Now that Jacinda Harden has shuffled off the political scene, and the Queen of Scots is following suit, that only leaves Greta Thunberg as the great progressive hope of the world. [ \"progressive\" as in\u00a0overtly pressing a social justice agenda ].<\/p>\n
Back in November, in reporting Ms T's new-found approach to sustainability. \u00a0I said: \"If I hear her correctly, it's not people who are the problem, it's capitalism as it is based on\u00a0colonialism, on imperialism, on oppression, on genocide, on racism, on oppressive extraction, and on\u00a0the destructive forces of patriarchy, heteronormativity and militarism.\"<\/p>\n
I noted that she obviously also thinks that there is no use trying to become sustainable in the current system as only de-growth will do. \u00a0So we shall all be poorer, including the already poor. \u00a0I believe she reiterated these themes at the annual global gabfest that is Davos \u2013 taking time off from being arrested by the deutsche Polizei \u2013 the BBC has a great photo<\/a>.<\/p>\n To say that I am skeptical of the 'capitalism is the root of all evil' argument is an understatement, although, not being an economic historian, it's often hard to find the right words to express why that is. \u00a0This article<\/a> in History Reclaimed<\/a>\u00a0 by Jeff Fynn-Paul has helped a bit. \u00a0He writes:<\/p>\n \"If Greta\u2019s vision of exploitative capitalism sounds familiar, this is because some version of it has been seducing idealistic students (my own younger self included) for the better part of 100 years.\u00a0\u00a0Reading her statement, I was reminded of a similar statement put out by the editors of the (Marxist) academic journal Social Justice<\/em> on the 500th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Columbus\u2019 voyage in 1992.\u00a0\u00a0In an editorial called \u201cFive Hundred Years of Genocide, Repression, and Resistance,\u201d they prefigured Greta\u2019s anti-capitalist environmentalism almost word for word:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe merciless assault on indigenous peoples served as the bedrock upon which Western culture and the capitalist economy were built.\u201d<\/p>\n After blaming Western colonialism and capitalism for the destruction of the ozone layer, they conclude:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSimply put, today\u2019s environmental crisis results from 500 years of unbridled capitalist exploitation.\u00a0\u00a0Progress has not come without a staggering price, if it can be called progress at all.\u201d<\/p>\n The key charges are, first, that Western prosperity is built on the backs of non-Europeans, second, that capitalism is racist, and third, that capitalism invariably exploits the environment.\"<\/p>\n The article then goes on to explore why each of these claims are equivocal at best, and touches on the merits of dark-green v. light green issues along the way. \u00a0This is how it ends:<\/p>\n \"To Greta Thunberg and to everyone else who has imbibed the Left\u2019s apocalyptic vision of economic history, I say this.\u00a0\u00a0Environmental degradation is a serious problem, but \u201coverthrowing capitalism\u201d is an absurd, nineteenth-century way of looking at the problem and its possible solutions.\u00a0\u00a0Racism and exploitation are red herrings that have nothing to do with solving our climate problems.\u00a0\u00a0Only a nexus of democracy and capitalism have any hope of moving the world forward to the future that every sane person wants to see.\u00a0\u00a0Concluding that \u201cprogress\u201d is bad will eventually doom the world to a second Dark Age.\u00a0\u00a0So please drop the 1970s \u201cdark green\u201d vision of environmentalism, encourage environmentalists to learn maths, and help us in the slow, thankless work that will create a truly sustainable future.\u00a0\u00a0Europe has led the world in the reduction of carbon emissions over the past 20 years, even as GDP has grown.\u00a0\u00a0Growth and greenness are not mutually exclusive.\u00a0\u00a0Arguably, the development and implementation of advanced technology is the only practical way to avoid climate meltdown. \u00a0Meanwhile, before repeating any more shibboleths about imperialism, colonialism, genocide, and racism, please, take a class on Western Civilization\u2014led by someone with a modicum of knowledge about economic history.\u00a0\u00a0The things you learn there might just save the world.\"<\/p>\n I recommend the article, if only because we should all be willing, once in a while, to read the other side of what we know (or want) to be true. \u00a0As for me, I find much of it quite persuasive even though saying so risks putting me beyond the pale in these censorious times ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that Jacinda Harden has shuffled off the political scene, and the Queen of Scots is following suit, that only leaves Greta Thunberg as the great progressive hope of the world. 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