- 09 Jan 2020 12:30
#15058585
@Donald, an ideological debate about capitalism and socialism is useless for finding practical solutions for climate change. You may not be aware of this, but as a European who has seen the mess left behind by communism, I know that socialist countries and state-run economies have a terrible environmental track record, far worse than so-called capitalist countries.
The market economy is not the problem because it can be regulated any which way you want. It's the political decision to regulate or not to regulate that's the issue. Therefore, it's the imperative of the Empire that dictates your political decisions and not the market economy (aka capitalism) that's the problem.
The empire uses the market economy for window dressing, but when it loses the competition of the free market, the US uses political pressure, sanctions, and in the end, bombs, to bend the market rules so it can win. What has that got to do with the market economy? But even without that, US imperialism is indelibly wedded to the monopoly capitalism of its corporate empire, just like the British crown was wedded to the East India Company during the British Empire. The monopolies distort the market.
Empirical study shows that climate change denial originates with US fossil fuel magnates like the Koch brothers, etc., and that climate change denial is driven by
1) the American belief in small government, ie. no regulation,
2) the belief in the "American way of life", ie. unlimited wealth accumulation, and
3) the US's geopolitical objectives.
1) and 2) are obvious, and 3) is determined by the US's rivalry with Chine for global domination (again the Empire!). Helping China transition to modern technology and clean energy, helping 3rd world countries cope with the effects of climate change, while hampering the US's fossil fuel industry by regulation and a carbon tax is not thought to be compatible with the imperatives of the US Empire. (They aren’t even defending US interests; they are defending only their own short-term profits, because by delaying the transition to green technology they condemn the US to failure)
From its origin in the US, climate change denial has been spread to the world on the vehicle of right-wing populism.
The US is objectively one of the richest countries on the planet. The number of migrants trying to reach the US is in itself sufficient proof that even US citizen at the lowest level are still privileged compared to the newcomers.
The solution to climate change is not to hypothesize about a socialist revolution that will not and that can not take place, but to regulate the US oligarchy and the political system that prevents equal distribution of wealth in the US.
No matter which side of the political divide you are on, as an American, the imperatives of the Empire form your worldview - if you are against just as much as if you are in favour. Instead of considering practical solutions that work elsewhere, you build a capitalist straw man. By resorting to the capitalist straw man, you avoid addressing the role of the empire.