[chilefuturo] Re: Grecia y el plebiscito
- From: "PLandsberger" <pedro.landsberger@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <chilefuturo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2011 10:55:31 -0400
Creo que Carlos apunta en la dirección correcta, y no puedo evitar el
reproducirles a continuación unas notas elaboradas por John Bellamy Foster para
gente organizada en torno al Occupy Wall Street y similares. (Lo siento, va en
inglés, no he tenido tiempo para traducirlo) .
Capitalism and Environmental Catastrophe
by John Bellamy Foster
John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff at Occupy Wall Street. Photo by
Carrie Ann Naumoff
This is a reconstruction from notes of a talk delivered at a teach-in on "The
Capitalist Crisis and the Environment" organized by the Education and
Empowerment Working Group, Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park (Liberty Plaza),
New York, October 23, 2011. It was based on a talk delivered the night before
at the Brecht Forum. Fred Magdoff also spoke on both occasions.
The Occupy Wall Street movement arose in response to the economic crisis of
capitalism, and the way in which the costs of this were imposed on the 99
percent rather than the 1 percent. But "the highest expression of the
capitalist threat," as Naomi Klein has said, is its destruction of the
planetary environment. So it is imperative that we critique that as well.1
I would like to start by pointing to the seriousness of our current
environmental problem and then turn to the question of how this relates to
capitalism. Only then will we be in a position to talk realistically about
what we need to do to stave off or lessen catastrophe.
How bad is the environmental crisis? You have all heard about the dangers of
climate change due to the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere -- trapping more heat on earth. You are undoubtedly aware
that global warming threatens the very future of the humanity, along with the
existence of innumerable other species. Indeed, James Hansen, the leading
climatologist in this country, has gone so far as to say this may be "our last
chance to save humanity."2
But climate change is only part of the overall environmental problem.
Scientists, led by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, have recently indicated
that we have crossed, or are near to crossing, nine "planetary boundaries"
(defined in terms of sustaining the environmental conditions of the Holocene
epoch in which civilization developed over the last 12,000 years): climate
change, species extinction, the disruption of the nitrogen-phosphorus cycles,
ocean acidification, ozone depletion, freshwater usage, land cover change,
(less certainly) aerosol loading, and chemical use. Each of these rifts in
planetary boundaries constitutes an actual or potential global ecological
catastrophe. Indeed, in three cases -- climate change, species extinction, and
the disruption of the nitrogen cycle -- we have already crossed planetary
boundaries and are currently experiencing catastrophic effects. We are now in
the period of what scientists call the "sixth extinction," the greatest mass
extinction in 65 million years, since the time of the dinosaurs; only this time
the mass extinction arises from the actions of one particular species -- human
beings. Our disruption of the nitrogen cycle is a major factor in the growth
of dead zones in coastal waters. Ocean acidification is often called the "evil
twin" of climate change, since it too arises from carbon dioxide emissions, and
by negatively impacting the oceans it threatens planetary disruption on an
equal (perhaps even greater) scale. The decreased availability of freshwater
globally is emerging as an environmental crisis of horrendous proportions.3
All of this may seem completely overwhelming. How are we to cope with all of
these global ecological crises/catastrophes, threatening us at every turn?
Here it is important to grasp that all of these rifts in the planetary system
derive from processes associated with our global production system, namely
capitalism. If we are prepared to carry out a radical transformation of our
system of production -- to move away from "business as usual" -- then there is
still time to turn things around; though the remaining time in which to act is
rapidly running out.
Let's talk about climate change, remembering that this is only one part of the
global environmental crisis, though certainly the most urgent at present.
Climate science currently suggests that if we burn only half of the world's
proven, economically accessible reserves of oil, gas, and coal, the resulting
carbon emissions will almost certainly raise global temperatures by 2° C (3.6°
F), bringing us to what is increasingly regarded as an irreversible tipping
point -- after which it appears impossible to return to the preindustrial
(Holocene) climate that nourished human civilization. At that point various
irrevocable changes (such as the melting of Arctic sea ice and the ice sheets
of Greenland and Antarctica, and the release of methane from the tundra) will
become unstoppable. This will speed up climate change, while also accelerating
vast, catastrophic effects, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather.
Alternatively, if our object is the rational one of keeping warming below 2° C,
climate science now suggests that we should refrain from burning more than a
quarter of the proven, economically exploitable fossil fuel reserves
(unconventional sources such as tar sands are excluded from this calculation).4
The central issue in all of this, it is important to understand, is
irreversibility. Current climate models indicate that if we were to cease
burning fossil fuels completely at the point that global average temperature
had increased by 2°C, or 450 parts per million (ppm) carbon concentration in
the atmosphere (the current level is 390 ppm), the earth would still not be
close to returning to a Holocene state by the year 3000. In other words, once
this boundary is reached, climate change is irreversible over conceivable
human-time frames.5 Moreover, the damage would be done; all sorts of
catastrophic results would have emerged.
Recently climate scientists, writing for Nature magazine, one of the world's
top science publications, have developed a concrete way of understanding the
planetary boundary where climate change is concerned, focusing on the
cumulative carbon emissions budget. This is represented by the trillionth ton
of carbon. So far more than 500 billion tons of carbon have been emitted into
the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. In order to have an
approximately even chance (50-50) of limiting the increase in global average
temperature to 2°C, the cumulative CO2 emissions over the period 1750-2050 must
not exceed one trillion tons of carbon; while in order to have a 75 percent
chance of global warming remaining below 2°C, it is necessary not to exceed 750
billion tons of carbon. Yet, according to present trends, the 750 billionth
ton of carbon will be emitted in 2028, i.e., about sixteen years from now.
If we are to avoid burning the 750 billionth ton of carbon over the next four
decades, carbon dioxide emissions must fall at a rate of 5 percent per year;
while to avoid emitting the trillion ton, emissions must drop at a rate of 2.4
percent a year. The longer we wait the more rapid the decrease that will be
necessary. The trillionth ton, viewed as the point of no return, is the
equivalent of cutting down the last palm tree on Easter Island. After that it
is essentially out of our hands. 6
This takes us to the social question. The problem we face when it comes to the
appropriate response to impending climate catastrophe is not so much one of
climate science -- beyond understanding the environmental parameters in which
we must act -- as social science. It is an issue of social conditions and
social agency. We live in in a capitalist society, which means a society in
which the accumulation of capital, i.e., economic growth carried out primarily
on the terms of the 1 percent at the top (the ruling capitalist class), is the
dominant tendency. It is a system that accumulates capital in one phase simply
so that it can accumulate still more capital in the next phase -- always on a
larger scale. There is no braking mechanism in such a system and no social
entity in control. If for some reason the system slows down (as it is forced
to periodically due to its own internal contradictions) it enters an economic
crisis. That may be good temporarily for the environment, but it is terrible
for human beings, particularly the bottom portion of the 99 percent, faced with
rising unemployment and declining income.
Overall, capitalism is aimed at exponential growth. It cannot stand still.
The minimum adequate growth rate of the system is usually thought to be 3
percent. But this means that the economy doubles in size about every 24 years.
How many such doublings of world output can the planet take?
Hence, there is a direct and growing contradiction between capitalism and the
environment, a contradiction that becomes more and more apparent as the size of
the capitalist economy begins to rival the basic biogeochemical processes of
the planet. Naomi Klein has rightly characterized the age we live in as
"disaster capitalism" because of its dual economic and ecological crises -- and
due to the increasingly exploitative means the rich employ to enable them to
prosper in the midst of increasing destruction.7
There are two predominant ways of addressing the climate crisis and the
environmental problem generally. One is to look for technological ways out --
often seen as being spurred by the creation of carbon markets, but the onus is
on the technology. The argument here is that through the massive introduction
of various advanced technologies we can have our pie and eat it too. We can
get around the environmental problem, it is suggested, without making any
fundamental social changes. Thus, the pursuit of profits and accumulation can
go on as before without alteration. Such magic-technological answers are
commonly viewed as the only politically feasible ones, since they are
attractive to corporate and political-power elites, who refuse to accept the
need for system change. Consequently, the establishment has gambled on some
combination of technological miracles emerging that will allow them to keep on
doing just as they have been doing. Predictably, the outcome of this
high-stake gamble has been a failure not only to decrease carbon emissions, but
also to prevent their continued increase.
The turn to those alternative technologies that are already available (for
example, solar power) has been hindered by the fact that they are often less
profitable or require changes in social organization to be implemented
effectively. As a result, greater emphasis is placed on: (1) nuclear energy (a
Faustian bargain if there ever was one); and (b) carbon capture and
sequestration technology for coal-fired plants, which is neither economically
nor ecologically feasible at present, and hence only serves to keep coal, the
dirtiest fossil fuel, going. Beyond this the only option that the vested
interests (the 1% and their hangers-on) have left is to push for geoengineering
technologies. This involves such measures as dumping sulfur dioxide particles
in the atmosphere to block the suns rays (with the danger that photosynthesis
might be decreased), or fertilizing the ocean with iron to promote algal growth
and absorb carbon (with the possibility that dead zones might expand). These
geoengineering schemes are extremely dubious in terms of physics, ecology, and
economics: all three. They involve playing God with the planet. Remember the
Sorcerer's Apprentice!
Nevertheless, such technological fantasies, bordering on madness, continue to
gain support at the top. This is because attempts to shift away from our
currently wasteful society in the direction of rational conservation, involving
changes in our way of life and our form of production, are considered beyond
the pale -- even when the very survival of humanity is at stake.
The other approach is to demand changes in society itself; to move away from a
system directed at profits, production, and accumulation, i.e., economic
growth, and toward a sustainable steady-state economy. This would mean
reducing or eliminating unnecessary and wasteful consumption and reordering
society -- from commodity production and consumption as its primary goal, to
sustainable human development. This could only occur in conjunction with a
move towards substantive equality. It would require democratic ecological and
social planning. It therefore coincides with the classical objectives of
socialism.
Such a shift would make possible the reduction in carbon emissions we need.
After all, most of what the U.S. economy produces in the form of commodities
(including the unnecessary, market-related costs that go into the production of
nearly all goods) is sheer waste from a social, an ecological -- even a
long-term economic -- standpoint. Just think of all the useless things we
produce and that we are encouraged to buy and then throw away almost the moment
we have bought them. Think of the bizarre, plastic packaging that all too
often dwarfs the goods themselves. Think of military spending, running in
reality at $1 trillion a year in the United States. Think of marketing (i.e.
corporate spending aimed at persuading people to buy things they don't want or
need), which has reached $1 trillion a year in this country alone. Think of
all the wasted resources associated with our financial system, with Wall Street
economics. It is this kind of waste that generates the huge profits for the
top 1 percent of income earners, and that alienates and impoverishes the lives
of the bottom 99 percent, while degrading the environment.8
What we need therefore is to change our economic culture. We need an
ecological and social revolution. We have all the technologies necessary to do
this. It is not primarily a technological problem, because the goal here would
no longer be the impossible one of expanding our exploitation of the earth
beyond all physical and biological limits, ad infinitum. Rather the goal would
be to promote human community and community with the earth. Here we would need
to depend on organizing our local communities but also on creating a global
community -- where the rich countries no longer imperialistically exploit the
poor countries of the world. You may say that this is impossible, but the
World Occupy Movement would have been declared impossible only a month ago. If
we are going to struggle, let us make our goal one of ecological and social
revolution -- in defense of humanity and the planet.
Notes
1 Naomi Klein, blurb to Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster, What Every
Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism(New York: Monthly Review Press,
2011).
2 James Hansen, Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate
Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity(New York: Bloomsbury, 2009).
3 See the discussion (and sources cited) in John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark,
and Richard York, The Ecological Rift: Capitalism's War on the Earth(New York:
Monthly Review Press, 2010), 13-19.
4 Malte Meinshausen, et al., "Greenhouse-Gas Emission Targets for Limiting
Global Warming to 2°C," Nature 458 (April 30, 2009): 1158-62; Heidi Cullen, The
Weather of the Future(New York: Harpers, 2010), 264-71; "On the Way to Phasing
Out Emissions," Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, April 30, 2009.
5 Susan Solomon, et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106,
no. 6 (February 10, 2009): 1704-1709; Cullen, Weather of the Future, 264-71.
It should be noted that even a target of stabilizing the climate at less than
2°C increase in global temperatures, or 450 ppm, would be inadequate. Hansen
indicates that we will reach critical tipping points, e.g., related to sea
level rise, even before that stage. If we truly wish to avoid such effects and
maintain a stable Holocene state, he argues, we will need to stabilize the
climate long-term at 350 ppm carbon concentration, or approximately 1°C
increase in global average temperature -- a point that we have already
exceeded. See Hansen, Storms of My Grandchildren, 160-71.
6 Myles Allen, et al., "The Exit Strategy," Nature Reports Climate Change,
April 30, 2009; Cullen, Weather of the Future, 264-71; Myles R. Allen, et al.,
"Warming Caused by Cumulative Carbon Emissions Towards the Trillionth Tonne,"
Nature 458 (April 20, 2009): 1163-66; Malte Meinshausen, et al.,
"Greenhouse-Gas Emission Targets for Limiting Global Warming to 2°C," Nature
458 (April 30, 2009): 1158-62; TrillionthTonne.org; Catherine Brahic,
"Humanity's Carbon Budget Set at One Trillion Tonnes," New Scientist, April 29,
2009.
7 Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism(New York:
Henry Holt, 2007).
8 On the systematic role of waste (economic and ecological) under the regime
of monopoly capital and the freedom which that gives us to reshape economy and
society in a sustainable direction, see John Bellamy Foster, "The Ecology of
Marxian Political Economy," Monthly Review 63, no. 4 (September 2011): 1-16.
On military spending levels see John Bellamy Foster, Hannah Holleman, and
Robert W. McChesney, "The U.S. Imperial Triangle and Military Spending,"
Monthly Review 60, no. 5 (October 2008): 9-13. On marketing see Magdoff and
Foster, What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism, 46-53.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Bellamy Foster is the editor of Monthly Review. He is the author of What
Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism (with Fred Magdoff), The
Ecological Rift, The Ecological Revolution, The Great Financial Crisis, Marx's
Ecology, Ecology against Capitalism, and The Vulnerable Planet.
URL: mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/foster291011.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos Contreras
To: chilefuturo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 9:08 AM
Subject: [chilefuturo] Re: Grecia y el plebiscito
mala onda Patricio, los que no tenemos ninguna responsabilidad en este mundo
bien podemos divertirnos con la economía-ficción que propone Iván. La secuencia
de acciones que él propone se aplica a cualquier país y si no Grecia tal vez :
españa, italia, culaquier otro país relativamente pequeño cuando los europeos
dejen de de ser gobernados por sus bancos.
Me gustó la idea de producir nuestros alimentos, ropas, cuadernos, libros,
bicicletas, etc. ¿que mas se necesita?
saludos
El 3 de noviembre de 2011 17:33, Alfredo Eisenberg
<alfredo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> escribió:
La verdad que en vez de ficción basta con el ejemplo argentino. Pagaron el
35% de la deuda y han tenido los 8 años mejores en su historia económica.
ALFREDO EISENBERG
----- Original Message -----
From: Iván Alarcón
To: chilefuturo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2011 5:22 PM
Subject: [chilefuturo] Re: Grecia y el plebiscito
--
Carlos Contreras, presidente
Club Científico de Peñalolén, Santiago, CHILE
http://www.clubcientifico.cl
fonos: 562-7691307 09-2114827
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