Very well said. The lack of any relevant materialist discourse in politics has been hurting the public dialogue a great deal. The fact that the elites directly benefit from the system of values they have (despite pretending otherwise) is something that we can never afford to forget.
To your last paragraph, I am so confused about what is really going on with climate change... So many questions around that, from whether it's really happening in a new way, to what is actually causing the clearly crazy weather patterns many parts of the world are experiencing, if they are new (any views on chemtrails, Rhyd?). Here in the UK, however, it's a 20 degrees C, wet summer with some sunny days and a few really hot ones of up to 30 degrees. Not much change there!
I think we need to be as suspicious about the climate change narrative as we are about all the other ridiculous narratives coming out of The Machine. Yes, of course eruptions of all sorts are going on. But CO2 as a cause is an excuse. And I think what is going on with the earth is far more complex and nuanced than these control freaks will have us know. I like to imagine the earth is a little more intelligent than we give her credit for.
C02 is a bit like the gun in the hand of the child that I mentioned in my previous essay. What's really changing the climate, which is also to say the environment, is all the activities related to industrial capitalism.
Normally, an influx of C02 would be no real problem (it also happens during wildfires, etc). But because we've significantly deforested large areas of the planet and turned others into desolate wastelands, there's not enough plant growth to balance out this excess.
The same goes for many other aspects. For a really in-depth discussion of how the cycle of flooding and drought of the Rhine relates to deforestation and disrupted weather patterns, see my essay, The Garments of the Goddesses. https://rhyd.substack.com/p/the-garments-of-the-goddesses
I have read that thorough ecosystem restoration - forests, mangrove ecosystems, kelp beds, sea grass beds, grasslands, along with a switch to universal regenerative agriculture, holistic managed grazing and so on would enable the planet to absorb the excess CO2 and turn the CO2 into living organisms and richer soil,
but that doesn’t fit the maximum short term profit model of our current system.
C02 is a bit like the gun in the hand of the child that I mentioned in my previous essay. What's really changing the climate, which is also to say the environment, is all the activities related to industrial capitalism.
Normally, an influx of C02 would be no real problem (it also happens during wildfires, etc). But because we've significantly deforested large areas of the planet and turned others into desolate wastelands, there's not enough plant growth to balance out this excess.
The same goes for many other aspects. For a really in-depth discussion of how the cycle of flooding and drought of the Rhine relates to deforestation and disrupted weather patterns, see my essay, The Garments of the Goddesses. https://rhyd.substack.com/p/the-garments-of-the-goddesses
And regarding chemtrails/contrails, I don't have a very strong opinion on this matter. We know that every plane will create condensation cirrus clouds just by the difference in temperature of the metal and surrounding air. We absolutely know that governments occasionally perform cloud-seeding, and there are repeated plans to try to "fix" the climate through adding reflective substance into the upper atmosphere.
But I don't think there's any routine efforts related to commercial passenger planes or cargo planes, and I suspect most of the theories about chemtrails are baseless.
I saw the destruction of the traditional small farm, small town, small business Midwest culture of my rural Wisconsin childhood beginning in the 1970’s by the capitalistic forces you described. There is no going back except through the lengthy painful decentralization described by John Michael Greer in his books, The Long Descent, The Retro Future, and The Ecotechnic Future.
The question remains - why does the left support immigration policies to fragment and weaken the proletariat, and why does the right demand immigration controls to strengthen it ? It amazes me the number of free-market ideologues and neo-liberals who simultaneously rant that immigrants are making the economy more competitive by driving down the cost of labour. In a real free market immigration controls (which are largely a 20th century innovation) would be abolished. Which is why NAFTA is a sham, as it does not allow the free movement of labour (By contrast, the EU is a real free trade area, inasmuch as it allows unfettered movement of both capital and labour)
Thank you for this reminder. I'm finding lately I need a lot more reminders about what I already know. It's curious. I don't know if it's age or anxiety or the constant Machine-mincing of my mind.
Very well said. The lack of any relevant materialist discourse in politics has been hurting the public dialogue a great deal. The fact that the elites directly benefit from the system of values they have (despite pretending otherwise) is something that we can never afford to forget.
Very helpful summary, thank you!
To your last paragraph, I am so confused about what is really going on with climate change... So many questions around that, from whether it's really happening in a new way, to what is actually causing the clearly crazy weather patterns many parts of the world are experiencing, if they are new (any views on chemtrails, Rhyd?). Here in the UK, however, it's a 20 degrees C, wet summer with some sunny days and a few really hot ones of up to 30 degrees. Not much change there!
It's pretty straightforward, the earth is warming. Remember the wildfires which swept through London a year or so ago ?
Oh yes, I'd forgotten about them. Thanks.
I think we need to be as suspicious about the climate change narrative as we are about all the other ridiculous narratives coming out of The Machine. Yes, of course eruptions of all sorts are going on. But CO2 as a cause is an excuse. And I think what is going on with the earth is far more complex and nuanced than these control freaks will have us know. I like to imagine the earth is a little more intelligent than we give her credit for.
C02 is a bit like the gun in the hand of the child that I mentioned in my previous essay. What's really changing the climate, which is also to say the environment, is all the activities related to industrial capitalism.
Normally, an influx of C02 would be no real problem (it also happens during wildfires, etc). But because we've significantly deforested large areas of the planet and turned others into desolate wastelands, there's not enough plant growth to balance out this excess.
The same goes for many other aspects. For a really in-depth discussion of how the cycle of flooding and drought of the Rhine relates to deforestation and disrupted weather patterns, see my essay, The Garments of the Goddesses. https://rhyd.substack.com/p/the-garments-of-the-goddesses
I have read that thorough ecosystem restoration - forests, mangrove ecosystems, kelp beds, sea grass beds, grasslands, along with a switch to universal regenerative agriculture, holistic managed grazing and so on would enable the planet to absorb the excess CO2 and turn the CO2 into living organisms and richer soil,
but that doesn’t fit the maximum short term profit model of our current system.
This is what I answered in another comment:
C02 is a bit like the gun in the hand of the child that I mentioned in my previous essay. What's really changing the climate, which is also to say the environment, is all the activities related to industrial capitalism.
Normally, an influx of C02 would be no real problem (it also happens during wildfires, etc). But because we've significantly deforested large areas of the planet and turned others into desolate wastelands, there's not enough plant growth to balance out this excess.
The same goes for many other aspects. For a really in-depth discussion of how the cycle of flooding and drought of the Rhine relates to deforestation and disrupted weather patterns, see my essay, The Garments of the Goddesses. https://rhyd.substack.com/p/the-garments-of-the-goddesses
And regarding chemtrails/contrails, I don't have a very strong opinion on this matter. We know that every plane will create condensation cirrus clouds just by the difference in temperature of the metal and surrounding air. We absolutely know that governments occasionally perform cloud-seeding, and there are repeated plans to try to "fix" the climate through adding reflective substance into the upper atmosphere.
But I don't think there's any routine efforts related to commercial passenger planes or cargo planes, and I suspect most of the theories about chemtrails are baseless.
I saw the destruction of the traditional small farm, small town, small business Midwest culture of my rural Wisconsin childhood beginning in the 1970’s by the capitalistic forces you described. There is no going back except through the lengthy painful decentralization described by John Michael Greer in his books, The Long Descent, The Retro Future, and The Ecotechnic Future.
Mr Biden, tear down this wall!
The question remains - why does the left support immigration policies to fragment and weaken the proletariat, and why does the right demand immigration controls to strengthen it ? It amazes me the number of free-market ideologues and neo-liberals who simultaneously rant that immigrants are making the economy more competitive by driving down the cost of labour. In a real free market immigration controls (which are largely a 20th century innovation) would be abolished. Which is why NAFTA is a sham, as it does not allow the free movement of labour (By contrast, the EU is a real free trade area, inasmuch as it allows unfettered movement of both capital and labour)
🙏
Thanks for the inspiring question!
Thank you for this reminder. I'm finding lately I need a lot more reminders about what I already know. It's curious. I don't know if it's age or anxiety or the constant Machine-mincing of my mind.