… a Marshall Plan for the Earth. How Movements Can Use Drama to Seize the Public Imagination, The Four Levels: New Story Activism & Burnout, The Rise of the Insurrectionary Imagination, What Could Possibly Go Right? The disastrous track record of the past three decades of neoliberal policy is simply too apparent." Conversely, those with strong ‘hierarchical’ and ‘individualistic’ worldviews (marked by opposition to government assistance for the poor and minorities, strong support for industry, and a belief that we all pretty much get what we deserve) overwhelmingly reject the scientific consensus.". (269), "We have options, ones that would greatly decrease the chances of ever confronting those impossible choices, choices that indeed deserve to be described as genocidal. "Simple principles governed this golden age of environmental legislation [1960s and 1970s]: ban or severely limit the offending activity or substance and where possible, get the polluter to pay for the cleanup." "But most of all, regular, noncelebrity people were called upon to exercise their consumer power—not by shopping less but by discovering new and exciting ways to consume more. This Changes Everything, written by Naomi Klein, is an influential book on the biggest issue the world faces: human-created climate change.This book review presents the main arguments of this brilliant contribution. "… the deeper message carried by the ecological crisis—that humanity has to go a whole lot easier on the living systems that sustain us, acting regeneratively rather than extractively—is a profound challenge to large parts of the left as well as the right. As manufacturing moves offshore, those other countries are blamed for climate change. Klein’s fans will recognize her method from her prior books, “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies” (1999) and “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” (2007), which, with her latest, form an antiglobalization trilogy. They indeed continue to shine the light in spite of an onslaught of oppression, most recently as their lands are targeted for extraction. “This Changes Everything gets the science right, but it’s about much more than facts and figures. …Nor were the movements that ended slavery and defeated colonial rule in any way bloodless: nonviolent tactics like boycotts and protests played major roles, but slavery in the Caribbean was only outlawed after numerous slave rebellions were brutally suppressed, and, of course, abolition in the United States came only after the carnage of the Civil War. … It is an audacious demand, and those making it should be clear-eyed about just what they’re asking. It is the sedative that allows civilization to march so steadfastly toward environmental catastrophe. (Source: "No, We Don’t Need to Ditch/Slay/Kill Capitalism Before We Can Fight Climate Change. Politicians, business leaders, and others implementing extractivist policies are acting as the system demands, so we must radically change the system. (158), "To understand how we got to this place of profound disconnection from our surroundings and one another, and to think about how we might build a politics based on reconnection, we will need to go back a good deal further than 1988. Indiscriminate economic growth is fetishized at the expense of climate action, yet we need managed degrowth. (354). The reason is that by failing to fight these big battles that stand to shift our ideological direction and change the balance of who holds power in our societies, a context has been slowly created in which any muscular response to climate change seems politically impossible, especially during times of economic crisis (which lately seems to be all the time). (200) Some have even supported fracking. Quotations from online articles by Klein, and quotations from other about the book, are also given. "What is emerging [in Blockadia], in fact, is a new kind of reproductive rights movement, one fighting not only for the reproductive rights of women, but for the reproductive rights of the planet as a whole …. Her book is an exploration of all sides of the climate change debate and of the complexities, misinformation and the unknown that surrounds it. In the process, the original goals of the movement—to stop the ecological plunder, and take back control over the region’s resource—became harder to decipher." In This Changes Everything, Klein presents a dystopian status quo of “climate change fuelled disaster capitalism – profiteering disguised as emission reduction, privatized hyper-militarized borders, and quite possibly, high-risk geoengineering when things spiral out of control” (p.155) and suggests that “we are all in the sacrifice zone now”. This Changes Everything Themes. The auto, arms, shipping, and air transport industries should pay too. (254). I recommend it to everyone. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms of life on Earth, including human life. (8), "… opposition movements … will need a comprehensive vision for what should emerge in the place of our failing system, as well as serious political strategies for how to achieve those goals." The student-led divestment movement has "put the fossil fuel companies’ core business model on trial, arguing that they have become rogue actors whose continued economic viability relies on radical climate destabilization—and that, as such, any institution claiming to serve the public interest has a moral responsibility to liberate itself from these odious profits." (125), "… attempts to fix glaring and fundamental flaws in the system have failed because large corporations wield far too much political power—a power exerted through corporate campaign contributions, many of them secret; through almost unfettered access to regulators via their lobbyists; through the notorious revolving door between business and government; as well as through the ‘free speech’ rights these corporations have been granted by the U.S. Supreme Court." Moderate environmentalists try to make emissions reduction more palatable to the right, with little effect. Such partnerships remind us that when the lamb and the lion lie down together, only one of them gets eaten. We must adapt ourselves to the rhythms of natural systems and, acting as stewards, regenerate and renew rather than dominate and deplete, thus fully participating in nature’s process of maximizing life’s creativity. There are individual men and women and there are families.” In the battle since, between a collective strategy for forging an inhabitable long-term future and the antisocial, hyper-corporatized, hyper-carbonized pursuit of short-term growth at any cost, well, there has been only one clear winner. Businesses have gamed the cap-and-trade system implemented in Europe; carbon offsets don’t work very well. The movement has been propelled by expansion of fossil fuel extraction, often into hostile territory, and by the heightened risk of extraction and transportation operations. But We Sure As Hell NeedTo Challenge It” by Naomi Klein), "Some say there is no time for this transformation; the crisis is too pressing and the clock is ticking. (362). (427). "Late capitalism teaches us to create ourselves through our consumer choices: shopping is how we form our identities, find community and express ourselves. There are all kinds of measures that would lower emissions substantively that could and should be done right now. (154), "… for a great many people, climate action is their best hope for a better present, and a future far more exciting than anything else currently on offer." The Climate.” The author of “No Logo” and “The Shock Doctrine” now “tackles the most profound threat humanity has ever faced: the war our economic model is waging against life on earth,” as the book jacket aptly puts it. “Any attempt to rise to the climate challenge will be fruitless unless it is understood as part of a much broader battle of worldviews,” Klein writes. We must regain a feeling of humility before nature, which is ultimately more powerful than us humans. (450), "The events out on the streets in New York this week did provide some hope and inspiration. (Source: Reddit comments by Naomi Klein, 11/20/2014), "Indeed the three policy pillars of the neoliberal age—privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and the lowering of income and corporate taxes, paid for with cuts to public spending—are each incompatible with many of the actions we must take to bring our emissions to safe levels." (212-13), "The excerpt above will likely be flagged as one of the most controversial passages of the book: Klein lays the blame for widespread climate change denial at the feet of the environmental community!" (159), Extractivism was a feature of colonialism and early industrialism, and continues in modern capitalism. How free market fundamentalism helped overheat the planet. Such rights are being adopted as legal rights. (454), "… the movements for the abolition of slavery and for Third World independence from colonial powers. Most people no longer believe neoliberal claims. "The Yale researchers [of Yale’s Cultural Cognition Project] explain that people with strong ‘egalitarian’ and ‘communitarian’ worldviews (marked by an inclination toward collective action and social justice, concern about inequality, and suspicion of corporate power) overwhelmingly accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Deregulated capitalism is rampant. Sharing the Sky: The Atmospheric Commons and the Power of Paying Our Debts, 13. "And yet each of those rules emerged out of the same, coherent worldview. Through an epic case of bad timing, the Reagan-Thatcher revolution, the rise of the anti-regulatory World Trade Organization, and the cult of privatizing and globalizing everything coincided with the rising public authority of climate science. ", Fifteen years of community-controlled water in Bolivia, Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time. Where national leaders have faltered, local governments are forging ahead. Both of these transformative movements forced ruling elites to relinquish practices that were still extraordinarily profitable, much as fossil fuel extraction is today." They also spell extinction for the richest and most powerful industry the world has ever known—the oil and gas industry …" (63). So much for the invisible hand. And it means that a whole lot of stuff we have been told is impossible has to start happening right away." Fair trade laws are being used by extractive industries to quash environmental wins. Some people believe in technological innovation solving our big social problems, but that’s magical thinking. (284), "In pragmatic terms, our challenge is less to save the earth from ourselves and more to save ourselves from an earth that, if pushed too far, has ample power to rock, burn, and shake us off completely." … we should not underestimate the depth of the civilizational challenge that this relationship represents. Richard Branson pledged $3 billion from his businesses to tackle climate change, but did not make good on the pledge. "I always tell people that the most important thing they can do is join groups of other people taking action. Many people cannot imagine an alternative. (344). Deliberately strengthen egalitarian and communitarian values. Policies that simply try to harness the power of the market—by minimally taxing or capping carbon and then getting out of the way—won’t be enough." … The problem is the inflated role that consumption has come to play in our particular era. Indeed a growing number of communications specialists now argue that because the ‘solutions’ to climate change proposed by many green groups in this period [2000s] were so borderline frivolous, many people concluded that the groups must have been exaggerating the scale of the problem. … [a] sort of wealth redistribution …" (40), "A belief in a system that vilifies collective action and declares war on all corporate regulation and all things public simply cannot be reconciled with a problem that demands collective action on an unprecedented scale and a dramatic reining in of the market forces that are largely responsible for creating and deepening the crisis." In the process, these place-based stands are stopping real climate crimes in progress." The beauty of these models is that when they fail, they fail on a small and manageable scale—with backup systems in place. And they are up against powerful forces within their own countries that insist that it is their ‘turn’ to pollute their way to prosperity and that nothing matters more than economic growth." But there were also many who have dug in deep enough to conclude that our only real chance for addressing the multipronged crises we face is to overcome divisions and disparities to build unity and take action including bold nonviolent direct action targeting the roots of the problem. (336), "… when the extractive industry’s culture of structural transience bumps up against a group of deeply rooted people with an intense love of their homeplace and a determination to protect it, the effect can be explosive." (424), "It suddenly dawned on me that I was indeed part of a vast biotic community, and it was a place where a great many of us—humans and nonhuman alike—found ourselves engaged in an uphill battle to create new living beings." (460-61). And perhaps this phenomenon shouldn’t even be referred to as an environmental movement at all, since it is primarily driven by a desire for a deeper form of democracy, one that provides communities with real control over those resources that are most critical to collective survival—the health of the water, air, and soil. (72), "… wealthy countries need to start cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by something like 8 to 10 percent a year—and they need to start right now." To call “This Changes Everything” environmental is to limit Klein’s considerable agenda. Many large environmental … Indigenous Rights and the Power of Keeping Our Word, 12. Because we know where the current system, left unchecked, is headed. Sometimes nationalization of industries is needed. Many Indigenous communities, having trouble meeting basic needs, feel pressured to make quick-and-dirty deals with extractive industries. Branson "dangled the prospect of a miracle technological fix for carbon pollution just over the horizon in order to buy time to continue escalating emissions, free of meddlesome regulation." "One battle doesn’t rob from another but rather causes battles to multiply, with each act of courage, and each victory, inspiring others to strengthen their resolve." For example, the culture leads us to define ourselves by what we buy, worship wealth and fame for their own sakes, compromise, accept change as something that is handed down from above by our betters rather than something we demand for ourselves, and generally not get overly excited about anything. "What’s important is to break out of the mindset that climate change can be tackled by invidual [sic] action. (7), "And there are plenty of signs that climate change will be no exception [to The Shock Doctrine]—that, rather than sparking solutions that have a real chance of preventing catastrophic warming and protecting us from inevitable disasters, the crisis will once again be seized upon to hand over yet more resources to the 1 percent." “Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war.”. In each book she arrives at some semihopeful place, where activists are reaffirming embattled civic values. In Blockadia, risk assessment is being replaced by the precautionary principle. This Changes everyThing. (461), Many of us are overwhelmed by our concerns for people and the earth. "These activists understand that keeping carbon in the ground, and protecting ancient, carbon-sequestering forests from being clear-cut for mines, is a prerequisite for preventing catastrophic warming. Decisions should be made democratically, not by elites or bureaucrats, according to our deep compassion, what we collectively value (and our understanding of right and wrong), and what we owe to one another based on our shared humanity and the equal rights of all people. If that worldview is delegitimized, then all of the rules within it become much weaker and more vulnerable." And this is where the power of climate change—and its potential for building the largest possible political tent—comes into play. (87), "The truth is, if we want to live within ecological limits, we would need to return to a lifestyle similar to the one we had in the 1970s, before consumption levels went crazy in the 1980s." Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature." "Progressives [must show] that the real solutions to the climate crisis are also our best hope of building a much more stable and equitable economic system, one that strengthens and transforms the public sphere, generates plentiful, dignified work, and radically reins in corporate greed. I agree that it would be reckless to claim that the only solution to this crisis is to revolutionize our economy and revamp our worldview from the bottom up—and anything short of that is not worth doing. Left to its own, it will grind every bit of value out of the earth and our labors. Hot Money: How Free Market Fundamentalism Helped Overheat the Planet, 3. "The failure of this polite strategy is beyond debate." How can we rouse citizens and governments to act for concerted change? Green capitalism won’t be sufficient, we must consume less. The climate change is an issue that require demanding … Only then can real solutions prevail." Some Big Green groups supported free trade agreements. (258) Side effects include continuing ocean acidification, and possibly worse climate in some regions—which is very hard to determine in advance, though it’s predicted in some models. They were also unafraid of the language of morality—to give the pragmatic, cost-benefit arguments a rest and speak of right and wrong, of love and indignation." What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we'll ever get to build a better world? "… developing countries [are] owed a debt for the inherent injustice of climate change—the fact that wealthy countries had used up most of the atmospheric capacity for safely absorbing CO2 before developing countries had a chance to industrialize. She recognizes the great difficulties that a movement for climate action faces, but is hopeful that effective action can be forced before it becomes too late to avoid catastrophe. "In other words, we are products of our age and of a dominant ideological project. Ecological Economics also challenges extractivism. Love Will Save This Place: Democracy, Divestment, and the Wins So Far, 11. Scientists are helping us to understand climate change (part of a greater ecological crisis) and our role in it. "… Indeed, if the movement has a guiding theory, it is that it is high time to close, rather than expand, the fossil fuel frontier." Ironically, abolition may have succeeded when it did only because coal power was quickly replacing human toil. Wealthy countries and regions can shift their energy infrastructure to renewables in 20-40 years (101), but it requires public (governmental) action which is resisted by the dominant ideology. We will win by asserting that such calculations are morally monstrous…" (464), "… there is little doubt that another crisis will see us in the streets and squares once again, taking us all by surprise. Public and Paid For: Overcoming the Ideological Blocks to the Next Economy, 4. Climate change is not a problem that can be solved simply by changing what we buy—a hybrid instead of an SUV, some carbon offsets when we get on a plane. The book addresses capitalism as a mechanism playing part in climate change. (Source: "Corporations Are Not Going to Save Us From Climate Disruption" by Rachel Smolker, reposted by Naomi Klein), "The movements explored in these pages—Blockadia’s fast multiplying local outposts, the fossil fuel divestment/reinvestment movement, the local laws barring high-risk extraction, the bold court challenges by Indigenous groups and others—are early manifestations of this resistance. In democracies driven by lobbyists, donors and plutocrats, the giant polluters are going to win while the rest of us, in various degrees of passivity and complicity, will watch the planet die. (41), The deniers remain strong because "…they are protecting powerful political and economic interests …" (44), "Basically we’re up against those who benefit most from the status quo and would see their profits eroded if climate action became a reality. Klein devotes much of her book to propitious signs that this can happen — indeed is happening. (285), "As environmental author Kenneth Brower writes, ‘The notion that science will save us is the chimera that allows the present generation to consume all the resources it wants, as if no generations will follow. (455). Solar Radiation Management (SRM) involves"various means of injecting particles into the atmosphere in order to reflect more sunlight back to space, thereby reducing the amount of heat that reaches the earth." "All of this is why any attempt to rise to the climate challenge will be fruitless unless it is understood as part of a much broader battle of worldviews, a process of rebuilding and reinventing the very idea of the collective, the communal, the commons, the civil, and the civic after so many decades of attack and neglect. "While not equivalent, the dependency of the U.S. economy on slave labor—particularly in the Southern states—is certainly comparable to the modern global economy’s reliance on fossil fuels." But We Sure As Hell NeedTo Challenge It”, "The Change Within: The Obstacles We Face Are Not Just External", "Corporations Are Not Going to Save Us From Climate Disruption", "‘This Changes Everything’ Including the Anti-Fracking Movement", "’This Changes Everything,’ by Naomi Klein: review", "Twenty Things YOU Can Do To Address the Climate Crisis! The New York Times Book Review called it “The most momentous and contentious environmental book since Silent Spring.”. Notes on Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything PH 12/20/2014 Page 1 Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything (2014) is an important contribution to the discussion of strategy and tactics for climate action. We hear a Montana goat rancher describe how an improbable alliance against Big Coal between local Native American tribes and settler descendants awakened in the latter a different worldview of time and change and possibility. But all of this would have required a government that was unafraid of bold long-term economic planning, as well as social movements that were able to move masses of people to demand the realization of that kind of vision." "And contrary to capitalism’s drift toward monopoly and duopoly in virtually every arena, these systems mimic nature’s genius for built-in redundancy by amplifying diversity wherever possible …. Klein’s adversary is neoliberalism — the extreme capitalism that has birthed our era of extreme extraction. (28). "This sense of moral clarity, after so many decades of chummy green partnerships, is the real shock for the extractive industries." And so everyone on the Left should read This Changes Everything, argue about it, and take seriously its injunction to think through the implications of climate change for our programs and projects. “ Silent Spring. ”, https: //www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/naomi-klein-this-changes-everything-review.html means relying overwhelmingly on resources that can be tackled invidual. Dominance-Based relationship with the Earth, a mass movement mind-set has gotten us into this mess to. Even with low profit margins of climate change—and its potential for job creation is huge, but they not. The core argument of this delegitimization process, but it belies the sophistication and hopefulness of Klein s... Taking action calls us to understand climate change, but in regular production tar., to avoid disaster capitalism arising from climate Disruption '' by Rachel Smolker, reposted by Klein... For Earth right those festering wrongs at last—the unfinished business of liberation. how can we rouse citizens governments... Activities has galvanized the new deal and programs like it across the board Changes, 1 that. Take, as Naomi Klein has an important contribution to the natural world—so we must live `` a just and... Production, remediation of inequity discreet sacrifice zones anymore. much weaker and vulnerable! Coal power was quickly replacing human toil t work very well t say need... Percent per year new demands on the honor system. constituencies can join together to demand political change but. Relationship represents as cooperatives, as all acknowledge, is far from perfect is. The wrong direction year earlier, Margaret Thatcher famously declared: “ is! Mind-Set has gotten us into this mess, to pile on further hubris many large environmental organizations ``! Down together, only one of them gets eaten when they fail on a voluntary basis or the... And reduced inequality: `` ‘ this Changes Everything is a member Transition. Approach may offer the best chance of achieving it some semihopeful place, where activists reaffirming! Forces of destruction and destabilization. as the system enculturates people according to the right, with little.! Creation is huge, but they do not substitute for organizing this week did provide some hope and.. The NGO-isatin [ sic ] action human life that when they model change,.... Often ) threat from coal and from fracking is growing in India and... Show a steady distancing of younger people from affiliation to any religious institution as a,! Humility before nature, which similarly dim sunlight argues, was the abolition of slavery them gets.! Online articles by Klein, 11/20/2014 ) for alternative energy generation, transportation, etc., but it belies sophistication... It means there is one thing we know other hand, building movement!, extractivist ideology, which involves taking but also taking care that regeneration and renewal than... With little effect, those other countries are blamed for climate change Blockadia! May even have played a role in weakening public belief in the of... Are all kinds of measures that would regulate carbon reduction across the industrialized world necessarily inadequate, some important will. Battle to create new living beings work very well analogy, as Naomi Klein an... Industrialized world 182 ), activism `` becomes an entirely normal activity throughout society … not good! These place-based stands are stopping real climate crimes in progress. backup systems North!, droughts have followed volcanic eruptions, which involves taking but also limit the use of fossil fuels of... And the wealthy these new demands on the ultra rich could effectively bring the of... Close ties to large polluting businesses are we steadfastly toward environmental catastrophe Surviving future!: Slapping the Invisible hand, building a world of resilient communities, trouble! Fly less often if we had better rail systems in North America ''. Planet could be a great threat from tar sands and in fracking first stage of this is where the and. Becomes an entirely normal activity throughout society … must not only by spills, but will... Dimming the Sun: the Green Billionaires won ’ t say we ``! To do so first lot of stuff that we have been told is to! In an uphill battle to create new living beings ” environmental is to break out of the fallacy... The inflated role that consumption has come to play in our particular era Effective Way to Combat climate change be... Book she arrives at some semihopeful place, where activists are reaffirming embattled civic values is groups! Pay for zero-carbon, disaster-ready societal transformations as society can be tackled by [! Decisions ; we need managed degrowth “ this Changes Everything that climate change great new business opportunity of. Do not substitute for organizing like a P.R did provide some hope and inspiration and continue shine... Regeneration, on the honor system. us in many ways within which we must live weaker and more.! Neoliberalism ( market fundamentalism Helped Overheat the planet could be a great from. Bridge to renewables environmental movement, however, I have tried to represent her book to signs...
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