by Michael Löwy
NB: The author of these notes does not see himself as a new Moses, nor does he claim to have received this Eco-decalogue from Jehova. It is simply an attempt to answer, with a touch of irony, in two short pages, the question that many people are asking themselves these days: What to do? What to do in the face of ecological crisis and climate catastrophe?
I. Thou shalt take the ecological crisis seriously. It’s not just one problem among many, it’s the most important political, economic, social and moral issue of the 21st century. A matter of life and death. Our common home is on fire. There’s no time to lose. Do you have other concerns? Are you rightly worried about the price of petrol and gas, and wrongly about the large number of Arabs, Blacks, Roma, Jews, Mexicans or gays in your country? You need to change your worries. The climate crisis is more serious. Much more serious? Infinitely more serious. It’s about your survival and/or that of your children and grandchildren.
II. Thou shalt not worship the idols of the capitalist religion: “Market Economy”, “Fossil Energy”, “GDP Growth”, “World Trade Organization”, “International Monetary Fund”, “Competitiveness”, “Debt Payment”, and so on. These are false gods, greedy for human sacrifice, and responsible for global warming.
III. Thou shalt act daily in accordance with ecological principles. Thou shalt refuse to travel by plane for distances covered by rail. You will drastically reduce your meat consumption. Thou shalt avoid the pitfalls of consumerism. Aware of the interdependence of all living beings, you will act with prudence and respect for nature. But you will reject the illusions of individualism: the belief that ecological change will result from the sum of small individual actions.
IV. Thou shalt support collective actions, such as concrete ecological struggles, in your country and around the world. Depending on the situation, you may choose street demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, ZAD’s or pipeline sabotage. You will participate in or support movements, NGOs, etc. that fight for ecological causes, giving preference to the most radical.
V. Thou shalt never oppose the social and the ecological. Thou shalt do everything in thy power to promote convergence between social and ecological struggles. Thou shalt act to guarantee alternative jobs for workers in polluting companies that are forced to close. Thou shalt try to bring together trade unions and ecological movements.
VI. Thou shalt give your solidarity, militant and/or financial, to climate refugees and victims of ecological disasters. You will demand that the borders of your country be opened to them, and that the rich countries of the North compensate the poor countries of the South for the damage caused by climate change.
VII. Thou shalt fight ceaselessly against ecocidal and/or climate-negating politicians, the likes of Trump, Bolsonaro, Scott Morrison and Co. All means are good to dislodge, overthrow and neutralize them.
VIII. Thou shalt refuse to support those who invoke the name of ecology in vain. That is, politicians who make fine speeches but fail to act against emissions and fossil fuels. Or who propose false solutions such as “emissions credits”, “compensation mechanisms” and other mystifications of green capitalism and greenwashing.
IX. Thou shalt fight, by all means, against the companies of the fossil oligarchy, i.e. the enormous economic-financial-political-military complex linked to fossil energies: oil, coal, gas. You will fight for their expropriation and for the creation of a public energy service, resolutely oriented towards renewables (solar, wind, water, etc.) and able to offer free services to the working classes.
X. Knowing that the problem is systemic, and that, consequently, no real solution will be possible within the framework of capitalism, you will participate, in one form or another, in parties or movements that propose anti-capitalist alternatives: ecosocialism, social ecology, degrowth, etc.
Be the first to comment