Planetary Death Drive

Much commentary has been devoted to the comparison of the global vaccine roll-out and COP 26 process. It is certainly true that in both cases the wealthy North/West/Developed "Center" is taking care of its own and letting the "Periphery" suffer. Nothing new there. But I think another interesting comparison is the way citizen/workers in both spheres continue to both refuse to wear masks and refuse to take global heating seriously. This is the same disavowal wearing two different masks. In both cases the humans are so wedded to capitalist ideology that both of these threats, the pandemic and climate change, are seen as secondary to maintaining economic growth. This not just eletes protecting wealth,power and status by "manufacturing consent". The masses also prefer getting sick and roasting the planet to disrupting their "way of life" (not just comfort but the whole project of Modernity, to the degree they understand it as the forward march of progress). Of course this "preference", this misrecognition, is taking place at the level of action. It can be expressed in all sorts of superficial irrational "rationalizations" such as government conspiricy, love of liberty, cabal of evil scientists, etc..Anything but acknowleding capitalist democracy doesn't actually work and History doesn't necessarily progress. At the level of unconscious knowledge, they know perfectly well the virus and global warming are real and that their actions will lead to destruction. That knowledge has to be repressed because shattering the ideological structure would be too painful to bear, the guilt and shame and reality just too terrible. Better to disavow, to enjoy the fantasy. Part of that fantasy is The End Times as Punishment. Here, humans are fallen from grace in the gaze of the big Other and deserve annihilation. This form of justice would prove that life has some meaning, some teleological Reason. Most people will tell you humans are bad, greedy and selfish, that is their "Nature". And that outer Nature is mean and brutish. Therefor whether it is a pandemic or climate, it is just wiping the slate clean. This is the nightmare and we need only awaken to the dream. But we can only awaken through death.

Uncritical Race theory

Lots of us White People, especially us guys, the kind who lead pretty exemplary lives of hard work and church on Sunday, followed by the NFL and hot wings, maybe a few Budweisers, we don't need a big guilt trip put on us about our heritage. Did our ancestors make some mistakes? Sure. Did our country make some mistakes, sure, what country didn't? But that doesn't mean you have to drive anti-American, anti-White propaganda into our kids' brains at school. They hear enough depressing shit as it is. So maybe we could just "accentuate the positive", as the song says. Talk more about Morning in America.Think of all the awesome stuff they could be teaching; winning world wars, winning the space race, most gold medals in the Olympics for example. What would be so wrong about that? Just let bygones be bygones and move forward, without all the baggage you can't do anything about anyway. Let the kids have a fresh start. After all, we had a Black President! There are Black Superstars in sports and entertainment,think about how suceessful Oprah is! I mean we already have Black History Month, a whole month! So why be so critical? You want to take a knee, do it in your own home.You want to teach about the Civil War? Include both sides.

Revere The Law

Sure, you have a right to your life, but it is conditioned by The Law and what The Law giveth, The Law can also taketh. Liberals are upset over the Rittenhouse vedict because they are forced to confront their reverance for The Law as the glue holding not just civil society but civilization together. But as society slides further into barbarism and The Law is exposed as the enforcement mechanism of whiteness and wealth ( always obvious but the illusion gets harder to maintain) liberals cling ever more desperately to the established order. Fund the police to be kinder and gentler. Build some nicer tent camps with toilets somewhere on the edge of town. Try to focus on the bright spots of COP 26. Pass an infrastructure bill to "invest in the future". Act as if you don't know. So-called "conservatives" also revere The Law as the upholder of property and order but worry it is being undermined by wokeness police. If libs are woke that means they must be asleep, but they are every bit as conscious, they do their own research, they are paying attention and reading the signs. In fact they are hyper-vigilant, hyper-alert, hyper-awake to the machinations and conspiracies.

Dystopic Portlandia

Unless you have been there recently, it is difficult to imagine the extent of houselessness that exists now in Portland. Missoula has its camps but in the Portland metro area, tents and tarps are literally everywhere. Any public space- freeway right-of-ways, parks, downtown sidewalks, underpasses, empty lots- is occupied by those living rough. And after three days of hard, cold rain I mean unbelievably rough. At the practical, policy, municipal level, this population is a "problem". Garbage piles up, police and ambulances are called, neighborhoods adjoining the camps get robbed,services must be provided, etc etc.. On this level, as the camps grow, the "problem" grows. But if you stop for one second to realize these are human lives, that in a country of unimaginable wealth and gross over-consumption we have normalized a totally disposable population, the whole soggy, muddy landscape becomes insanely obscene. White people used to whine about "ghettos" and "the projects" and urban blight. But those people at least had a roof over their heads. We now accept that people live in tents and shit in the bushes. They are exiled to the outside of the margins, banished from the community. The Other Portland goes to day spas and eats organic yogurt at seven dollars a pop. They drive past the camps on the way to the stores and restaurants and donate to United Way, all the while blocking from their tolerant minds the increasingly unavoidable fact that the system, their precious liberal capitalist "democracy", is crumbling before their eyes. The facade is being ripped off and all they can do is wonder how to fix "the problem".

Legitimization

In a debate taking place between Patrick Bond and Tom Athanasiou on SCNCC list, Bond made this statement: ... The big question from this COP is whether to legitimize or delegitimize the elites. With his request to OPEC buddies to increase the oil pumping, and his failure to get his own party behind his weak climate plan, Joe Biden is helping us move rapidly to the latter. Tom, whom I have debated in the past, finds this point about pulling back the curtain to be nonsensical. I have long argued it is in fact the real task and think it is worth revisiting the work of Jurgen Habermas on legitimization theory to understand the degree to which a hegemonic discourse can be undermined through contradiction. Habermas explains how power that does not depend on coercion must appear legitimate. It is this buy-in by ordinary citizens that upholds the entire ediface of capitalist "democracy" and I think Bond is correct that Biden, following Trump, is whittleing away at the system's legitimacy in the eyes of many. Of course the system (and its dominant narrative) has long been riddled with contradiction: we all hate rich people but we all want to be one. We all know two party "politics" is a farce but we still vote. We all know endless growth is impossible but we still work and shop and invest.The real question is which contradiction breaks the camel's back. When a tool like Biden has to publicly admit "the irony" of pumping more oil while calling for emission reduction you know legitimacy is in play. Of course it is not ironic, it is madness. Lift the curtain high enough and you just see a sad old man who achieved his dream and finds it's a nightmare. Just like a boycot on voting is a radical rupture, not showing up for the COP show would send a message to elites that the Kubuki is no longer entertaining.

Here We Go Again

I don't like being cynical but c'mon, it is the only rational response to this upcoming COP 26. For months my comrades have all been treating it like the elaborate farce it is, based on past experience. Lowered expectations is a rational psychological ploy, to prevent dissapointment or even depression. I often use the example of the Charlie Brown football gag as an expression of pathological optimism in the face of harsh reality. He is running up to the ball as I write these words. Just like Charlie Brown, we now see the Climate Justice Movement mobilizing for actions in Glasgow. By "actions" I mean the usual fare; marches, counter-summits, civil disobedience, your basic protest playbook. Just like the past dozen or so COPs. Knowing full well that Lucy will pull the ball away at the last second, the attendees show up, acting AS IF they don't know. Puppets and banners, sign making workshops, counter-demonstrations and probably some tear gas, all covered by Amy Goodman, all live-streamed on UTube. The world burns because Joe Manchin. But seriously, he is the perfect symbol of why we are in such danger. A religious man, he believes in God and His Invisible Hand Guiding The Market. Charity to help the poor. Hard Work and, as Greta Thunberg eloquently puts it, blah blah blah. Sentimental Andy of Mayberry pablum structures the thought of this banal puppet for Capital, all condensed to this imperative; The American Way of Life Is Not Negotiable. In this sense he is just the unfortunate spokesperson for The System of political economy known as Capitalist Democracy. Within the strictures of this system, the only mitigation possible is that which doesn't affect the economy. So: more "bridge fuels", more innovative technology, more pledges, more lectures from John Kerry and Al Gore and Bill Mc Kibben. And yet we know the revolution will not be televised, the pipeline will not be stopped, the Land won't be given Back, the Police will not be Abolished. We know America will continue to worship its God and Mythology and dark, convoluted Fantasies till the moment the water rushes in, or the fire sweeps our streets, or the shelves just remain empty. I believe the best thing we could do is ignore the COP, just as we should ignore elections. Why promote and thereby legitimize the Spectacle? Don't make the sign, don't sign the petition, don't report on it (Amy), do something useful instead, like your laundry.

The Post-Political

The smart ones don't try predicting the future. Richard Seymour is a smart one but this, written last spring is a great example of why prediction can only lead to apology: "Bidenism could establish a broad, post-neoliberal, imperial centre that, short of massively escalated gerrymandering, will marginalise the Right for a long time." Seymour is a Brit and, perhaps, can be excused for not grasping how totally incohate US politics are. Despite Trump he still believes our "Politics" have some basis in reality, or materialism, or can be explained through some logic. It is reasonable to think there must be historical trends, constituencies, popular policies and such, so that a term such as "Bidenism" might make sense. But when David Bryrne wrote "stop making sense" he profoundly intuited the current zeitgeist. It is always tempting to try to instill meaning, to find some deeper layer, but this banal, poorly acted and directed piece of elaborate theater is just that; shitty theater. Ideological rubble long ago buried and suffocated "the politcal". So yes, some sort of "Right" might be marginalized for a few hours or weeks or even months, but, following the immolation of "Bidenism, they (call them conservatives if you need to cling to the old terminology) will rise like the Phoenix and flail for a bit then sputter and collapse. And some new absurdity, maybe what, "Harrisism" will flail for a bit, or "Pete Buttigiegism". Seymour's prediction of "post-neoliberalism" falls into the same category. Whatever new "ism" supplants the current system of thievery and cons, it will be just as tiresome and unimaginative so why continue referencing it as some legitimate expression of new politics?

New Common Sense Left

As the Bernie/ Biden agenda gradually fizzles into a predictable pile of shit, you will find little honest reflection or re-evaluation from the Jacobin/ DSA crowd. Clinging ever so pathetically to their electoralism, they talk about other things, avert their gaze, and sing to themselves. Bernie makes a ridiculous pitch to the people of W. Virginia, hoping to pressure Coal Joe Manchin. The same Bernie that assured a whole generation that capitalist "democracy" could be reformed, made kinder and gentler and greener. Now he is reduced to this obscene spectacle of horse trading, of pitching acceptable numbers, of making deals with morons. A review at Jacobin of Astra Taylor's new book on Occupy makes the point clearly: " out of her experiences at Occupy, Taylor recognized a possibility to organize people around indebtedness." But of course it is precisely "indebtedness" that Joe Manchin uses as a populist cudgel against climate investment. And the system is perfectly happy to extend credit to individuals, which is why every yokel in rural America is driving a brand new giant pick up truck and Jeff Bezos is a trillionaire. "A political ethos that previously rejected electoralism and the state now contends for power within it." This is supposedly a "left reborn" post-Occupy, a left that threw itself into Bernie and AOC, Black Lives Matter, Sunrise and Justice Democrats. But it is an urban, left coast view that is totally out of touch with much of the country. If a vote in the legislature is "power", what do they call the ability to shut down supply chains? Like the capitalists are doing at the current conjuncture in order to crush Biden. While the author of the review admits to being in a " post–Bernie Sanders moment when the Left is less united and suffering from a crisis of political direction" and admires Taylor's "humility" when she admits "“when it comes to changing the world, no one really knows what will work.”, he nevertheless dismisses "an activism that relishes marginalization". But then contradicts himself yet again by ending with this: "A younger generation, leading climate strikes and rallies, understands the urgent need for radical transformation and a confrontational approach". All in all, this piece characterizes the confused ideology of a left that wants more than anything to be relevant but can't make the tough choices.

Common Ruin

"We would rather be ruined than change" is the epigraph at the beginning of my latest novel, taken from a poem by WH Auden, and in our current historical conjuncture it is interesting to think about this "we". It is true that, generally speaking, most humans resist change, would prefer a continuous, comforting routine with no surprises. Or at least slow, incremental change. But in dire circumstances that generalization breaks down. As crude oil from a leaking offshore pipe washes ashore in California, "Huntington Beach resident David Rapchun said he’s worried about the impact of the spill on the beaches where he grew up as well as the local economy. “For the amount of oil these things produce I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” Rapchun said. He questioned whether drilling for oil was a wise idea along some of southern California‘s most scenic beaches. “We need oil, but there’s always a question: do we need it there?” he said. For this asshole, the "ruin" needs to occur somewhere else so he doesn't need to change. Somewhere not occupied by wealthy white people, somewhere out of sight. It's an "economic" calculus, the only kind homo economicus is comfortable with. However, as the "common ruin" starts to hit home with increasing frequency, elites are starting to whine and fret and glance about nervously.We need oil but it is wreaking havoc; fires threatening my Tahoe condo, tar balls on Newport Beach. The FOX News/populist frankenstein these same elites created now threatens their comfort and security and safety. Sarah Palin was humorous, Marjorie Taylor Greene will devour them. Their "Think Tanks", funded so lavishly, produce slogans/ memes, but no solutions. Migrants pour across borders, floodwaters pour into basements. We need oil. But it will be our ruin.

Jon Stewart, Keith Starmer, Blah Blah Blah

The leader of the Labour Party in Great Britian, Kieth Starmer, just made this bold, innovative, proposal at the recent Party Conference: "build a strong economy". No longer will they be following utopian Leftist dreamers like Jeremy Corbyn, uh uh, now it is capitalism with a human face, the crazy new...wait for it...social democracy! Strong growth, lots of jobs and a caring welfare state,Or, neoliberalism Light. Tony Blair with lipstick. Geez, why didn't I think of that? History doesn't repeat itself but it is certainly enamored with certain themes. Such as banality. Cowardice. Stupidity. Maybe Obama will run in 2024? And following our GroundHog Day Theme, Jon Stewart, America's favorite uber-liberal, is getting a new show. Expect banality, cowardice and stupidity. Mixed with a plea for "sanity" and simplistic, well worn, trite analysis around political economy.And lots of "caring". Both of these are perfect examples of what Greta Thunberg is calling "blah, blah, blah." She is now seeing the terrifying reality of The Spectacle, of the Upside Down World.

More Line 3

This is from a long article posted on Truthout: " Water Protectors are modeling a relationship with the Earth that could help guide us into a new era." Except, as I tried to explain in my last post, if they "model" political defeat. Sure, we will have the example of a Beautiful and True cultural readout, one that expresses the desire for simplicity and raw authenticity craved by those alienated by capitalist modernity. But the reality will be a bunch of people returning to their harsh worlds as tar sands flow through a pipe beneath them. We don't need a model of utopia or "culture of mutual-aid", we need to stop the oil. What I hear is an echo of my own hippie generations yearning for "a relationship with the earth". Look how that turned out. As with Standing Rock, lots of those who still yearn go to these camps for a spiritual boost, like finding a Zen master or climbing Half Dome. A Personal Journey of Fulfillment. we are told over and over that the “building of a resistance community on the front lines” is an “under-respected, undervalued, but critical component to a healthy movement.” As I see it, this tactic has been used repeatedly and failed repeatedly and yet remains gospel, a standard part of the repetitive playbook that goes unquestioned. Because it feels good. Because it fills a human need. But it doesn't stop development. And the experience of defeat as the valves get turned on will have a much more lasting impact than the spiritual communion. No one is going to say this publicly because the action camps are run by indigenous people and a settler colonialist is going to find it difficult to criticize strategic decisions. Because it is indigenous run, much of the messaging is focused on sovereignty and treaty rights and wild rice. All important issues, but not THE issue. A few progressive politicians have shown up "to listen" and 800 protestors have been arrested in scattered, sporadic actions. The pipeline is 90% completed.

On Defeat

Something reformists spend little time discussing is the effect defeated campaigns have on movement momentum. We can go a long way back, but let's just start with "single payer healthcare", now morphed into "medicare for all". All that effort come to naught. Massive donations and volunteer hours poured into a failed campaign that sends a message to young, progressive reformers. Moving forward we saw the Dream Act, the Paycheck Protection Act, the For the People Act, the PRO Act and now the Voting Rights Advancment Act all heading down the same toilet I call capitalist "democracy". Spectacular un-politics dressed up to look like popular participation. But thoroughly circumscribed by the economy. We can pretty much predict this is where the Green New Deal is headed as well. Anyway, along with this legislation and these aspirational proposals we can include environmental campaigns that were defeated: Enbridge pipelines in B.C., expansion of tar sands in Alberta, new oil and gas leases here in the west, not to mention day to day struggles over timber sales and habitat loss and water quality, fisheries, predator protection etc. etc. The Enbridge Line 3 will soon be filled with tar sands oil despite all those lockdowns and arrests. Others will be discouraged by this blow. Many will point to the cancelling of the Keystone XL and Standing Rock as victories proving the effectiveness of the movement. Yes, some proposed coal export terminals have been cancelled. But for the most part polluting activities have just been exported overseas and campaigns for reform end up in litigation for years or just get wore down by corporate power and wealth. Standing Rock, just forced a technical delay, it did not stop oil from moving through the Dakota Access pipe. Mainstream progressive organizers believe these campaigns build empowerment but when a campaign goes down in defeat, the exact opposite occurs and we don't hear much about that effect. I am not saying the struggle is over or that it is doomed; only that organizers need to think long and hard about how to build campaigns and not use the same, tired playbook. They need to see the sham of regulation and legislation for what it is.

Innovation

Exxon Mobile is throwing out brilliant little ads about their concern for the climate and the way to a greener future. As they explain it ( soft voice over, warm music, lots of smiling children)this happens through "innovation"; that is, the new technologies that will appear if we just give these corporations lots of money and then get out of the way of the free market. Their first-rate scientists will come up with ways to not only avert the crisis, but provide security and prosperity for all. Why wouldn't we take them at their word? And thanks to the brilliance of capitalist "democracy", Exxon Mobile looks to be recieving about 30 billion of our hard-earned tax money to pursue their "carbon capture" scheme. Yes, that would be the wonderful, Sanders endorsed Infrastructure Bill and Sanders inspired Reconciliation Bill providing this largess ("Most progressive legislation we've seen in decades" blah blah. And what could be wrong with carbon capture and sequestration, you ask? Well the captured carbon is sold back to Exxon Mobile so they can inject it into their wells and squeeze out the last bits of oil. To burn to make more CO2!I said they were brilliant, right? It is not only capitalist corporations looking to innovation to save the system; well-meaning Green types are getting in on the act as well. Respected economist Robert Pollin has been developing plans for various states that allow them to phase out fossil fuels but "still enable cars, trains, buses and airplanes to keep running; and for industrial machinery of all types to keep operating".But is that really the goal? The highly regarded Mark Jacobson, a Stanford researcher, has developed similar plans for "100% Clean Electricity" and Uber optimists like Chris Nelder and Carbon Trackers Kingsmill Bond scoff at the idea that there should be any limits to how much energy humans can produce. As to damaging impacts, they simply assert that these can be "managed". But that's always been the dilemma hasn't it, the crux of the bisquit (as Frank Zappa called it). Managed damage is still damage, just as regulated pollution is still pollution.

The Reign of Comfort

Over at Cushvlog, Matt Christman makes the case that the workers movement and their sense of class belonging was annihilated by comfort, treats and the goodies. That they were bought off at the end of WW11 and assimilated into the ruling order by the availability of these treats during the Great Expansion. As Gramsci would put it, they were thoroughly hegemonized. It is a simple case of the "mind forged manacles" taking the place of physical repression, of co-optation through manipulated consensus. As a direct result, co2 emissions have quadrupled since 1950, basically the output of my generation. What this suggests (and I think there is truth to this analysis)is that what is required to move beyond the status quo is actually discomfort. Those suffering the slings and arrows of exploitation, deprived of the fruits of their labor (toys and Disneyworld), will be less willing to cooperate in their own enslavement. But what THIS suggests is that any reformist agenda, including so-called "non-reformist" or "structural" reforms ( a la Andre Gorz and DSA) is counter-revolutionary. All efforts to help are palliative, symptomatic treatments that leave, or even obscure, the disease. Giving it more chance to fester. No idea is less popular in leftist circles than that of "heightening the contradictions". The basic theory of change adopted by the radical left insists that through this reformist campaign people are organized and having experienced success, will make increasingly radical demands. But history has not born this out. It has been the case that reforms mollify the workers and lend the system of capitalist "democracy" an air of legitimacy. A kinder, gentler, greener capitalism is seen as possible through enlightened policy. The question at this stage of crisis is whether privation will simply send the masses over to fascism and Q-Anon. One way or another, austerity is coming to the middle classes and no matter how distracted people are by their smart-phones, an empty belly or flooded house will bring up the anger. This is why we should be talking about relinquishment rather than 100% electricity.

State of Confusion

Many of the local patriots sport a bumper sticker on their giant flag waving trucks that say: "love my country- fear my government". They have no problem volunteering for the military because that is protecting their country and has nothing to do with government. Right? And they love Trump because even though he was president he wasn't part of the government. The country they love is the landscape they can drive their truck through, the actual dirt and now private property that was stolen from the natives. They don't fear the capitalists that profit off their labor and sell them all the junk they are enslaved by, no, it is the government with its mandates and regulations and bureaucracy that strikes terror in their hearts. Because they would rather die a free man than be forced to wear a mask. And they do, every day. Because masks are for girly men, for wimps who are afraid of a lttle virus, when they should be afraid of legislators and government agencies and the evil civil service people who staff them. Like the Forest Service. And FEMA. Patriots aren't afraid of bankers, because what could a banker really do, except maybe foreclose on your house. And repossess your Truck. And Boat. And Camper and Jet Skis and Snowmobiles. What you should fear is the IRS and the police- no, actually the police are fine- except when they aren't. Whatever. Game wardens, yeah, they're scary. Don't tread on me Warden dude.

"Creating an Understanding"

Reading the excellent report put out by the Indigenous Environmental Network on carbon taxes/ pricing schemes, I found this at the very end in the "what-is-to-be-done" section. Somehow, the work of "creating an understanding" has to take priority. Coincidentally, because this is a subject I have pondered a great deal on, I picked up a couple of books on the subject of ideology and its hegemonic power. This is basically the complex task of "creating an understanding", one which proves popular and spreads, ultimately affecting the political sphere. Capitalism is the near perfection of this process. From its roots as an economic system, it has successfully spread and embedded itself in every sphere, from philosophy to popular culture. And most sucessfully, it has neutered politics, turning them into a Spectacular form of enetertainment for your passive enjoyment ( even joissance). By co-opting the primary sphere in which it was theoretically able to be challenged, it has achieved a hegemony barely dreamed of by its early proponents. That means this project of "creating an understanding" which is countervailing to the imperatives of capitalism is a tricky bit of business. And not as easy as setting up billboards, writing books or blogs, or giving good speeches. The indigenous folk, along with Deep Greens, are prosletyzing, promoting a spiritual cosmovision for us moderns to adopt. Gramsci saw the process unfolding thusly: "The realization of a hegemonic apparatus, in so far as it creates a new ideological terrain, determines a reform of conciousness..." The project is the creation of the New Man, as Durkheim and Che Guavara hoped to achieve. Again, capitalism has been incredibly successful at this project, creating what we can call homo economicus, the satisfied customer/producer.

shocked

The Last Hopeful Ones over at DSA are shocked and dismayed that the Democrat's infrastructure bill is rapidly becoming a thoroughly hollowed out piece of shit. Not "a place to start" or "the most we could hope for" but a total corporate gift filled with privitization scams and piles of pork. Who could possibly have predicted such a fiasco? Of course there will be no PRO Act attached, much less any climate finance. And with Biden stridently defending the filibuster, there won't be any additional spending or voting rights protection. Still, the DSA stalwarts urge us to "call your Senator!". Unbelievable faith in a corrupt system that screws them over and over and over ( think Lucy and Charlie Brown football).It borders on the pathological, this willingness to trust in the process of "democratic" capitalism- despite everything. So they quickly come up with another "campaign" we are all supposed to get behind; Green New Deal for Public Schools. As the world burns, we turn to schoolchildren and their progressive teachers. Speaking of schoolchildren, Fridays for the Future has a smart, cute little Swede for its poster child. The indigenous environmental sovereignty water protector movement has Winona La Duke. I mean, c'mon. This is the public face of your movement? Where is Black Lives Matter? If they are upset about voting rights, they should talk to Jim Clyburn, Democrat Party stalwart and another great "leader" who made sure Bernie wouldn't bring up the filibuster. Addendum: The Clyburn backed moderate Shontel Brown won a Cleveland area primary over progressive Nina Turner, who was backed by Bernie Sanders and AOC. Clyburn is described as a "kingmaker" and the royal interests he promotes are the black bourgeoise.

Land Back

Revolutionary indigenous ecosocialists write in their manifesto "A Red Deal" that Land Back be a primary demand. I admittedly struggled with this in the same way I have struggled with the BLM slogan Abolish the Police. If I maintain the goal of building a mass movement of any kind, these two demands are absolute non-starters with "the masses" I live among. But at this stage of the game, maybe impossible demands are the way to go. There isn't the vaguest hint of any "mass movement"building , even to support tepid, pro-capitalist growth Green New Deal legislation. So one might as well demand the US give back all the land it stole from the Indians. Why not? Abolish prisons and set everyone free, abolish the military and stop colonizing the planet. While we are at it, we can make the Deep Greens happy and call for the end of "industrial civilization" and a make-over for consumer culture. Ban agriculture! End Electricity! At this stage of the "game", any of these are just as likely as Keep Fossil Fuels In the Ground. When you have reached a point where an old white male Senator or two (Manchin and Tester) can prevent any climate legislation from being considered, as floods and fires rage across the landscape and the perma-frost melts, it is time to abandon pragmatism. If humans won't get vacinnated, what chance is there they would give up any part of their lifestyle? In his novel Ministry for the Future, author Kim Stanley Robinson imagines that a heat wave killing 20 million people in one week finally kicks elites into gear, pushing them to accept the crisis and enact emergency measures. This is terrifyingly all-too plausible.

Nothing But Flowers

In their post-apocalyptic song, the Talking Heads imagine a world that has been quickly de-modernized, where parking lots are covered in daisies. The New Adam and Eve characters are "strong and brave" yet miss the comforts of their old life, growing tired of "nuts and berries". Having just watched a video introducing their book "Bright Green Lies", I can't help envisioning Derrik Jensen and Lierre Kieth huddled around a small fire, brewing dandelion tea to go with their rattlesnake dinner. Not to disparage those parts of their critique which require a considered response.But to say we need a new culture (in a decade or less) isn't really helpful when it comes to solutions. Certainly, ecosocialists don't have it all figured out either. Too often the eco gets left out of the socialism as they struggle for a transitional program or political line. This then is the immediate quandry: given the time frame, what might be salvaged? What level of extraction or agriculture might be acceptable? Though their primary target is the mainstream environmental movement, one of the "Lies" Jensen and Co. go after are techno-modernist proposals, and here I am wondering about the Jacobson Stanford study that claims we can supply all our electricity needs with renewables (WWS or wind, water, solar). My question is: why does it have to be a binary, either/ or? Could we see some de-growth and some technology? Couldn't we say yes, "industrial civilization" is messed up without having to jettison the entire structure? Couldn't we accept certain conveniences to alleviate back-breaking drudgery? Couldn't we accept certain trade-offs (a limited number of grizzlies, less than historic salmon runs, etc) in order to make the proposal a little easier to sell? It needn't be hunting and gathering versus techno-luxury communism. But yes, species with no voice deserve to be considered.

LaLa Land

The Saudi energy minister was interviewed following the latest OPEC meeting and called the latest IEA report "a sequel to the La La Land movie." The report called on "the world" to halt investment in fossil fuel exploration and production to meet climate goals. The minister asked "Why should I take it seriously?" Why indeed? Who is going to enforce restrictions? There is no "world", only competing nations, governments and corporations. And because the Saudis have the cheapest oil, they answer to no one. Anybody who thinks they give a shit if millions die of heat prostration is living in La La Land. Progressives who think "green capitalism" and some nice co-op housing are going to slow the catastrophe are living in La La Land. The fact is, we are all living in La La Land; a place where shieks decide the world's fate, where poeple think a mask thwarts their freedom, where leftists think "the working class" is going to rise up and take power, is going to withhold their labor...

"Racial Capitalism"

Reading an online mag called The Forge I keep running into this term "racial capitalism" and references to "the uprising". What I am hoping, seriously hoping, is that these folks can do some comparative analysis with Occupy Wall Street, so as to avoid similar pitfalls. The other thing that jumps out at me (old white man me) is the call to "center Black leadership" in the movement and here I am reminded of Standing Rock and the calls to "center indigenous leadership". The other problematic similar to Standing Rock is the rejection of "isms". Fortunately no one reads this blog or cares what I think, so my critique won't induce attacks, but this is a good-faith effort: the uprising, standing rock and occupy need to be looked at in their historical context, both in terms of similarities and differences. These events, along with the anti-Iraq war movement, define the popular protest of a generation and from my perspective, it's not a pretty picture. One of the key frictions in all three events has involved the definition and parsing of the term capitalism and the purposeful avoidance of class analysis (whether one accepts or rejects it). I truly hope "racial capitalism" is not that. I truly hope Black academics do not resort too quickly to the term "class reduction" as they theorize the conjunction of crises that is upon us. Policing (especially racist policing) and gun violence are symptoms, and unless you are willing to talk about "isms", you will not get to the root, the disease, the terrifying trauma. As for "centering", let's also remember that the trauma can affect leadership, that leading has its own set of problems and inclusion and intersectionality have to work both ways. Ecology might not be the first thing you think about waking up in the inner city but it is no less Real. Out here where I live there are wide-open spaces but no Black folk to speak of and the cops deal with meth addicts and wife beaters and teen suicides and all kinds of well-armed humans damaged by plain old capitalism. Not to mention criminals. Abolishing them requires fixing the world first and I'd like to collaborate on that project, not follow. Finlly, The Loud Right-Wing Media is calling BLM "Marxist" in the hopes of driving a wedge and I hope the movement doesn't go all liberal and fall for the trap. What would Fred Hampton do? He'd preach a little Marx- ism.

Non-reformist Reforms

One has to ask: where does all that anger and energy go? I keep reading about how the George Floyd Rebellion was this historical moment but is that all that gets generated anymore? Moments? Can nothing be sustained? It was obvious that "Abolish the Police" was a non-starter but given the rise in urban violence/ violent crime, even the innocuous "police reform" has not only vanished from the agenda, but has come back to mock and be used as a cudgel for the Law and Order Right. The other day I passed a highway stand selling Thin Blue Line flags, bumper-stickers and other right-wing paraphanalia. The booth was manned by a black man. The DSA went all-in for the PRO Act, hoping to build labor support for the Green New Deal and clean energy infrastructure. But after the Amazon union campaign was crushed, not a word about the legislation. It went to that place where hopes in the Democrats always go to die. Right next to Medicare for All and Bernie or Bust or Carbon Tax and Dividend. But even if these reform efforts were successful, wouldn't htey just demonstrate that liberal "democratic" capitalism is a flexible, moderate system, one that can be made kinder, gentler and greener with citizen participation? And therefor given more legitimacy?

"Caressing the sharks teeth"

A Brazillian priest named Frei Betto coined a brilliant term to describe the attempt to work out an accomodation with a predator: caressing the sharks teeth. This describes perfectly the approach of those hoping to create a kinder, gentler, greener capitalism- who truly believe the shark can be lulled into docility with niceness. These people believe that one way to pacify the shark is to offer up sacrificial victims, hoping it will stay occupied. This demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding shark behavior. Sharks can be nice until they're not, until the frenzy begins. Then it doesn't care who has been caressing what. Back in 2010 I finished a novel that was set in Israel/ Palestine. It explored the issues around illegal settlement building and the Al Aqsa mosque and the conditions on the West Bank and Gaza. It is now ten years later and incredibly, nothing has changed. Protests turn violent, rockets get fired, missles come back in retaliation. Repeat. It is a horrific Ground Hog day performance that borders on the absurd, the banal, in its total lack of creativity.

Because Democrats

Sometimes you get educated in the wierdest places. Today for instance, I'm at the lumber yard stunned by the insane jump in prices and the guy loading my two-by-sixes explained that it is because of the Democrats. Seeing my raised eyebrows he explains: because they are giving away so much unemployment cash no one wants to work- hence the crazy inflated prices in wood products. This is certainly not the first time I have heard this crazy right-wing meme offered up by average working stiffs. What is remarkable to me is the fact that this lumber-yard worker has politics at all- and that he is so willing to share them with a total stranger. I lacked the inspiration to defend Democrats or try to present a nuanced case for supporting workers during a pandemic. This exchange exemplifies the problem with expecting "progressive policies" to re-build the workers movement. Many are motivated by resentment toward anyone, no matter how deserving, gaining an advantage over them through government policy. Why the culture war is so effective. More nervousness around climate policy as Wyoming gets ready to sue states that ban fossil fuels. They have enjoyed an incredible boom through extraction and see the writing on the wall. Montana's legislature is also prepared to fight for fossil fuels till the last glacier is melted. Truly a fight to the death.

Boomtown Redux

The NPR commentary bordered on ecstatic as they reported on the level of economic growth (measured in GDP) the US is currently experiencing and the projections for its continuation. Highest numbers since 1984.In his speech to Congress, Biden crowed about the surge and framed it as an existential race with China, a match between the inscrutable commies and American know-how. The man knows how to fire up re-blooded Americans, no doubt, but not one word about emissions. And Americans can always be counted on to spend and consume, with no thought of emissions. It is how we have been programmed. In my distant youth, my mission in life was to flee growth and development, to escape from the San Francisco Bay Area and find refuge in the great Northwest. I had witnessed environmental destruction on a scale that would be hard to describe and I thought I could settle in a place far enough removed that the Promethian forces could be kept at bay. Alas. The little mountain valley I escaped to is now being over-run by the wealth that was made through that destruction. The all-white, conservative lovers of capitalism are flocking to the "great readout", buying up land, building huge rachettes, buying brand new mega-trucks with the stimulus they got from the government they hate. So they can carry hay bales for their thoroughbred horses. If you think you are going to make a left turn onto the highway at 5:00 you can forget about it. I have seen this movie and it's not pretty...but I'm too old to move again.

More Worries

Pretty good prediction in my Apr.13 post that "big insurance"is getting the jitters. From NYTImes: "Swiss Re also modeled the economic impacts of a 3.2-degree increase by 2050, which it described as the “severe case” for temperature gains. If that happened, levels of wealth in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand would drop almost by half compared with a world with no climate change. The economy of Indonesia would be 40 percent smaller. India’s would be 35 percent smaller. The growing financial exposure of insurance companies to climate change is already having an effect on places at high risk. The United States government implemented a new pricing structure this month for flood insurance, which will mean higher costs for the most flood-prone homes. In California, homeowners in areas that are especially exposed to wildfires increasingly struggle to get insurance, prompting efforts by state officials to intervene. The Biden administration is expected to issue an executive order directing insurance regulators to assess the climate-related risks facing insurance companies." From the NYTimes April 20: — Under growing pressure from investors to address climate change, Exxon Mobil on Monday proposed a $100 billion project to capture the carbon emissions of big industrial plants in the Houston area and bury them deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Exxon, the largest U.S. oil company, wants to create a profit-making business out of the capture of carbon emitted by petrochemical plants and other industries. But its plan would require significant government support and intervention, including the introduction of a price or tax on carbon dioxide emissions, an idea that has failed to attract enough support in Congress in the past. These are contraditions that can only grow stronger and each week we will see the scramble for position get more and more frantic. The words "stranded assets" haven't cropped up yet but write-downs are inevitable as is a slump in the stock market. Then it gets interesting.

Boom Town

Capitalist logic insists the solution to every problem is more growth. All economic indicators point to a huge post-pandemic surge and of course that's what all the Biden stimulus is about. Locally, folks are definitely spending like there's no tomorrow- and if the economy booms there literally won't be. Everyone, including ecosocialists, are celebrating the "millions of new jobs" that go along with high growth and of course the Democrats will have lots to crow about when people have lots of disposable income to throw around. Entertainment, vacations, a new pick-up truck perhaps? All of which creates emissions. Despite Obama's assurance that "growth and emissions can be de-coupled.They can't. And that's the contradiction we are living and must heighten, though you won't win popularity contests. Which brings me to DSA and the big push to pass the PRO Act. I am worried that these young, mostly white, educated socialists are conflating the BLM uprising with a newly energized working class, of which I see little evidence. Apples and oranges. And my worry is that this young cadre doesn't know the dampening effect a loss (or string of losses) has on movement building capacity. The Amazon union campaign is a case in point, as was the Bernie campaign. Back to the local scene, the DSA chapter wants to support workers who were fired at the airport for walking out. But we already have a dozen under-staffed campaigns in the works, the workers are totally unorganized and a legal battle for re-instatement is pissing in the wind. Which brings me to my last complaint: our local 350 branch insists on arguing that we should abandon fossil fuels "because renewables are cheaper". And so they continue to reinforce capitalist/market logic despite the fact it is totally irrational. "Cheaper" by whose accounting? But they believe deeply that this argument and this logic is the only way to appeal to "the masses". Despite over a decade of watching emissions rise as a sclerotic movement flounders around Green Capitalism.

NOW They Get Worried

The measurement at Mana Loa hits 420 ppm for the first time in 3.6 million years and suddenly our Corporate Masters/ "ruling class"/ ie..Capital get concerned. The NYTimes reports that chief executives from more than 300 major companies including Google, Mc Donalds and Walmart signed a letter calling for the US to double its Paris Accord targets for emission cuts. This comes on the heels of some major investor groups such as Blackrock deciding to disinvest from fossil fuels. It is possible they are finally realizing that the science is correct and not just their business models, but the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. And now they want to be responsible and do the right thing (inadequate as it might be). It's possible. Or it is possible they saw Andreas Malm's latest book - "How To Blow Up A Pipeline" - and decided it was time for some slick public relations posturing. One can imagine the Zoom calls that initiated this letter; the COP meeting in Glasgow this fall, Biden nixing Keystone and wanting a corporate tax hike, it was getting harder and harder to straddle the fence and keep everybody happy. My intuition is that the big Re-Insurance companies, being the weakest, most vulnerable link, are demanding action. But having stalled and denied and prevaricated for the last thirty years they are not going to like the price tag. Neither will Biden when somebody finally has the courage to give him the real low-down. The trick for movement activists is not to get thrown off balance but to leverage the moment and force some real concessions. Start with Line 3 and DAPL. Stop talking about "the environment" (water, etc..) and FOCUS on emissions.

Old Mole

Revolutionary spirit, burrowing throughout history, pops its head up like an old mole. This metaphor, borrowed from the play Hamlet, was used by Marx in the Eighteenth Brumaire. I remain convinced that the contradiction of CO2 pollution will provide the occasion for the old mole to re-emmerge in the not-too-distant future. On the one hnd we have re-invigorated progressives hyping massive infrastructure spending as economic stimulus creating millions of good paying jobs. They would have us believe that the problem of economic growth can be solved by economic growth. Of course they don't use the words "carbon budget" as they promote this re-build because a budget suggests limits and capitalists ( the private investors the progressives hope to enlist) don't like talk of limits. Instead of a "chicken in every pot", these New Dealers are hoping to put an electric car (or two) in every garage. The conservative position was expressed by Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois in an interview with PBS. Having backed away from climate denial, he now warns against "climate hysteria" and "doom and gloom" rhetoric. He says a sensible mixture of nuclear power and carbon capture and sequestration technology will solve our problems without a tyrannical nanny state eliminating all our American entrepreneurial spirit. He claimed America is leading the world in emission reductions and we will always need "baseload" fossil fuel energy. Not that Rep.Rod listens to Chomsky, but it is statements like this from Noam that he pooh poohs: "It's this generation that will decide whether human society continues in any organized form or whether we reach tipping points that are irreversible and we spin off into total catastrophe." I would argue the capitalist "democracy" that brought us Rep. Rod and Jeff Bezos is already total catastrophe but when the hurricanes start slamming the Gulf and the fires erupt out west, the mole will pop his head up in the form of insurance and real estate.

Glasgow

The next meeting of the Conference Of Parties (COP) will be in Glasgow in the middle of Nov. and the climate movement, such as it is, is trying to come up with a strategy that can mobilize people in a way to affect the gathering. And affect the future of the planet. The tension results from the fact that everyone admits the process to date has been a failure, contrasted with a vague hope something positive can arise from this EVENT ( a particular moment in history). I was hitchiking through Scotland many decades ago and caught a ride into Glasgow with a truck driver who warned me that the part of the city he would be dropping me off in (it was late at night) was one of the most dangerous places on the planet. I had no idea Glasgow had that reputation but it was confirmed by others I met in my travels later. My memories are vague but nothing bad happened and I made my way to Inverness the next day where I was adopted by some firemen on holiday who kept me drunk for three days straight. Part of me wonders- if COP is a dangerous illusion ( like US elections and legislating), wouldn't it be more provacative to simply ignore it? Treat it like a non-event unworthy of our attention. Maybe just have a big funeral and bury the shit show once and for all. Because if you invest hope in it you are just Charlie Brown at the moment Lucy pulls the football away. But with much greater consequences.

Sacrifice Zones

One of the contentious debates on the ecological left concerns replacing fossil fuel-based energy with renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal (maybe small hydro). On one level, this debate centers on the word "replace". Are ecosocialists advocating the construction of enough renewables to provide the same amount of energy now being produced on the planet? Producing even more to accomodate expanded social and economic benefits to more and more people? Or should we be thinking in terms of reductions and limits to production? This controversy moved front and center after the Gibbs/ Moore film in which renewable energy was dismissed outright due to the impacts of developing these sources. ( lithium mining, cement and steel production, etc..) Where techno-optimists believe there are unlimited terwatts raining down, just waiting to be utilized, those with a philosophical "small is beautiful" or "buen viver" outlook think the climate justice movement can sell simplicity in an age of neurosis. Then there are the Deep Green folks who just want to jettison modernity all together. A great example is the mining of lithium to build the storage capacity that's nneded for electric vehicles ( and other new technologies). Much of this mineral exists in an area of South America and there are environmental concerns as well as imperialistic when it comes to production, processing and shipping. Some lithium exists in Nevada but there is an endangered plant (buckwheat)that could be harmed by the mining. Or a rare trout species. Everything has a cost. Something and/or someone gets sacrificed in the end. Even if you could return to a pre-civilization eco-utopian primitivism, there would be consequences, damage, fatalities. The tendency is to see these questions as either / or, but it might be there is some rational balance, a certain amount of sacrifice we are willing to accept (and mitigate) for a certain anout of social "good". This is actually the task of seeking justice, why it is envisioned as scales. The keys are having a true politics to establish the Good, and a real way to enforce the mitigation.

Response to Allen Thorning Review of How To Blow Up A Pipeline

I understand Allen Thorning’s reaction to the provocative argument Malm presents. But in my opinion Allen fails to acknowledge both the nuance and contingent nature of that argument, and mischaracterizes it in several respects. Considering the time crunch the climate justice movement faces, we should welcome interventions, controversial as they may be, that force us to consider the nature of militancy, violence and the roles of direct action and civil disobedience. And if the time-frame for achieving our aims can be shortened, so much the better. Continual re-evaluation of strategy and tactics is the only method for keeping current with changing circumstances. To remain stuck in one “theory of change” and avoid reflection is to spell our own doom as a movement. Malm is correct that we are losing and it is time to escalate; the question is how? Malm goes out of his way to qualify and contextualize the tactical options he promotes, beginning with these two rules: 1.) “non-violent mass mobilization should (where possible) be the first resort, militant action the last; and 2.) no movement should voluntarily suspend the former, only give it appendages.” This “radical flank” approach makes sense to me. What he is primarily asking is that we avoid “the temptation to fetishize one kind of tactic”, be it property destruction, other forms of violence or pacifism. We should question strictures that assign “the sole admissible tactic” in the struggle. Personally, I would not make a moral claim one way or the other concerning property damage or use of force, but I agree with Malm that “there must be grounds for believing mellower tactics have led nowhere” before escalation is considered. And through his critique of “Deep Green Resistance”, it should be clear Malm is not an unthinking promoter of eco-terrorism. He has studied the history and found plenty of evidence to support the “radical flank” approach, “the need for complementing (strategic non-violence) with other kinds of strategies that are more militant.” As for the “fee and dividend” proposal put forth by Citizens Climate Lobby and promoted by Allen, the fact that such a tepid program has gone nowhere for a decade speaks to the dysfunctional politics of the U.S. But from an ecosocialist position, I believe the proposal legitimizes the tyranny of market forces and risks creating even more complacency in the energy consuming public. Where I take exception is when Malm claims civil disobedience has been given sufficient time to prove itself viable, necessitating the consideration of property destruction. I would argue the range of CD actions has been severely limited to the “Blockadia” tactics promoted by Naomi Klein or the one-off mass arrests organized by Extinction Rebellion and that old/new forms, such as those used successfully by the Civil Rights movement (and others) have been ignored. For instance, during the Birmingham campaign, Martin Luther King and SNCC organized mass arrests which filled the jails, using young students, workers and faith communities. This is how the large-scale, non-violent direct action was described by historian Howard Zinn: “Thursday, May 2nd, is “D-Day” as students “ditch” class to march for justice. In disciplined groups of 50, children singing freedom songs march out of 16th Street Baptist church two-by-two. When each group is arrested, another takes its place. There are not enough cops to contain them, and police reinforcements are hurriedly summoned. By the end of the day almost 1,000 kids have been jailed. The next day, Friday May 3rd, a thousand more students cut class to assemble at 16th Street church. With the jails already filled to capacity, and the number of marchers growing, Eugene “Bull” Connor, the Commissioner of Public Safety in charge of the police and fire departments, tries to suppress the movement with violence.” Between April 3rd and May 7 roughly three thousand are arrested and booked, filling not only the jails but an “improvised fairground prison…and open-air stockade” as well. This all takes place in conjunction with a well-organized boycott of downtown businesses and public transport. Televised scenes of savage reaction by the racist police are broadcast throughout a horrified nation which is then forced to confront the injustice. Compare that to today’s protests, demonstrations and direct actions. These have become repetitive, boring, scripted affairs and have generally failed to build the energized, militant force required to confront our planet’s, converging, cascading crises. Therefore, movement strategists will need to re-think all these sclerotic, contemporary forms; the one-off mass mobilization/ rally with its predictable signs, speeches, chants and outcome, the isolated, dispersed acts of non-violent civil disobedience, the embrace of “diversity of tactics” to include street fighting with police or right-wing groups and certainly the random, undirected property destruction which the mass media and their advertisers so love. It is my hope that organizers will look to these historical accounts of highly trained, thoroughly disciplined but otherwise ordinary workers, students and citizens peacefully yet militantly facing down the most brutal, violent regimes of state oppression. Consider the consequences African Americans in Birmingham 1962 faced. The risks they were willing to take. And what they achieved.

Tactical Considerations

It is a common trope that minority/ people of color can't be expected to risk arrest. Eric Mann disagrees: "We have to go back to what we understood—direct action organizing including the right of self-defense is what is needed. We in the civil rights, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, human rights, women’s environmental, and climate justice movement have to put our bodies on the line and directly confront the white fascists through the most strategic and carefully constructed tactical plans. And yes, we need very tight tactical leadership to prevent provocateurs and self-appointed anti-fascists (many of whose groups are heavily infiltrated) from having any tactical role in our actions. And yes, it can be done. I have seen with CORE, SNCC, SCLC, and today with some excellent leadership from Black Lives Matter L.A. that a demonstration can and must have disciplined leadership and marshals to enforce the laws of engagement. We can get to the complex “how and when” question of tactics at a later point. But here is my conclusion." He also agrees with me that the organizing needs to be tight, disciplined, and well trained. Mann is a veteran of many civil rights struggles that achieved results using a "radical flank" approach, not to be confused with today's "diversity of tactics". This diversity is just rhetorical cover for fetishizing individual freedom over collective interest. While I have been critical of BLM for not employing disciplined cadres, I need to look into BLM LA and see what they have developed.

De-Growth for the Few

Debates between socialists and ecosocialists tend to center around the idea of de-growth; to the old left it sounds like austerity and a difficult sell to working folks. Ecosocialists tend to argue it isn't austere, it's frugal, it's responsible, it's recognizing planetary boundaries and limits. And they are both right. But De-growth needn't be either /or. Why couldn't we demand austerity for the few and increased bounty for the many? In an Age of Inequality rivaling the Gilded Age, it shouldn't be too difficult to sell a little leveling. In capitalist terms, this means a low or negative rate of GDP,(reduced through-puts), it means productivity without a lot of profit. It's good old re-distribution in the name of saving the biosphere and hey, if it does a little social engineering, guess what, every policy is social engineering. At the moment, climate activists are trying to sell a program of "millions of new jobs" and "all our energy produced by renewables". People are wary of change, assuming they will, as usual, get the short end. But most people have no idea of HOW MUCH the really rich have, how much of the pool of resources they hog, how much they have to share. Despite all the propaganda to the contrary, economics is a zero sum game. All the stuff you don't have, they have. If you had your share of the social product, you wouldn't have to work so much, we wouldn't need "millions of jobs". Besides, most jobs are bullshit and robots can do much of the rest. You can relax, just like the rich do now. When I say "the rich" I mean of course a broad continuim. Rich is relative, just like poor. But with all of today's computing power it shouldn't be too tough to come up with a median (I've seen one estimate of $17,600, which I lived on for years). One that is sustainable. And so far all I have described is a transition out of hyper-consumerist US capitalism, although much would apply to other modern industrialized economies. The questions of consumption and development- how much is sustainable? How will production and allocation goals be decided? etc. these are all down the road. The task at the moment is stopping the train from plunging off the cliff. Early 20th century Marxism naturally relied on ever-increasing productivity as a way to a better life for the masses. We now know that Marx understood that earth systems had a "metabolism" that required attention but in the Cold War race it was all about maximizing extraction to provide for material needs (and wants). Now we understand the ecological limits and must adapt our narratives.

You're Welcome part 3

I try to be humble but credit where credit is do, right? Donald Trump, the candidate I supported in 2016 on the grounds that he would usher in radical change, has in fact torn conservatism asunder. Is it the revolution? No, not yet. But the malignant force that is movement conservatism is seriously wounded, perhaps fatally, by the crazt grifter and has been demonstrated, you simply have to have the nerve to give these people enough rope. It is a key strategy of judo that resistance can take the form of bending, of being willing to flow with the chaos and turn the enemie's energy to your advantage. And so this ideological project is slowly, eventually engulfed and annihilated by its own contradictions. You don't want to be the party of fiscal restraint in a pandemic/climate crisis. Suffering people don't want to hear that there is no money, they don't want to hear about moral hazard and tightening belts, not after watching trillion upon trillion printed to save the banks. Trump could bluff and con and distract- but only for so long. And now his syncophants and acolytes are running on fumes. QAnon is not a plan, not policy or a platform. This is not to say the Democrats are now in the catbird seat. It's not a question of if, but when, this shitshow takes everybody down. I'm still waiting for my 2019 tax refund. They have vaccinated .08 of the population and they are running out of coffins. The sporting goods stores are limiting ammunition sales because production can't keep up with demand. Our job then is to highten these contradictions. Sell Marjorie Taylor Greene sex dolls, complete with AR15s. Invite Trump to MC the Academy Awards. Get creative.

What If

What if instead of amassing at the Capitol to support a Real Estate Developer, all those rebels had showed up on Wall Street and done what Occupy was supposed to do- occupy. What if they had stormed the real halls of power because they were angry about injustice and inequality rather than migrant caravans. What if a couple hundred thousand rebels had taken over the offices of CitiGroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs,Barclays, Morgan Stanley, etc..demanding the banks hand over the billions they have stolen or stop raping the earth What if the rebels understood the difference between individual freedom and collective emancipation, changed their motto from "Don't tread on me" to don't tread on us What if all those fired up insurrectionists understood the problem wasn't a secret paedophile Satanist ring but Americanism and the patriotic devotion it engenders What if the rebellion had focused on saving the planet from profiteers rather than mask mandates

Wounded Pride

From an article in the NYTimes: apparently the Proud Boys are so dissapointed in the way Trump slinked off stage they leveled the worst possible insult his way, calling him "flacid". It suddenly occured to The Boys that Captain Hook is sitting by the pool sipping pina coladas, scrolling through porn sites, while his faithful footsoldiers are facing hard time. And they aren't happy. Awed by the Spectacle of Trump's erect largeness, he embodied that masculine potency which gives their lives meaning...but once again they are cucked and hung out to dry. They are a cult based on dissapointment and abandonment so Trump's treachery should not have been much of a surprise, but still it cuts deep. I hope someone gives us a Lacanian analysis of this strangely comedic phallus...someday. There is less and less for them to be proud about- certainly their ability to discern true leaders can be questioned. Trump is a player and he played these rubes the way he has made a career playing rubes, letting them imagine they too could "grab all the pussy" they desired, they too could have a babe like Melania ( in four years did she smile even once?), they could all hang together at Mar a Lago, tennis, golf, followed by drinks in the lounge. The obverse of these flag-draped nitwits are the self-described "anarchists" of Portland in their black skinny jeans and hoodies. Why the press insists on linking them to BLM protests is curious- either the journalists are lazy or ideologically motivated- I can only guess. But the bottom line is they give anarchism a bad name and they should find a new gig. Like being helpful somehow.

Libertarian Fascism

It is difficult for foreign observers to analyze the recent events at the Capitol. We Americans are an inventive people, not easily understood by those not raised here. We are complex in a surreal sense, endowed with a native pathos that expresses itself in wildly divergent, not necessarily rational forms. Take the recent, populist embrace of libertarianism for example. Prominent among the insignias and emblems displayed at the recent "insurrection" is the Gadsen flag, whose motto "don't tread on me" encapsulates the sentiment of many who "love their country, but fear their government". Mostly they fear the government will take their guns and impose taxes or other regulations. This is why it is hard to square this patriot tea party ethos with fascism, to conflate the two as some are wont to do. Certainly there is an element of ultra-nationalism in this dumbned-down libertarianism, but again, Americanism is a uniqely incohate ativistic assemblage, one Mussolini would not recognize. This Gadsen flag waves next to confederate, US and Trump flags, and the class assemblage is just as varied, with those owning Subaru dealerships marching alongside plumbers and Uber drivers. The truly hard-core militia types would bristle at the suggestion they are fascist in the same way Democrats bristle at being called socialists. It is they who are defending our constitutional republic, freedom, liberty, etc..But such liberal sentiments have often driven the shock troops of fascism through misrecognition, propaganda and political illiteracy. Which are symptoms of purposeful neglect by a ruling power elite which prefers weak citizens in the same way they prefer weak, de-stabilized states. It is when those weak states or citizens suddenly "fail" ( which is practically every instance) that those same elites cry out in shock and alarm. For my part, I prefer having things out in the open, exposed to the light. I would rather know the actual extent of these dark, if clownish and incohate, forces and for that we have The Donald to thank once again.

Trump Train De-Railed

Even my neighbor took down his flags,finally, yesterday. Without his twitter account The Donald is losing audience share, folks returning to the Kardashians or Sponge Bob. It occurs to me that Stop the Steal is a meme the Left could steal and re-purpose now. "Stop Stealing Our Wages" Stop Stealing Our Resources, Stop Stealing Our Future. I remain interested in how folks dress (Tucker Carlson referred to the clothing of the woman who was shot, Michael Moore reflected on how the insurrectionists dressed like him)and was struck by the congressman from Georgia who spoke at the rally, dressed in camo hat and carharts ("one of us" apparel) whereas Trump dresses like the elite dandy he is- something the salt of the earth crowd seems impressed by. The camo congressman described the "weak" Senators as those who "drink brandy and smoke cigars", the ultimate symbolic reference to the Trump entourage. No one picked up on it because irony died long ago. The perfect segue into this statement by the head of the company building the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline: “With added focus on improving the health and safety of our environment, our people and overall well-being of the communities we work in, we truly make a difference during the construction of each infrastructure project and beyond,” added Poteete. One last note on the Insurrection (now the official term, along with sedition): It was fortuitous that antifa didn't show up to confront the "mob"(another official term)and divert them into a street fight. The lesson: give them plenty of rope- stay away- let them implode. This goes for the inauguration- unless you have well-dressed, trained, disciplined cadres with a plan, stay away.

Something Happened!

But what? My colleague suggests Trump "shot his wad", that is, followed the inevitable trajectory of psychotic narcisim and pushed a little too hard, sending all his success over the cliff in one explosive climax. How strange it must have been for him to watch the unleashed monster, the bizarre force he had animated with desire, plunge beyond his control into no-man's land. An ancient but true story. Wad shot, the dream turns to nightmare. But this delirious, passionate "force" ( what the media is labelling mob, thugs, cretins, etc..) was charging forth, inspired by that Myth of the Righteous Crusader, that "the tree of liberty is watered by the blood of tyrants" and now History was in motion! To be an actor in an Epic! All that Marvel comic, paintball warrior Fantasy suddenly come true, all the accoutremonts ( the flak vest, the helmut, the tatoo and flag,) the gear, finally finding a use! The Father phallus Trump had rhetorically touched the flaming core: weak versus strong, false versus True, erasing all doubt. This was It, The Event, the culmination of all those internet hours, all that tweeting and trolling, come to this! So you fight your way in and surge through the doors and...now what? What was the plan exactly? You were following those dudes who were leading the chants but now they seem a bit unsure...Outside the crowd still roars: Stop the Steal! Maybe you did! Because something happened, right?

2020 Nothing Happened

The folks on Chapo Traphouse just figured it out: Recalling the Bernie run and the George Floyd rebellion they realize, "looking back on these big events it seems like nothing happened".By which they mean that all the left activism, be it electoral or in the streets, resulted in zilch. Some military bases get re-named. Which seemed to pierce the armour of snark they tend to cover themselves in and allow in a bit of uncharacteristically sincere reflection. We can only make jokes about going in circles for so long. Then it stops being funny, farcicle or even tragic. It just becomes lame. The "looking back on the year" bit did have one poignant moment: recalling the vapid, farcicle, MSNBC inspired Trump impeachment.The same person who does strategy for BLM apparently does strategy for the Dems. But the real story of 2020 is covid of course, what it has exposed to those able to see and what tendencies it has reinforced in those who choose not to see (or are unable for whatever reasons). I go back to my boss and his assertion last Februrary that he had done some statistical analysis in a previous job which allowed him to predict the virus would not be a big deal. He is a microcosm and metaphor for generalized America, the absurd grandiosity, of allowing profit to over-ride all other concerns, to know but act as if you don't know, all of it. And it took his mother in law dying of the virus to insert him back somewhat into( still a flag-waving, God fearing) reality. But most importantly, he still, despite being wrong about the virus (and so, so much else) could never hesitate to trust his instinct, to feel confidence in his opinions, to be assured he is right. Which is another sense in which Nothing Happened. When things are swallowed by the memory hole, there is no reason for doubt. I also watched a replay of a talk given by a climate scientist about a year ago in front of a large crowd of local activists. He spoke in no uncertain terms about the dire emergency we face and yet here we are one year later and Nothing Happened.