Category: Uncategorized

Capitalism

1) A system that reduces human beings into economic actors (shoppers and consumers) and other living things into assets and commodities.

2) A system that defines human beings only and as nothing more than economic actors that are valued according to the size of their transactions and as participants in markets (i.e., as buyers, consumers, labor). It sees no other aspect of them as being of significance or value.

3) A pervasive system of reductionisms; a claim that transactions and market participation are the sum of an individual.

This system and its definition of human beings is so pervasive (and persuasive) that many people willingly define themselves according to these terms. Those who see themselves (consciously or unconsciously) as only economic actors (and most are pressured to do so by this system) are driven to vie with others on these terms. This may result in single-mindedness and ruthlessness, as well as a contempt for other living things and ecosystems except in how those things might be bought or sold and contribute to their effectiveness within markets.

Defined as only economic actors human beings then seek to increase their value within the marketplace. This pursuit often causes them to disregard the interests of other living things and the biosphere as this can only interfere with their efforts to maximize their value as economic actors.

This system also holds that any demand in the marketplace—the fulfillment of any desire—is legitimate. It does not allow for the hearing of concerns about the waste or harm that might result from a demand and it’s satisfaction and there is no thought about its long-term viability. In the market, demand is necessary and any criticism against a demand is met with hostility.

Industrial Agriculture

1) A system that relies on monocultures, factory fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and depends on the undervaluing—or mispricing—of resources (such as land, air, atmosphere, lakes, ecosystems, and oceans) to extract profits.

2) A group of entities which includes chemical companies (who manufacture pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers), biotech companies (who product genetically modified seeds), industrial scale growers, and the processed food companies and industrial meat producers who buy the resource-intensive crops grown by them. These entities often use obfuscation, misdirection, lobbying and lawsuits to hide their practices from the public or gain preferential treatment from governments (such as subsides or the passing of laws that discriminate against small scale farmers).

Plausible Deniability

1) The plausibility of our claim that we are not aware of the dangers posed to species and ecosystems.

2) The insistence that we are not complicit in a certain deed because, as we also claim, we do not personally see it happening or were not informed of its existence.

3) The practice of denying what we know about the costs of our behaviors because if we admitted these costs we would have to change them.

4) A tactic to avoid accountability and perpetuate the status quo.

 

 

Coal Burning Plants

1) An arsenal aimed at the atmosphere.

2) A weapon unleashed on the delicate chemistry of the atmosphere, an atmosphere that influences the planet’s temperature and makes life on the planet possible.

3) A culprit behind mercury in the soil and ocean, high CO2 levels, ocean acidification; a tool of ecological devastation.

The electricity from these plants flows right to the light switch in people’s homes.

Fossil Energy Non-Proliferation Groups

Allies to the biosphere.

These groups seek to stop the proliferation of coal and gas burning power plants and to shut down the plants that currently exist. This makes them and the people who join them a great ally to the biosphere and the unusual but delicate conditions that support life on this planet.

These non-proliferation group make agreements with regions and countries that stop them from building these plants and give them incentives to use alternative sources of energy, such as wind or solar or even tidal energy. These groups may guarantee debt or subsidize the cost of the solar investments or deliver other terms that make solar or wind energy infrastructure investments more appealing than those for coal or gas.

Such incentives are often necessary because many benefits of wind and solar go to parties other than the energy producer (just as many costs of coal and gas power plants—such as pollution or ocean acidification or weather distortion—fall on the shoulders of people not involved with the company) and the energy producers are structurally incapable of  accounting for these benefits or accepting an event short term reduction in profitability—or increase in debt—that might result from solar or wind investments.

Because many developing countries are now developing an energy infrastructure and because coal is often readily available in these areas, these non-proliferation groups and agreements are necessary in order to reduce global CO2 emissions and reduce the existential threat posed by catastrophic climate destabilization.

There are also market distortions and pricing failures that make coal and the burning of coal less costly for producers. So the burning of coal is subsidized (implicitly and explicitly) by many governments, laws and policies. Non-proliferation groups are important in the effort to make these distortions and subsidies more widely recognized and to propose reforms. One reform might be for governments to refuse new permits for coal mining operations.

Fossil energy non-proliferation groups push policies and agreements that defend existing ecosystems and deliver energy sources that free people from the current moral predicament of needing energy for daily use but not wishing to contribute to the destruction of the biosphere.

Bank Carbon Restrictions

A bank carbon restriction is a law that bars banks from lending money to companies most responsible for the burning of fossil fuels, such as companies involved in oil production or refinement, coal production or companies that own power plants that burn coal or natural gas. With a bank carbon restriction in effect any bank that violated this ban will have their banking license revoked for a period of time and their access to the central bank’s discount window taken away. Such restrictions would speed the transition toward solar and wind energy.

 

Culture

Culture is a collection of ideas, embedded in a society, about what is permissible. For example, in most existing human cultures it is permissible to destroy the habitat of a species without a sense of responsibility or loss. In short, culture gives people permission to commit certain acts. If this permission were not granted, implicitly or explicitly, then there would be serious penalties (such as social sanction, fines, and prison) tied to that action or behavior.

Cocktail Party Environmentalism

The act of saying to others how important it is to protect the planet’s ecosystems because it sounds nice in conversation but failing to take action or commit to a specific action. This can occur when 1) the desire to identify ourselves as a concerned or thoughtful person is strong and/or 2) when we allow ourselves to believe that taking positive action would be difficult, feelings to which we are all susceptible.

 

Action-Potential Discrepancy

1) The discrepancy between a person’s ability to take positive action for the planet’s ecosystems (such as reduce use of home heating oil or cease purchasing fossil-fuel intensive food products) and the positive action this person actually takes.

2) Being able to defend and protect the planet’s ecosystems and not doing it.

We can all ask ourselves, How great is the distance between what we can do and what we really do? Those who wish to reduce this distance might start by making a list of possible behavioral changes and things to do, such as lowering the thermostat in the winter or building a passive house or refusing to purchase any food grown with the use of pesticides.