Wake Up!
It will not be the environmentalists that take us back to the Dark Ages, but authoritarian leaders.
In “Some Questions on Moral Philosophy,” Hannah Arendt makes two very important points about the Nazi takeover of Germany in the 1930s. First, she refers to it as “the total collapse of all established moral standards in public and private life.” It turned out that a sufficiently large part of the population was willing to commit murder as long as they could get away with it. Second, she talks about the “matter-of-course collaboration from all strata of German society, including the older elites which the Nazis left untouched, and who never identified themselves with the party in power.” Both groups are required for evil to succeed: the people who commit atrocious acts and the people who let them get away with it.
Looking at the world today, we see that both these groups are alive and well. On the one hand, we have authoritarian leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and others who are prepared to kill to achieve their political goals. They can only be described as evil.
On the other hand, we have the collaborators who could have prevented their rise to power but decided to look the other way out of political or economic expedience. This group includes everyone living in the Global North, aka the former colonial powers. We are the people profiting from affordable oil and gas from authoritarian regimes, cheap minerals extracted under horrific conditions in Africa, and cheap consumer products manufactured in various parts of Asia and Latin America. Colonialism is alive and well; only the name has changed.
Climate Change is often referred to as a market failure, but it could equally well be described as a failure of science, ethics, and courage. We have the climate scientists who agreed not to be too alarmist to secure their research funding, the engineering scientists who pretended that technical innovation could solve our problems, and the economists who agreed to perpetuate the myth of indefinite growth to satisfy their masters. There are the business leaders who optimized their supply chains by moving production to countries with lower standards of labor rights and environmental protection. And there are western consumers who bought a lot of unnecessary stuff because it was cheap.
As a result of our failures, the global world order is unraveling:
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a disaster for humanity, the environment, and climate politics. It is also likely to cause a global food shortage and mass starvation.
China is sounding increasingly belligerent and is openly stating its intention to reclaim Taiwan by force, using the same toxic mix of nationalistic rhetoric and a perverted interpretation of history as Vladimir Putin.
The damage from Climate Change is progressing much faster than expected by scientists, and there is no indication that the world will reduce the consumption of fossil fuels anytime soon.
The fragility of American democracy is becoming increasingly evident. We now know that the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2020, was essentially a Beer Hall Putsch. It intended to end American democracy and mainly failed because of the incompetence of the people involved. To make matters worse, the United States Supreme Court has morphed into a Guardian Council of medieval thinking.
Yet, I insist on remaining hopeful. The fact that the world's three superpowers (Russia, China, and the USA) have failed politically and that a small number of madmen govern the world should serve as a wake-up call for everyone. It will not be the environmentalists that take us back to the Dark Ages, but authoritarian leaders. The comfortable lifestyle we have gotten used to in the Global North will not exist in the future! The choice is between a reasonably sustainable society based on a participatory political system or life under an autocratic regime with the power to kill you and your family if you say anything wrong. Since there is no reverse button on history, we must decide now which future we want for ourselves and our children.
So get off your butts and act! I will continue to promote Global Climate Compensation, as I see this as the best hope we have at the moment. However, I am more than happy to learn about other ideas and network with anyone with a positive vision for the future.