed! Pollution and polluters have origins with names and addresses that can be tracked and traced and accounted for. (trivia question! What company is responsible for the most carbon emissions into the air on the planet?? Answer: The US military!) 'Climate change' and 'Global warming' are big scary monsters that may or may not exist. Focusing on these false idols puts your butt right in the laps of the elite and they will do mighty dirty things to you as you sit there and try to play their global warming shell game while they pollute ever nook and cranny of the globe.
This is similar to a vector of thought that I have been interested in exploring with 'highkarate' above. The gist (as I understand it so far) is that elites are solely in control of energy choices, and that we (the non-elite) are powerless to significantly reduce the burning of hydrocarbons without first restructuring our society.
I don't consider this position to be rational. There are many ways of influencing policy that most people do not as yet take up. Total revolutions are a considerably more ambitious political undertaking than demanding a change of energy policy by democratic, civic, and civil-disobedience actions.
In the Mideast we are experiencing revolution, but a reduction of hydrocarbon combustion is not high on the agenda. Across all of Asia development and change is accelerating, but without any signs of reduced carbon emissions. If we understand the dangers, then we know that very serious global consequences from unabated hydrocarbon burning are less than a generation ahead. When people take up this subject, the shibboleth of futility beneath the unwavering agenda of the elites comes out. Soon to follow are accusations that anyone questioning such resignation is an agent of the insidious elite.
It's escapism; a cop-out. The notion of us against those who have "got us by the balls, man" is the reducing of political and civic engagement to an abstraction devoid of sincere investment; identity politics as sport; political discourse the neotribal behavior of fans occupied with superficial spectacle; an escapism from facing the issue we're dancing around here.
It's past time that we all must understand that we've all got to do something together- and we don't have time to turn our societies upside down before we stop our fossil fuel pyromania. Please take this very personally, WakeUpAndDream, because I'm asking you for answers.
If you have a rational case to make for revolution and a new society as the shortest path to sustainability, then please express the process that you envision clearly. If you're just here to idly toss in political word-salad as if this is a game, then please get out of the way, and let political adults interact here. We're not posturing and flashing team colors about some kind of idle sport- we're trying to save the world.
No kidding.
I agree WakeUp... I think the big environmental picture is lost in these one-note "climate" debates. I think chasing a gas distracts from the real problem. If we reduce our CO2 output but continue to dump toxins in our soil, water and air would that be okay? The environmental movement had the beginnings of the plot 30 years ago REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and they lost it. They waded into this murky debate over one gas and the movement has been stalled for decades. It is a red herring that opened the doors for debate. If we were talking about all environmental destruction of our ecosystem there would be no debate about it... and maybe more would get done.
I have the greatest respect for Naomi Klein--I think she is one of handful of world citizens who show the way forward for humanity. That said, I hope that her joining 350.org is a sign of its own growth; the last time I checked, it was little more than a clearing house for rallies to raise the issue of global warming. Some real-world politicking is definitely in order, and someone of Ms. Klein's stature will provide impetus toward that end.
I'm not authorized thus as Adriene Kronauer would say "Here goes." Good morning, Common Dreams-- oh, it's not that time of day where you are-- hey catch a plane to New Zealand. Regardless, and all "serousness aside," I really like this story.
Now just look out for the heavy flak which will come from people with a bad irony and sarcasm deficiency.
Hey, this is a good story-- now there. But by all means let's lose all sense of humor and perspective and go off the head as the British would say.
Gday! No worries bring a plate m8, we're chocka chuffed greenies who never get in a spin. Maybe a few hard cases and a dag here and there, but all bright sparks, not a hoon in sight.
eHyperWads is your new moniker.
LOL. Just read all the cynical posts on this blog in response to a movement comprised of very hardworking and sincere people. Will 350.org be successful? We don't know yet, but it seems like a noble effort to me.
But, alas: progressives couldn't pull together in a common direction if they were lined up, given a thick rope, and pointed due east. That's why the left in the country is doomed to failure as far as the eye can see. We are too busy sniping at each other to do anything constructive.