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A painting by Berrin Duma. Photo: turkishpaintings.com
‘Anglo-Saxon capitalism’s drive to maximise profits in the short term won’t save the planet. Perhaps the Chinese model can?’
‘Winning the race against time requires political leadership. It means acknowledging that the Chinese model of managed and directed capitalism might be more appropriate than the Anglo-Saxon model’
‘And, more than anything, it means accepting that the world needs to wage war against climate change. Powerful vested interests will say there is plenty of time to act, and they are aided by climate-change deniers who say there is nothing to worry about. These people need to be called out. They are not deniers, they are climate-change appeasers. And they are just as dangerously misguided as fascism’s appeasers in the 1930s.’-Larry Elliott, economics editor, The Guardian
And now lest we forget:
‘Heat now kills more Americans than floods, hurricanes or other natural disasters.’+
And then the US President leaves the Paris Accord and pushes for huge increases in coal and other fossil fuel production!!
‘The U.S. emitted 5.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2015, with a cost per ton of $36 (the current Social Cost of Carbon). That means the U.S. is paying $200 billion to cover the costs of all the emissions being burned. In effect, it’s a $200 billion hidden subsidy to the fossil fuel industry. This $200 billion is a cost in real money—in lost labor productivity, healthcare costs, increased energy expenditures, coastal damages—that is paid somewhere in the world for each ton of carbon dioxide that is emitted.’*
Corporate visions of sustainability focus on material prosperity – but leaders must respect the soul as well as the soil
Time to decide: Coal or solar? Photo: nationofchange.org
And then we have Confucianism, the backbone of the Chinese economic and enviromental model and philosophy
“Just do what is right and proper and then all will be well.”
‘Confucianism is a system of thought based on the teachings of Kong Zi, Master Kong (better known in English as Confucius) who lived from 551 to 479 BC. He is revered in Chinese history for the moral code he taught, which was based on ethics, humanity and love.
‘If the foundations of living are strengthened and are economically used, then Nature cannot bring impoverishment. But if the foundations of living are neglected and used extravagantly, then Nature cannot make the country rich,’ observed his follower, Xunzi, Master Zi.
‘One day a disciple asked the Master: "Is there one word that should cover the whole duty of humankind?" And Confucius replied: "Fellow-feeling, perhaps, is that word. Do not do to other people what you do not want them to do to you." And this golden rule in Confucianism is key to understanding the Confucian understanding of ecology.’++
Chinese workers install rooftop solar panels in Wuhan, China. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Capitalism can crack climate change. But only if it takes risks
‘This summer’s heatwave has provided a glimpse of the future, and it is not a pretty one. On current trends, the years to come will see rising temperatures, droughts, a fight to feed a growing population, and a race against time to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
The struggle to combat climate change brings out the best and worst of capitalism. Decarbonisation of the economy requires alternatives for coal and cars that run on diesel, and that plays to capitalism’s strengths. Innovation is what capitalism is all about, and there has been staggeringly rapid progress in developing clean alternatives to coal, oil and gas. The cost of producing solar- and wind-powered electricity has collapsed. Great advances are also being made in battery technology, which is vital for the new generation of electricity-powered vehicles. Humans are endlessly creative. In the end, they will crack climate change.
But by the time they do, it could be too late. Capitalism – especially the dominant Anglo-Saxon variant of capitalism – has trouble thinking beyond the here and now. People running big corporations see their job as maximising profits in the short term, even if that means causing irreparable damage to the world’s ecosystem. What’s more, they think they should be free to get on with maximising profits without any interference from politicians, even though the fight against climate change can only be won if governments show leadership, individually and collectively.
The economist Joseph Schumpeter talked about the process known as “creative destruction” – the way in which inefficient producers are put out of business by disruptive new technologies and that, as a result, transformation happens. During wars, the best brains are employed by governments to produce more efficient killing machines.
But normally creative destruction takes time, especially if the old guard can marshall sufficient resistance to change – something the fossil fuel industry has been adept at doing. It is vital that capitalism’s Dr Jekyll emerges victorious over its Mr Hyde. More than that, it needs to be an immediate knockout blow.
In the past, politicians have only tended to focus on climate change when they think there is nothing else to worry about. Tony Blair, for example, commissioned a report from the economist Nick Stern into climate change during the years before the global financial crisis, when growth was strong and wages were rising. Margaret Thatcher only started to talk publicly about protecting the environment when the economy was booming at the end of the 1980s.
When policymakers have other things to worry about, tackling climate change drops down the list of things to do. The Paris agreement in 2015, which committed the international community to restricting global warming to well below two degrees centigrade, shows that the issue is taken more seriously than it was two or three decades ago, but that doesn’t mean that it is a top priority.
When times are tough, politicians are suckers for the argument that there is a trade-off between growth and greening the economy. There isn’t. Companies account for capital depreciation when they draw up their profit and loss accounts. If governments adopted the same principle and accounted for the depletion of natural capital when drawing up their national accounts, growth would be lower. In countries such as China and India – where the cities are dangerously polluted – it would be markedly lower.
The good news is that in Beijing and New Delhi, policymakers have woken up to the idea that green growth is better growth. China is committed to phasing out coal, in part because it is worried about climate change and in part because it sees an opportunity to be a world leader in green technology. India, although slower to act, is also starting to take advantage of collapsing prices for electricity generated by solar and wind, and has set itself demanding renewables targets.
But the bad news is that progress towards decarbonisation is still not fast enough. As things stand, fossil fuels will still account for more than 50% of energy consumption by 2050. CO2 emissions will carry on rising and global warming will continue.
Stern says technological progress has been much faster than he thought possible when his report was published in 2006, and he thinks it is quite something that all the major car-makers now accept that the era of the internal combustion engine is coming to an end.
“But the speed of action is still far too slow,” Stern warns. “Emissions have to be peaking now and turn down very sharply. We have not yet acted on the scale needed, even though the ingredients are there.”
Winning the race against time requires political leadership. It means acknowledging that the Chinese model of managed and directed capitalism might be more appropriate than the Anglo-Saxon model. A massive scaling up of investment in clean technology is needed, because the $300bn spent on decarbonisation worldwide last year merely matched the cost of the losses in the US from climate and weather-related events. It also means scaling up the lending of the World Bank and the regional development banks to help poorer countries build wind and solar capacity. And a global carbon tax set high enough so that fossil fuels remain in the ground must be implemented.
And, more than anything, it means accepting that the world needs to wage war against climate change. Powerful vested interests will say there is plenty of time to act, and they are aided by climate-change deniers who say there is nothing to worry about. These people need to be called out. They are not deniers, they are climate-change appeasers. And they are just as dangerously misguided as fascism’s appeasers in the 1930s.’
This article was first published in the Guardian on Thursday 16 August 2018.
See the original article: Capitalism can crack climate change. But only if it takes risks
+'It can’t get much hotter ... can it?' How heat became a national US problem
*The $200 Billion Fossil Fuel Subsidy You've Never Heard Of
++What does Confucianism teach about ecology?
Related reading:
Heat: the next big inequality issue
Mother Earth is Crying: A Path to Spiritual Ecology and Sustainability
Pursuing Common Values: A Call to Recover our Moral and Spiritual Imagination, Transforming Society
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GCGI-SES Joint Forums -GCGI Conference Series
Waterperry House, Oxford
(Group Photos)
Serving the Earth, Serving One Another
In a world of spiraling ecological, socio-political and economic crises, where does one find hope and wisdom?
Where can we search for and discover our spiritual calling and be one with the world and with each other?
Waterperry House: A retreat centre for the study of Practical Philosophy and Economics
GCGI-SES Joint Forum 2012 Waterperry House
GCGI-SES Joint Forum 2014 Waterperry House
GCGI-SES Joint Forum 2016 Waterperry House
Photos Credit: GNNSJ
Villa Boccella, Tuscany, Italy, 28 August-1 September 2018
Photo: Angela Bowman
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Photo/Logo: internationalcongressofyouthvoices.com
Young people are making their voices heard at the inaugural International Congress of Youth Voices in San Francisco
'By the youth, for the youth': a manifesto for tomorrow's activists*
‘Our vision is to create a global system’, say a coalition who gathered for the International Congress of Youth Voices
I was delighted and overjoyed reading this eloquent and beautifully written ‘Youth Manifesto’ to build a better a fairer world. This topic is very close to my heart, the youth, their welfare, happiness, education, employment, dreams and hopes.
This is why I always begin my lectures, articles, Blogs and conferences by noting the following:
‘This (...) is dedicated to the youth of the world, our children and grandchildren, who are the unfolding story of the decades ahead. May they rise to the challenge of leading our troubled world, with hope and wisdom in the interest of the common good to a better future.’
This why in 2013, I organised a major international conference on intergenerational dialogue at Cité universitaire internationale, Paris.
And moreover, this is why I have written extensively on this topic, a sample of which I have noted below:
The Youth for the Common Good to Build a Better World
In Praise of Youth on International Youth Day
The tragedy of youth unemployment crisis
Youth entrepreneurship: Some Practical Steps
My Economics and Business Educators’ Oath: My Promise to My Students
So, my dear youth, our future hopes and dreams, our future leaders to build a better world in the interest of the common good, I wish you all the best in life. I love, admire and support your Manifesto, and I thank you for who you are and what you do.
'By the youth, for the youth': a manifesto for tomorrow's activists*
Some of the voices at the International Congress of Youth Voices
Photo:theguardian.com
On 5 August, 2018, a group of student delegates came together in San Francisco for the inaugural International Congress of Youth Voices. Founded by author Dave Eggers and the not-for-profit organizer Amanda Uhle, the congress brought together nearly 100 youth activists from around the world and noted guest speakers – including the US Representative John Lewis and the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – for readings, mentorship, and collaborative learning.
At the end of the three-day congress, the delegates wrote a group manifesto, which, in the coming weeks, will be translated and published in several languages.
We are a network of empowered youth voices from around the globe that strive to take action for the world we wish to see. We recognize the issues that threaten human rights within our generation; let’s counteract them by implementing innovative solutions in the areas of health, education, social justice, security, and the environment. Our vision is to create a global system which encourages youth to take action for what they believe in – even when others might not. We intend to bring a bright light to the world’s most pressing issues and promote sustainable solutions. By the youth. For the youth.
Intersectionality
We aspire to leave our national ego at the door and enter the gates of our global communities with an open mind. We must use an intersectional lens to self-reflect and be able to access connections and other views after acknowledging bias.
Intersectionality is the overarching framework for change. Intersectionality is understanding our communal and individual experiences as informed by our many identities.
In order to do this, we need to hold these values:
We cannot do necessary personal work if we need to prioritize our daily survival.
Recognizing the foundation of our experiences.
Solidarity and community.
Communal Validation
No one is left behind. All of us are working towards collective freedom by reforming individualism and moving in togetherness. We will be able to do so by staying connected through a network regardless of our countries, while updating each other on our social work. We must accept responsibility to be one voice of change. We must acknowledge each other’s strengths, using them to cover each other’s weaknesses. In the words of the great Dr Martin Luther King Jr: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “no one is free unless we are all free.”
Empathy, self-love, artivism, and patience
Art is traveling without traveling. Art is a language that does not need western translation. Art is a mini-scale revolution. It is an extraordinary and compelling method for communicating one’s experiences, while keeping in mind that everyone’s narratives are multi-faceted.
If we are advocating for empathy, we must empathize with those we do not agree with but are willing to understand. To empathize is to uplift and inspire through the validation of our stories and experiences. As young artivists, we must recognize empathy as a medium that connects us to the world in order to enact positive social change.
It is imperative that we honor each other’s individual experiences and narratives without exploiting them. In order to incite the change we need in the world, we must understand that we as a collective will be met with hate and rejection, but we must remain patient, empathetic, and reflective.
Educational equality
Investment in education is an investment in the future and in order for our world to improve, it is imperative that education should be a right and not a privilege. It is important that we break the harsh restrictions, specifically for students of color, from attending schools outside of their districts and pursuing higher education. At the same time, we can make, expand, and promote programs within our schools and communities.
With disproportionate ratios of counselors to students, it is important to incorporate college access resource centers and programs within schools. We must appreciate and cherish our teachers by paying them better for affordable housing so that they can continue to educate and empower the youth.
We could go to our school boards to make small community changes and make bigger impacts, not only in our community, but globally.
Our lives are so often defined by our education – in order to create a more equal we need a more equal educational system.
Ethos
We must hold curiosity and respect for cultural differences and remember that where you were born is not what defines you. It is who you choose to be. We must honor the credibility of the oppressed and we must reject the collective because opposition from the oppression is our obsession. We must hold ourselves and others accountable for our past and our future. We must redefine our imagination, to imagine taking back our lands, our wealth, and our humanness. And first and foremost we must stop making humans aliens to our unalienable rights.
Identity, ancestry and poetry
The intersectionality of identity and ancestry and how it affects and shows up in our arts and education:
“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” – Chinua Achebe
It is a privilege to know your ancestry. To know where your family comes from is to know where you come from. To not know where you come from is to not know who you are. Lost identity makes you vulnerable to systems of oppression. Lost identity manifests into internalized oppression that becomes present in our bodies and in our manners of expression. Oppressive narratives fill the void of self-representation. Stigmas swallow your self-image. We are being denied ourselves in the lack of representation in schools that only show the oppressors in their glory. To know your history is to be undeniable. We will not be denied anymore.
Commitment to action
We are committed to the mobilization of youth advocates and activists internationally through continuous community building, days of social action, and global initiatives. We believe that hope, resilience, and community must be the core of our mobilization. Our updates and progress shall be published in the multiple languages represented by our global delegation. This delegation stands together as a network of knowledge and resources – economically, emotionally, and spiritually. Our commitment to service and justice must be evident through action and progress and not solely through conversations read on paper. The borders imposed upon our nations will not limit our scope of our action. These issues are international and must be handled as such.
The international network of youth voices
We are the platform:
Meant to amplify the stories of the International Congress of Youth Voices, forthcoming delegates, and other youth worldwide.
We are the platform:
Meant to highlight the talents and skills that are exhibited by young people motivated by activism.
We are the platform:
Meant to build a community that will maintain and monitor our strides towards making real change.
We Are The Platform. Together.
Student delegates
A’Lyric Thomas, Agnes Ugoji, Akilah Toney, Alejandro Melguizo, Alex Palacios Santos, Aliya Hall, Angel E Palencia Ramos, Anika Hussain, Aniya Jenkins-Butler, Ashla Chavez Razzano, Azaria Pittman-Carter, Beatrice Phiri, Bianca Alvarado, Bry Reed, Calvin Sears, Carlos Gomez, Chandler Browne, Cory Williams, Daphne Constantinides, Darvey To, Destiné Price, Edgar McGregor, Edna Akimana, Elizabeth Schultz-Lorentzen Holstein, Emma Lorenceau, Esperanza Rivera, Frantzy Luzincourt, Gabriela Romero, Gbari Garrett, Hafizah Khan, Hana Bezabeh, Haris Hosseini, Hennessys Ortiz, Ibrahim Dahir, Ifeoma White-Thorpe, Iman Abdul, Itumeleng Banda, Jahid Wilson Jr, Jamesha Caldwell, Jeffrey Ngo, Jeronimo Perez Flores, Judica’elle Irakoze, Julian Manyika, Kelsey Juliana, Kenan Mirou, Korik Bestrin, Leeah Michael, Legacy Thornton, Leila Mottley, Lily Huang, Lizette Navarro, Lucy Malcoun, Maeve Wilbourn, Malcolm Yearby, Mansa Kuang, Mariama Savage, Marvin Matamoros, Marwa Samimy, Massih Hutak, Monica Deleon, Natasha McCabe, Naudika Williams, Noa Gur Golan, Noemi Martinez, Noor Alnoman, Qadira Miner, Rachel Parent, Riya Kataria, Robyn Gill, Rohnny Vallarta, Ryann Morelli, Sachin Dangi, Salvador Gómez-Colón, Samuel Getachew, Sarah Sobka, Sean Farrelly, Sydney Rotigel-Finegan, Talon Washington, Tess Kelly, Vanessa Ramon-Ibarra, Vic Barrett, Vivian Pham, Yennifer Coca Izquierdo, Zadren Hill, Zainab Nasrati
*The Manifesto was first published in the Guardian on Sunday 12 August 2018
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