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.