#SmallScaleRuptures

DoomsdaysCWCommentary: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fires" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Fires</a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Hurricanes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Hurricanes</a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeWeather" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ExtremeWeather</a>: The Media Misses the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateLink" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateLink</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protesting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Protesting</a> the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FossilFuelIndustry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FossilFuelIndustry</a> and their political allies can help fix the narrative, and turn disasters into opportunities for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateAction</a>by Margaret Klein Salamon, January 12, 2025"Who is to blame for the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LosAngelesFires" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LosAngelesFires</a>? For the destruction of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Asheville" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Asheville</a>? The devastation of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Acapulco" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Acapulco</a>? If you listen to the mainstream media, you would get the impression that no one is truly responsible. These are framed as tragic but random events– acts of nature without clear cause or accountability. Even if articles do mention climate change, which they tend to bury toward the end, they won’t tell you the people and companies who caused these disasters in order to enrich themselves. And if you listen to right-wingers, you will get the mistaken impression that DEI, arson, and the Democratic Party caused these disasters. "But here’s the truth: These mega-disasters are caused by the climate emergency, which has been caused by fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry has raked in obscene <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/profits" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#profits</a> for decades, while knowingly bringing down apocalypse onto the rest of us. "We have the power to change the narrative. Imagine this: As fires rage through the city, a group of climate activists non-violently occupy the California State House in Sacramento. Or LA City Hall. Or Marathon Oil’s refinery in Los Angeles County. They would demand that fossil fuel companies pay for the damage they’re causing, and face criminal prosecution for the harm that they have inflicted. Such a protest would be covered on front pages across the globe, shifting the narrative from passive victimhood to active accountability. This is an opportunity that the climate movement has yet to fully seize. "The climate emergency is accelerating, and so is the frequency and scale of disasters. When these disasters occur, the eyes of the country and sometimes the world focus on the crisis and its fallout. This should be a tremendous learning opportunity for the public about the dangers of the climate emergency, but the media obscures the true cause of these events. While truthful headlines would report along the lines of, “The Climate Emergency Strikes Again,” the media continues to largely report these disasters as anomalous weather events. "Activists have a unique role to play in these moments. By connecting fossil fuels to the damage we’re seeing — floods, fires, hurricanes — they can elevate the conversation and force the public to reckon with the reality of the climate emergency. Activists can also call for proactive policies: investments in renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, and sustainable rebuilding efforts. The “Make Polluters Pay” demand, which New York State just passed after facing pressure from the New York climate movement, offers a compelling framework for justice in the wake of climate disasters. With millions or even billions of dollars in damage, justice demands that the culprits — fossil fuel companies who have knowingly warmed the atmosphere for decades — foot the bill."Disasters are opportunities to shape long-term policy change. Disasters create a unique moment when the public and politicians are more open to new ideas and transformative policy changes. Naomi Klein argued for the unique political opportunities that disasters open up in her 2007 book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Activists can use this moment to demand not only immediate relief but also policies that challenge the fossil fuel industry’s grip on power."Climate Emergency Fund is dedicated to supporting the nonviolent disruptive activists who are pushing these important conversations forward, through raising money and making grants. We saw an example of how climate protest can determine the narrative around climate disaster by accident — we supported a protest of Burning Man. The protest wasn’t terribly successful until Burning Man flooded and became a mud pit. Stories about the disaster, which were quite widespread, harkened back to or were even framed around the protest. This made the coverage more climate-focused and more politically activating."In moments of crisis, we must demand that climate change be treated not just as an afterthought, but as the root cause of the disaster. It’s time to stop focusing exclusively on short-term relief and rebuilding the status-quo and start building towards a fossil-free, climate-resilient future."So when disaster strikes — as it will more and more in the coming years, first, make sure you and your loved ones are safe. Second, see if there is anyone in your immediate vicinity who needs your help. And third, join, or plan, a protest that shifts the narrative. Let’s make it clear: These are not random catastrophes — they are the consequences of the fossil-fueled climate emergency. And we can and must hold the culprits accountable."Original article: <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/los-angeles-fires-climate-media-1235232654/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/los-angeles-fires-climate-media-1235232654/</a>Archived version: <a href="https://archive.ph/AGdIa" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://archive.ph/AGdIa</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BigOilAndGas</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateCatastrophe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateCatastrophe</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExxonKnew" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ExxonKnew</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilKnew" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BigOilKnew</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ChevronKnew" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChevronKnew</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateActivism</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateProtest</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SmallScaleRuptures" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SmallScaleRuptures</a>

DoomsdaysCWExcerpts from "From Taming to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Dismantling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Dismantling</a>: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Degrowth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Degrowth</a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AntiCapitalist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AntiCapitalist</a> Strategy" by Ekaterina Chertkovskaya, September 2020.<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SmallScaleRuptures" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SmallScaleRuptures</a>"As for ruptural transformation, this is not part of Wright’s vision of how to overcome capitalism. So far it has not featured in the work on degrowth either, which has largely followed Wright’s reasoning. A survey of the degrowth movement conducted at the fourth international degrowth conference in Leipzig (2014) found out that about 13% of degrowthers were oriented towards rupture. While this might be a minority position in the movement and while ruptures are to be cautious about, I would not fully dismiss rupture as a logic of transformation (and smashing capitalism, as its strategic logic). When speaking of ruptural transformation, Wright usually refers to it as a complete overhaul of the capitalist system, and as a direct attack on the state. However, rupture does not have to be understood this way, which Wright acknowledged also. "There can be temporary or smaller scale ruptures and examples of smashing capitalism. Say, an act of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/disobedience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#disobedience</a> like blocking a coal plant or occupying a public space – something that is part of the degrowth imaginary – can be seen as an example of a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TemporaryRupture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TemporaryRupture</a> that <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/empowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#empowers</a> and encourages other forms of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/resistance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#resistance</a>. It includes, but also goes beyond resistance, by disrupting, even if temporarily, the rhythm of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtractiveCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ExtractiveCapitalism</a>. Workers overtaking a bankrupt factory and making it a cooperative is another example of rupture and smashing capitalism, in a concrete organisation, such as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/VioMe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VioMe</a> in Greece, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RiMaflow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RiMaflow</a> in Italy and the occupied factories in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Argentina" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Argentina</a>. Had they been waiting for the legislation that would allow dismantling capitalism to come into place and support cooperative organisational forms, such pioneering examples of change would probably not exist. However, responding to the crises the way they did created a rupture that may encourage others to do the same, as well as demand policies that would allow cooperativisation. Thus, I would argue that temporary or smaller scale ruptures can be important, supporting interstitial and symbiotic logics of transformation."Read more: <a href="https://degrowth.info/en/blog/from-taming-to-dismantling-degrowth-and-anti-capitalist-strategy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://degrowth.info/en/blog/from-taming-to-dismantling-degrowth-and-anti-capitalist-strategy</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarPunkSunday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SolarPunkSunday</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Dissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Dissent</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilDisobedience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CivilDisobedience</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SmashCapitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SmashCapitalism</a>

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