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March 29, 2024

What we need is an ecological revolution

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John Scales Avery

Does history repeat itself? Is it cyclic, or is it unidirectional? Certainly many aspects of history are repetitive – the rise and fall of empires, cycles of war and peace, cycles of construction and destruction.

On the other hand, if we look at the long-term history of human progress, we can see that it is clearly unidirectional.

An explosion of knowledge has created the modern world. Never before has the world had a population of seven billion people, to which a billion are added every decade. Never before have we had the power to destroy human civilisation and the biosphere with catastrophic anthropogenic climate change or thermonuclear weapons.

Our situation today is unique. We cannot rely on old habits, old traditions, or old institutions. To save the long-term future for our children, grandchildren, and all the other creatures we must overcome the inertia of our institutions and our culture.

Restoring harmony

Harmony between human society and nature must be restored. Fundamental change has been called for by Pope Francis and former US vice president Al Gore.

In June, 2015, Pope Francis addressed the climate crisis in an encyclical entitled ‘Laudato Si’, saying ‘Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political, and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.’

In his Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’, he wrote: ‘Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “Thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality.’

For many years, Al Gore has struggled to call public attention to the existential dangers of catastrophic climate change. These efforts were recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Change needed

The October 2018 report of the IPCC shocked the world. The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.50c would require ‘rapid and far-reaching’ transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities.

Global net human-caused emissions of CO2 would need to fall by about 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030, and net zero around 2050. The report also concluded that humanity has only 12 years in which to act if tipping points are to be avoided, beyond which uncontrollable feedback loops would be set in motion.

Fundamental changes are needed in order to give our economic system both an ecological conscience and social conscience. In many countries, economics and politics are linked, because excessive inequality in wealth has meant that corporate oligarchs control our political systems.

To restore democracy, we must decrease economic inequality and reformed economic systems must prioritise ecological goals, especially the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy, reforestation, and the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The need for rapid and fundamental changes means that we need an ecological revolution – but it must be a non-violent revolution, fought in the court of public opinion.

Download John Avery’s book We Need An Ecological Revolution.


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4 COMMENTS

  1. Revolution:- Start at one point, describe a circle, return to the same point.
    The wealthy and influential run everything including both the finest democracies and the finest authoritarian regimes money can buy. Revolutions simply changed the owners who, currently, have a vested interest in the status quo. If we are to have a sustainable future, sustainable practice must become ‘The Money’.
    Evolution.

    • Robin, you are correct about revolution being a ‘complete turning’, but you’ve missed where the original ”point“ was to which we need to return. You’ve described revolts, not revolution, if you’re referring to ‘returning’ to a new set of owners. True revolution would return to when there *were no owners°. This was the situation for a million years of human existence, which reflected a billion years of life on Earth. If we’re not talking about returning to a place where people abided Earth, than it’s nothing more than a revolt. I call this ‘place’ (a mindset from which ways of living emerge) People of Earth (because people are *of* Earth, and the term is a constant reminder of that. “Earth”… a grand, living being of which all people, rivers, forests, trees, mosquitoes, viruses are elements. The only true revolution is to re-embrace a story that tells us that, at every given moment.

  2. Well said Robin Harrison. Agreed.
    Now the big issue is getting the right information to enough people to reach the critical mass needed for such an evolution to come to pass. At the moment we are facing a major information war and to me, it seems the propaganda machine has the upper hand. Mainly because they have lots of cash to splash through the monopolised and biased MSM. Corporate wealth and monopoly over everyday necessities is creating poverty daily, but the people still seem to vote for the party that is doing the most damage to them! Waking the sleepers is difficult!

  3. The people have stopped listening even though the information’s
    there. Most are controlled & focus on ‘gadgetry’… anything that’s
    electric from phones, to cards & the rest of the white noise sound
    bubble. Great strides have been made by science but our human
    interest won’t or can’t engage. Does fear cause this? I doubt it. No.
    Many have become ‘slack’, almost ‘dumb’; why? It’s far easier &
    because we can. As for trying to hold a conversation on Climate
    Change – forget it. It’s like talking to a post. Thinking, ie. decision
    making, is a lost art & it has a great bearing on what we let our
    leaders, bankers & moneyed-ups get away with. The propaganda
    alliance controls all. Harmony & nature need to reign over ‘Bully
    Barons’ else we’re left with the old saying – “History does repeat
    itself.”

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