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"Resisting pipeline projects across the globe is the obvious and rational thing to do. However, due to the hegemonic domination of capitalist ideology, we are told we are 'irrational, emotive simpletons who don't understand how economics and profit work,'" Esler writes. (Photo: Peg Hunter/Flickr/cc)
Who Are the Extremists? Who Are the Rational Ones?
The logic of neoliberal reason gives us liberal leaders who lie to our faces telling us we can extract and pump out tarsand bitumen and still make a safe energy transition.
Dec 02, 2018
These are strange times.
What do you do when the political/economic consensus in no way reflects the scientific consensus and all its policy implications? Well, people have a choice: to resist the political consensus and try to create a new one, or to ignore the policy implications of the IPCC reports findings and to distract themselves with other things.
Such is the state of global capitalism today that despite many liberal political and business leaders claiming to believe in global warming, they seem to believe in free market fundamentalism and the public subsidy of the fossil fuel industry even more. (An odd ideological contradiction in and of itself.) The truth is, in dealing with any major social crisis where uncertainty or losing is not an option, state planning, public investment, and tight control of markets is needed on a major scale.
Every liberal capitalist nation turned to state planned investment and put markets on hold in order to mobilize labor and capital towards the social necessity of defeating fascism/Nazism during the Second World War. We need a similar movement today to subsidize clean energy research, ban fossil fuel extraction, and build clean energy infrastructure that the market left alone will currently not allow.
Unfortunately for the planet and all its most vulnerable people, the logic of neoliberal reason makes this obvious solution an impossibility. It gives us liberal leaders who lie to our faces telling us we can extract and pump out tarsand bitumen and still make a safe energy transition that keeps the world under 1.5c. It gives us corporate media that does not point out these obvious lies, systemically filtering out dissent that would risk challenging the fundamental logic of capital.
Resisting pipeline projects across the globe is the obvious and rational thing to do. However, due to the hegemonic domination of capitalist ideology, we are told we are "irrational, emotive simpletons who don't understand how economics and profit work."
In fact, we understand perfectly well; what we don't accept is the starting premise that this current economic status quo is forever and always the optimal solution to every social problem.
It clearly isn't, and this should become obvious after a short amount of time is allotted to some basic research and sober reflection on the facts.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Jack Esler
Jack Esler is a philosophy student at University of British Columbia who is involved with the UBC 350 grassroots club.
These are strange times.
What do you do when the political/economic consensus in no way reflects the scientific consensus and all its policy implications? Well, people have a choice: to resist the political consensus and try to create a new one, or to ignore the policy implications of the IPCC reports findings and to distract themselves with other things.
Such is the state of global capitalism today that despite many liberal political and business leaders claiming to believe in global warming, they seem to believe in free market fundamentalism and the public subsidy of the fossil fuel industry even more. (An odd ideological contradiction in and of itself.) The truth is, in dealing with any major social crisis where uncertainty or losing is not an option, state planning, public investment, and tight control of markets is needed on a major scale.
Every liberal capitalist nation turned to state planned investment and put markets on hold in order to mobilize labor and capital towards the social necessity of defeating fascism/Nazism during the Second World War. We need a similar movement today to subsidize clean energy research, ban fossil fuel extraction, and build clean energy infrastructure that the market left alone will currently not allow.
Unfortunately for the planet and all its most vulnerable people, the logic of neoliberal reason makes this obvious solution an impossibility. It gives us liberal leaders who lie to our faces telling us we can extract and pump out tarsand bitumen and still make a safe energy transition that keeps the world under 1.5c. It gives us corporate media that does not point out these obvious lies, systemically filtering out dissent that would risk challenging the fundamental logic of capital.
Resisting pipeline projects across the globe is the obvious and rational thing to do. However, due to the hegemonic domination of capitalist ideology, we are told we are "irrational, emotive simpletons who don't understand how economics and profit work."
In fact, we understand perfectly well; what we don't accept is the starting premise that this current economic status quo is forever and always the optimal solution to every social problem.
It clearly isn't, and this should become obvious after a short amount of time is allotted to some basic research and sober reflection on the facts.
Jack Esler
Jack Esler is a philosophy student at University of British Columbia who is involved with the UBC 350 grassroots club.
These are strange times.
What do you do when the political/economic consensus in no way reflects the scientific consensus and all its policy implications? Well, people have a choice: to resist the political consensus and try to create a new one, or to ignore the policy implications of the IPCC reports findings and to distract themselves with other things.
Such is the state of global capitalism today that despite many liberal political and business leaders claiming to believe in global warming, they seem to believe in free market fundamentalism and the public subsidy of the fossil fuel industry even more. (An odd ideological contradiction in and of itself.) The truth is, in dealing with any major social crisis where uncertainty or losing is not an option, state planning, public investment, and tight control of markets is needed on a major scale.
Every liberal capitalist nation turned to state planned investment and put markets on hold in order to mobilize labor and capital towards the social necessity of defeating fascism/Nazism during the Second World War. We need a similar movement today to subsidize clean energy research, ban fossil fuel extraction, and build clean energy infrastructure that the market left alone will currently not allow.
Unfortunately for the planet and all its most vulnerable people, the logic of neoliberal reason makes this obvious solution an impossibility. It gives us liberal leaders who lie to our faces telling us we can extract and pump out tarsand bitumen and still make a safe energy transition that keeps the world under 1.5c. It gives us corporate media that does not point out these obvious lies, systemically filtering out dissent that would risk challenging the fundamental logic of capital.
Resisting pipeline projects across the globe is the obvious and rational thing to do. However, due to the hegemonic domination of capitalist ideology, we are told we are "irrational, emotive simpletons who don't understand how economics and profit work."
In fact, we understand perfectly well; what we don't accept is the starting premise that this current economic status quo is forever and always the optimal solution to every social problem.
It clearly isn't, and this should become obvious after a short amount of time is allotted to some basic research and sober reflection on the facts.
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