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Social and environmental justice means putting an end to exploitation of people and nature. Exploitation of people is not theft or fraud, but the systematic transfer of resources from one class and/or nation to another through the way production and distribution of goods is organized. Exploitation of nature is the use of natural resources in a destructive way, and claiming too much of the ecosphere for the human species, denying the ecological interdependence of all forms of life. The struggle against exploitation of humans has been going on since long before we knew about climate change. It brought slow progress without a decisive victory of one class or another. One of the reasons why the capitalist system is not universally hated is that the exploited working class has been seduced into participating in the exploitation of nature. The capitalist class are the main exploiters of nature but not the only ones. The awareness of and struggle against exploitation of nature is much more recent, and they are often considered not very revolutionary: animal rights movements, voluntary simplicity, etc. Nevertheless, it can be argued that they are more radical than the socialists: instead of aiming for social changes which give the workers the control over the wealth produced by industrial production, they are trying to overcome industrial production itself--because it is unsustainable and its negative side effects overwhelm its benefits. Instead of making the lives of humans more comfortable and fulfilling, the goal of this struggle is to re-establish the balance between human and non-human life. Socialists fight for higher wages because this diminishes the exploitation of humans; but higher wages in the highly developed countries increase the exploitation of nature. What has been higher wages for socialists must be shorter work days and green development for the struggle which we have to fight today. I tried to show here that exploitation of people and of nature interact in tricky ways. Climate change puts these volatile ingredients into a pressure cooker, because of two factors: (1) It gives us a tight deadline. In order to prevent runaway climate change for our children and future generations we must act decisively now. (1a) "Now" means: before the end of this decade. The problem with this is that the consequences of global warming will seem tolerable maybe for another 30 or 40 years and "solutions" which exploit the planet more instead of less, or which shift the cost to those with less political influence, will seem tempting alternatives as long as the capitalist system is still functioning. We have to make radical changes long before it is readily apparent to everyone that radical changes are necessrary. (1b) And "we" means every individual, without exception other than the occasional sociopath, both as producers and consumers. The capitalists control production and the social framework in which individuals live but they cannot tell individuals what to do. Everyone has to strive to resist the temptations of advertising and reduce their own carbon footprint starting today: stop flying and drive less, decide to have fewer children and pets, live in smaller houses or share your house with others, arrange job and home so that you commute less. Sorry for the unexciting news: this is what revolutionary action looks like today. And everyone has to use whatever leverage they have to influence society: by voting, by activism and civil disobedience, by building organizations, by cultural innovation, by quietly working from the social position they occupy through their jobs, religion, sport, etc. I do not mean that everyone has to to everything on this list, but everyone has to do perhaps three items on this list. A lot has to be done in every sphere of society: a safety net for fossil fuel workers, installation of bike paths, gas mileage and building efficiency codes, respect for indigenous rights and meaningful international aid so that the poor nations can leapfrog fossil fuels, requirements that every student learns about the earth system, etc. Pick your passion and work on it. And do not forget your own footprint: It is not an either-or between reducing one's own environmental footprint and changing society, but we all must do both. It is a matter of survival. (2) The other factor added by climate change is that it is such a basic threat for human survival that it transcends classes. Nobody, not even the richest billionaires, benefit from climate change. This helps us but it also hurts us. (2a) It helps us because to some extent, meaningful and necessary measures to avert climate catastrophe can be taken in the capitalist system. Germany did not have to become socialist first in order to revolutionize its energy system (Energiewende). (2b) It hurts us because the danger is so terrifying and the challenge faced by humankind is so new that our cultural traditions and genetically accumulated emotional wisdom have not prepared us for it. Because of all this, the traditional socialist solution of first winning the class struggle and then establishing a sane relationship with nature cannot work. Not only because we do not have time but also because of the structure of what we are trying to do. A sane relationship with nature is a deeper level of social relations than the question who controls the means of production. These two transformations have to go on simultaneously. And since we are reaching the limits of what we are genetially adapted for, we have to fight on two fronts: not only against the social relations which inhibit us from the outside, but also against our own paralysis, because this uncertain long term threat without a clear enemy fails to ring alarm bells and secrete adrenaline. (1) we must overcome a social system which is structurally unable to see that the world economy is overusing planetary resources, along with the cultural and legal norms and ethical standards adapted to this terminally flawed system (2) and we also have to act outside our personal comfort zones, because this is a unique challenge different from anything history and evolution has prepared us for. Instead of the present culture of denial of the danger we must establish a culture of deep cooperation, we must help each other to see and mitigate the danger and find comfort for the inevitable losses. Since all this has to be done very quickly, the only chance I see is to turn it into a campaign of love in order to win over and engage everyone with nobody left out. Try to find common ground instead of keeping your distance from the class enemy, appealing to the human behind the capitalist economic role instead of dehumanizing the enemy in order to win the battle. A decisive minority would be able to establish an enlightened state which forces individuals to make changes for their interest. This strategy is no longer available to us, we don't have time to overcome the resistance against such imposed changes. Instead, we must interact with friends and family and others in such a way that they *want* to make these changes, that they are unable to continue in the old way after having realized how destructive it is. This is a daunting task. Can we really turn the many existing isolated efforts into an avalanche which reaches everyone in the next few years? We cannot know whether or not it is possible because we are in a new situation without precedents. But if we want to dig ourselves out of the mine in which we are trapped, this is the direction in which we have to dig. Hans G Ehrbar _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
