A Better World Is Possible
"A manifesto for a better world"
The sickness of Capitalism
Our planet is sick. The reckless release of carbon into the air is causing droughts, storms, and the melting of our ice caps. This will destroy thousands of environments, killing animals and fauna that depend on their habitat to survive. Millions of people are currently being displaced and forced to move to foreign lands where they might not even be accepted.
Why? You’ll often hear from cynics that humans are cancer to the planet. But this is not true. Humans have existed for hundreds of thousands of years while maintaining a healthy balance with the planet and her ecosystems. Capitalism is the culprit, the reason why our planet is dying. Under capitalism, capitalists seek endless and unsustainable growth. If their wealth and their net worth does not grow their businesses will fail. But infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is unsustainable. Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of cancer.
In their unquenchable desire for production, corporations produce enough food to feed the planet, yet throw good food out to stay profitable. Mountains of clothes, good enough to put on the exposed and needy, are piled up in deserts and landfills to rot away. In our insatiable desire for meat we grow entire tons of food for livestock, which is far less efficient than a plant based diet.
We cannot grow forever. There are not enough precious resources and exploitable labor to do so. Our desire to grow is having an intensely negative effect on our planet and the exploited peoples of the third world who extract the raw resources and produce useless commodities, all to just be thrown away to stay profitable.
Degrowth
We can’t grow forever, what we need is degrowth.
“[Degrowth is] a planned, collectively organized restructuring of the economy and downscaling of energy and resource use to transition the economy back into balance with the living world in a safe, just, and equitable way.”
To degrow is to end the constant use of energy for overproduction. An economy under the principles of degrowth would be in the direct control of all the people, rather than those few who profit on waste. To degrow is to end the overconsumption of things that we don’t need, the end to rampant consumerism and waste. Degrowth means to provide all people with their basic needs and some luxuries without rampant capital accumulation. A world where the media won’t constantly tell you that you NEED this product or NEED this shiny new thing.
We MUST cut down on excessive energy use that we indulge in here in the first world. We must end planned obsolescence, a practice where corporations make purposefully shoddy and unreliable commodities to make us buy more. All while we extract resources from exploitative labor in the third world to fuel our ever-growing need for more stuff. We must degrow to preserve our planet and our ecosystems, to be reasonable with what we take from the place we call our home. To ease the burden of labor and extraction that the exploited nations face for the excesses we have here in the exploiter nations.
Animism
Us humans tend to believe that we are apart from nature, that we are able to manipulate nature to fit our needs. This view is highly arrogant. The ecosystems that we carelessly tear apart to grow the economy all have an effect on the planet. From the extinction of animals that upset the delicate food chains, to the destruction of forests that convert our carbon to oxygen. Much like the microorganisms within your gut that work together to keep you alive, the planet acts as a superorganism. We are not separate from nature, we are not the masters of nature, but we are a part of her.
Nature does not exist to serve the needs of humans. We must realize that in order to create a healthier planet, we must respect nature and live within reasonable means. We are currently seeing the result of our arrogance. We believed that we could extract and destroy as we saw fit and now the planet and its complex systems of climate are displacing millions and bringing about a mass extinction.
We humans are deeply dependent on the land, the water, the animals who all have their roles in their environments. We must learn to respect the land we take from, as it is not something to be manipulated into a gross, soulless, profit-making machine.
Solarpunk
Solarpunk is an artistic and political movement that imagines a green world, where humans live in balance with nature. Unlike the capitalist dystopia of cyberpunk, and the industrial griminess of steampunk, solarpunk aims to create a world where we live sustainably, collectively, and communally. It is not greenwashing, the capitalist practice of putting plants on buildings and calling it “green”. It is the promotion of creativity and a love of playfulness and rest. It is realizing the interconnectedness of all things and creating harmony with all that exists.
Solarpunk is practical and innovative. Visions of large airships that look like hot air balloons that take little to no combustible fuel to transport people vast distances. The use of sunlight to warm homes and even cook food using reflective material. Growing plants in our backyards that could be used to feed the community. A place where the trees that we use to decoratively line our street also provides us with fruits and nuts. The creation and maintenance of food forests that feed people and the environment. We could create makerspaces, places where people come together to sew, code, woodwork, build, create, and collaborate.
Solarpunk is a vision of a shining, but realistic future, where we humbly work with the world around us while maintaining an egalitarian vision of human interaction and community. But solarpunk is not exclusive to the future, as it is something that we could work towards right now by guerilla gardening, permablitzing, and organizing in progressive and green spaces. There will be sources provided to get you started on creating a solarpunk future.
A world without borders
Borders are violence. Borders restrict the free movements of people, and bring out the primal instincts to only care about “our own”. As the climate collapse intensifies, many people in poorer countries are forced to flee their homes, only to be met with violence by the governments responsible for the climate catastrophe.
In a better world, we would all be able to move around as we like. We could freely travel and experience new cultures and meet new people. We would be able to freely exchange needed resources and live in a world where all peoples are truly connected. Instead of a world where we distrust those who live in another nation, we could live in a world where we freely associate and collaborate to meet each other's interests. No more hoarding of resources that we all desperately need. No more bureaucratic spats about what natural resource belongs to who. Borders are enforced by violence, and a world where we could freely associate would promote internationalism and cooperation. Nationalism and the negative aspects that come with such a concept would be gone, and so would the distrust of the other that comes from this toxic system of nation building.
Decolonization
Under this extractive capitalist system, third world countries are kept poor. In the third world we seem to think that places like Africa, South Asia, and South America are poor. But this is not true. All these impoverished places are rich in resources, rich in culture, and rich in the wonderful people that inhabit those countries. But they are overexploited. The resources they have to offer are owned by large multinational corporations that pay them poverty wages, and collude with their governments to keep taxes low. We seem to believe that colonization is over, but this is a mistake. Instead of a European country’s flag flying over the land of the colonized, it is now the logo of a first world corporation.
The peoples of these nations still do not have their right to self determination. In a better world the people of the Philippines could choose to do what they wish with their vast fields of tobacco. In a better world, the peoples of Central America could get a better deal for the enormous quantity of fruits they cheaply produce for us here in the first world. In a fairer world the African peoples can be better compensated for the cobalt and lithium they extract that goes into our phones and technology. Many peoples in the periphery are already fighting for political and economic sovereignty, and we should do our part to aid them in their fight in the first world as we reap the benefits of their labor. In a better world we would decolonize, for real this time.
Against neoliberal isolationism
Depression and loneliness are a common problem that everyone is increasingly facing. Why is this? Humans are a social species. Within this capitalist system we are kept isolated. Instead of living within a community full of people you care for, we are all kept in small family units where we are expected to create our own after reaching a certain age. We live in single family homes, away from neighbors whom we seldom interact with. We go to work and school and sometimes form friendships, but are limited by the time constraints and find ourselves drifting away from them as we delve deeper into our professional lives. We travel to work in cars by ourselves. We go home and spend time on our phones and televisions and only go out with friends once a week. Your work feels meaningless and you don’t see the benefit that it gives people.
In a better world your community would be your family. You would produce food, clothing, necessities that are needed in your community and you’d see people close to you using the fruits of your labor. If you prefer you’d have a community of friends, all who you know by name. Their interests, talents, flaws, and shortcomings. The work you’d do would feel meaningful and fulfilling because you’d see the positive immediate impact it would have on your community.
The joy of community
After natural disasters, in the absence of the state and capitalism, we often fear that chaos would ensue. But in reality it is the opposite. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the people of Puerto Rico came together to secure food, water, shelter, and restart electricity for their community. We often hear that New Orleans was infested with crime after Katrina, but this is also false. Community members came together to feed and protect each other from violent white supremacists who formed gangs to hunt down black people they labeled as “looters”. Studies show that in the fallout of natural disasters, people come together, and are surprisingly happier. It turns out, when you create a community of people that care and provide for each other, it makes them happy. In a better world we wouldn’t be so isolated from each other, but heavily intertwined. Society cannot run without humans cooperating and producing for each other, so why should we be so isolated in our personal lives?
Conclusion
I hear it already, “This is impossible, what you’re describing is utopian!”. This is not true. If we are to live sustainably we would have to give up the daily consumption of meat. Raising millions of live cattle to fulfill the insatiable desire for meat in the first world is a large contributor to global emissions. Also the 24/7 running of electricity to keep our homes perpetually at a comfortable temperature is also detrimental to the environment. We would have to learn to be uncomfortable. We would also lose one day deliveries, as having things delivered to you instantly requires exploitative and backbreaking labor.
Contradictions and issues will always show themselves within any society. Even with the world described in previous pages, there will be issues.
The problem is today that our total rejection of a better world has made us complacent in the conditions we find ourselves in today. Liberals and Conservatives alike refuse to adopt a more equitable system and instead want to preserve the status quo that only privileges the few. A change for the better, that's beneficial to all and our planet is a revolutionary one. What's needed is solidarity, vision, and the acknowledgment that we are a part of nature, not above it.
A better world is possible. A world without exploitation. A world without tyranny and inequality. A world where we can all live up to our own unique identities and share our talents with our communities and the world. A world without discrimination and hatred. A beautiful and lush planet where nature exists in harmony with human progress. A world where no one person can claim ownership to essential responsibilities and products. A world full of people who are productive, but also have time to make art, music, and indulge in hobbies and play. It all starts with collective action. All power to the people.