An eco-socialist/democratic world government informed by the ecological view in all endeavors is humanity's, and all other species' for that matter, only hope for survival. The arrangements we have now, anthropocentric and capitalist to the max, are guaranteed to extinct every last living thing, except maybe a few fungal forms that might thrive in the midst of all the death and destruction. The corporatized, bourgeois capitalist elites aren't going to suddenly become enlightened and voluntary begin the process of dismantling the apparatus of relentless exploitation of Nature and the structures of Empire and its protocols of permanent war. And it isn't likely that the worshippers of the "tangerine-tainted transgressor" will be miraculously restored to sanity and become a movement of eco-poets in the service of Ethos and Aphrodite. No, their God is Death and their goal is the death of all that is profound, beautiful, and sacred. Under such conditions, REVOLT is the only option for men and women with their feet on the ground of our collective being, this beautiful blue globe of spinning rock and fire whirling through space, our beloved Pacha Mama, Earth Mother, the womb of life! A Las Barricadas!
Such an eloquent comment. I think our future ecosocialist government will have to be ready to undertake some harsh actions that will not always look and sometimes not always be democratic and will certainly be denounced as anti-democratic cuz let's face it: there's going to have to be some real and serious rollback of what millions and millions consider to be legitimate consumption. The reversal of imperial parasitism will impose costs on masses in rich nations. And of course a world socialist govenrment is long past our lifetimes.....socialist revolutions take place in inidividual nations and face the massive tasks of how to stay alive while trying to encourage and assist revolutions in other nations.
Paul, my dreamy comment was from my quixotic power vision in solitude and you're right, some harsh actions will be necessary in actually implementing an eco-paradigm in reality and the process will be messy and difficult, but we have to try. Otherwise, the only choice is what Wendell Berry calls "the Territory of despair, where it is assumed that what is objectionable is 'inevitable', and so again the essential work is neglected. How can we have something better if we do not imagine it? How can we imagine it if we do not hope for it? How can we hope for it if we do not attempt to realize it?" These questions posed by Berry are for Generation Z to consider now, but us old dudes can still help get the fires started with a little intellectual generativity, which is something you do so beautifully.
Another excellent Report Paul. I shared it on Bill Astore's substack site 'Bracingviews' with this intro,
Watching Trump's 2016 Election Campaign from CanaDa, I thought he was preaching NIHILISM and with the benefit of hindsight, that understanding is borne out Today.
There's no doubt the notion of "American Carnage" Trump introduced in his Inaugural Presidential speech has taken root and is now displaying itself in Politics and on American Streets in big cities and small towns.
With that lingering personal opinion, I relate to the latest Paul Street Report on substack, 'The New United States Civil War is Heating Up'
On Bourgeois-Democratic Indictments, Fascist Reaction, and the Need for Revolution.
Paul puts meat on the bones of what I saw in 2016 starting this way, so you may have some clue what to expect? While he starts with Trump, Democrats are not spared....................................
After finishing reading your essay, I felt as if you had been reading my mind. Thank you for putting the raw reality of the current day into plain language that adults might understand. The fact that no one else, in my family or limited social circle, understands the existential perils that you've described, simply amazes me. I suspect that it's primarily due to a population that knows nothing beyond the information given them by those in power, with critical thinking largely abandoned.
Regarding the issue of the Electoral College, I can not remember a single instance, during the past twenty years or so, when the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876, was even mentioned, in media discussions of said institution. The disgraceful outcome of that election, due entirely to the Electoral College, remains unknown to almost everyone, notwithstanding its surrender of all former slaves to the societies that owned them and had fought to keep them, only eleven years after Lincoln died, and the war had ended.
And 147 years later, neither political party makes any serious effort to democratize our elections.
Well, so 1876-77 was as I recall resolved between the parties in Congress. The North got the White House (Tilden won the popular vote and probably could have prevalied in the Electoral) and the South got the last Reconstruction troops removed - and they both got a railroad, nice symbol for the emergence of the new US Age of Capital that would soon become the Age of the Robber Barons and the corporate reconstruction of American capitalism, which also saw the US rise as an Imperialist Power. The Spanish American War and the US seizure of the Philippines provided a great moment for symbolic sectional reunification around the racist US American flag!
An eco-socialist/democratic world government informed by the ecological view in all endeavors is humanity's, and all other species' for that matter, only hope for survival. The arrangements we have now, anthropocentric and capitalist to the max, are guaranteed to extinct every last living thing, except maybe a few fungal forms that might thrive in the midst of all the death and destruction. The corporatized, bourgeois capitalist elites aren't going to suddenly become enlightened and voluntary begin the process of dismantling the apparatus of relentless exploitation of Nature and the structures of Empire and its protocols of permanent war. And it isn't likely that the worshippers of the "tangerine-tainted transgressor" will be miraculously restored to sanity and become a movement of eco-poets in the service of Ethos and Aphrodite. No, their God is Death and their goal is the death of all that is profound, beautiful, and sacred. Under such conditions, REVOLT is the only option for men and women with their feet on the ground of our collective being, this beautiful blue globe of spinning rock and fire whirling through space, our beloved Pacha Mama, Earth Mother, the womb of life! A Las Barricadas!
Such an eloquent comment. I think our future ecosocialist government will have to be ready to undertake some harsh actions that will not always look and sometimes not always be democratic and will certainly be denounced as anti-democratic cuz let's face it: there's going to have to be some real and serious rollback of what millions and millions consider to be legitimate consumption. The reversal of imperial parasitism will impose costs on masses in rich nations. And of course a world socialist govenrment is long past our lifetimes.....socialist revolutions take place in inidividual nations and face the massive tasks of how to stay alive while trying to encourage and assist revolutions in other nations.
Paul, my dreamy comment was from my quixotic power vision in solitude and you're right, some harsh actions will be necessary in actually implementing an eco-paradigm in reality and the process will be messy and difficult, but we have to try. Otherwise, the only choice is what Wendell Berry calls "the Territory of despair, where it is assumed that what is objectionable is 'inevitable', and so again the essential work is neglected. How can we have something better if we do not imagine it? How can we imagine it if we do not hope for it? How can we hope for it if we do not attempt to realize it?" These questions posed by Berry are for Generation Z to consider now, but us old dudes can still help get the fires started with a little intellectual generativity, which is something you do so beautifully.
Another excellent Report Paul. I shared it on Bill Astore's substack site 'Bracingviews' with this intro,
Watching Trump's 2016 Election Campaign from CanaDa, I thought he was preaching NIHILISM and with the benefit of hindsight, that understanding is borne out Today.
There's no doubt the notion of "American Carnage" Trump introduced in his Inaugural Presidential speech has taken root and is now displaying itself in Politics and on American Streets in big cities and small towns.
With that lingering personal opinion, I relate to the latest Paul Street Report on substack, 'The New United States Civil War is Heating Up'
On Bourgeois-Democratic Indictments, Fascist Reaction, and the Need for Revolution.
Paul puts meat on the bones of what I saw in 2016 starting this way, so you may have some clue what to expect? While he starts with Trump, Democrats are not spared....................................
https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/the-greatest-fighting-force-in-human/comments
After finishing reading your essay, I felt as if you had been reading my mind. Thank you for putting the raw reality of the current day into plain language that adults might understand. The fact that no one else, in my family or limited social circle, understands the existential perils that you've described, simply amazes me. I suspect that it's primarily due to a population that knows nothing beyond the information given them by those in power, with critical thinking largely abandoned.
Regarding the issue of the Electoral College, I can not remember a single instance, during the past twenty years or so, when the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876, was even mentioned, in media discussions of said institution. The disgraceful outcome of that election, due entirely to the Electoral College, remains unknown to almost everyone, notwithstanding its surrender of all former slaves to the societies that owned them and had fought to keep them, only eleven years after Lincoln died, and the war had ended.
And 147 years later, neither political party makes any serious effort to democratize our elections.
Well, so 1876-77 was as I recall resolved between the parties in Congress. The North got the White House (Tilden won the popular vote and probably could have prevalied in the Electoral) and the South got the last Reconstruction troops removed - and they both got a railroad, nice symbol for the emergence of the new US Age of Capital that would soon become the Age of the Robber Barons and the corporate reconstruction of American capitalism, which also saw the US rise as an Imperialist Power. The Spanish American War and the US seizure of the Philippines provided a great moment for symbolic sectional reunification around the racist US American flag!
Musket ready Paul.
Not sure it will do good much against an AR-15. Much prefer bourgeois law to resolve issues.
Right On! Strong analysis once again. Street Smarts!