Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth

Click here to access a book review by this title, reviewed by Simon Butler from International Journal of Socialist Renewal. The authors of the book: John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York.

Butler ends his review with this statement:

How exactly such a “universal revolt” against capitalism can be brought into being cannot be answered by any book. It can only be discovered through struggle. And engaging in a struggle aimed at ecological revolution is, in itself, no guarantee of success. But if people-centred solutions to the ecological crisis are sidelined we can guarantee that the capitalist elites will impose their own barbaric solutions, solutions that will have even greater human and ecological costs. This means, in a sense, that we’ve all got our backs to the wall. The Ecological Rift makes clear that the world’s workers and poor are left with no other option – we’ve got to fight.

Capitalism is on a collision course with our planet's ecosystem. The survival of the human race and many other life forms are now at stake in the struggle to stop this system. A life affirming, sustainable economic system is not only possible, it is now mandatory.