BRIDGET MEEHAN: We Only Want the Earth

By Dilip -

“Our demands most moderate are: we only want the earth.” These are the words of James Connolly, an Irish revolutionary who took part in the Easter Rising of 1916. Connolly was fighting against British colonial oppression in Ireland but his fight was for more than that. His fight was against all forms of oppression. Connolly understood that Ireland had first to rid itself of the British before it could deal with all other injustices, especially those caused by capitalism. According to him, “the day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go.” What Connolly wanted was to win. He knew that fighting to win was what was important. He also knew that reforms or “patching up” were not good enough.

Over a hundred years after Connolly’s execution, capitalism still dominates. If anything, it’s more deep-rooted and more injurious particularly because of neoliberal policies which have resulted in unprecedented levels of income and wealth inequalities and environmental devastation. And even worse, neoliberalism brought with it the “end of history” and a pervasive new message that “there is no alternative” (TINA). So, despite its imperfections, capitalism is the best system there is for achieving prosperity and personal freedom. That message is so engrained that many on the Left find it hard to defeat. Not believing we can win, not believing there is an alternative is the biggest obstacle we face.

What are the ramifications of this propaganda?...


George Monbiot: Dead Line - Future corporate profits are officially more important than life on Earth


JOSH DZIEZA - Save the Honeybee, Sterilize the Earth


Mass starvation is humanity’s fate if we keep flogging the land to death. By George Monbiot


Climate crisis: economists ‘grossly undervalue young lives’


Hundreds of global civil society representatives walk out of Cop26 in protest


CODE RED for Humanity - The IPCC report is clear: nothing short of transforming society will avert catastrophe


Murtaza Hussain: Industrialized Militaries & Climate Emergency // Rajan Menon: Hypersonic Weapons and National (In)security Why Arms Races Never End


ALFRED MCCOY: China Is Digging Its Own Grave (and Ours as Well)


Book review: The Mushroom at the End of the World review – life in capitalist ruins


The Anthropocene epoch: have we entered a new phase of planetary history? By Nicola Davison


JOHN BUELL: Living on a Newly Unrecognizable Planet


Chomsky: Internationalism or Extinction


Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug / Siberian heatwave led to new methane emissions / Terrifying documentary on US wildfires


Earthly Anecdotes: an alternative to the doom-saying of our times


Reynard Loki - Here’s a major lesson from the pandemic: We can save the planet from climate change


Aseem Shrivastava: An Age gone blind // Mallika Bhanot - Char Dham Pariyojana: A High Risk Engineering Exercise


This obscure energy treaty is the greatest threat to the planet you’ve never heard of


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