Ecosocialism

The Bolivian government's national contribution to the COP 21 climate talks scheduled to start in Paris on November 30 contains a series of radical proposals for safeguarding the future health of the planet,Euractiv.com said on October 14.

Bolivia's contribution insists that capitalism is responsible for “consumerism, warmongering and [...] the destruction of Mother Earth”.

Climate Catastrophe Already Starting

            The logic is simple. Capitalism can’t survive without endless growth. Many of Earth’s species—including humans—can’t survive the onrushing catastrophe of climate change caused by unchecked growth. Choose.

            A rapidly rising international movement against climate change and for climate justice is growing ever more aware of this logic.

[Webpage editor's note: The momentum for social change in dealing with both the climate and social justice issues.] 

City council member Kshama Sawant says the Vermont senator’s candidacy has created ‘enormous momentum’ for change among young people and workers

Kshama Sawant may be the only elected politician in the US who thinks Bernie Sanders has compromised his socialist principles a little too much to win the White House.

Seattle workers hail 'historic moment' as city sets course for $15 minimum wage

In early 2014, Solidarity’s Ecosocialist Working Group developed six questions that we felt deserved some substantial discussion among those who identify as “ecosocialists.” We invited members of our working group, of Solidarity as a whole, and others to draft some initial responses as a way to generate further discussion. Since then we have been collecting, considering, and editing those responses. We are now sharing some of them in this working paper, and we plan to share more in the future as they become ready.

[An important article: "I would argue that it's much more likely to come from social protest than from the eventual exhaustion of natural resources."- says Chris Williams - read the full article - Editors]

We are now officially living amid the sixth great extinction, according to scientists, but the global economy has still not shifted to prevent climate change's existential threat to human civilization and much of the biosphere.

[Webpage editor's note: This short article by the author of the blog Life on the Left is part of a discussion in Quebec among socialists and nationalists about the Canadian election. It was submitted to a bulletin associated with the journal Nouveaux Cahiers du Socialisme.]

When Bolivian President Evo Morales announced in May that his government was allowing oil and gas drilling in national parks, mainstream and progressive media outlets alike were quick to condemn his supposed hypocrisy on environmental issues.

Writing for the Associated Press, Frank Bajak argued that although Morales is known internationally for his outspoken campaigning on climate change, at home he faces constant criticism from conservationists “who say he puts extraction ahead of clean water and forests”.

This book review of Green Capitalsm the God that Failed by Richard Smith was first published by the World Economics Association eBooks.