Earth Day 2018 is marked by extreme contradictions. Scientists around the world agree that climate change, caused by an increase and trapping of greenhouse gases within the earth’s atmosphere, is our reality.  Ocean temperatures and acidity, sea levels, and coastal flooding are on the rise because of temperature shifts.

At the same time, President Trump has gutted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), opened up public lands to oil drilling, is working to reduce scientific understanding and debate, and is rolling back regulations on air pollution.

Floriduh-Style

In south Florida, a ground zero for sea level rise, the contradictions border on insanity. A few years ago, I saw “Mermutants,” a really great DIY play about sea level rise in Florida. In this future dystopian comedy/musical, all of Florida is underwater, except the very last gated community, Zephyr Hills, reserved for the ultra rich. Mermutants are the majority of the population – a neon, toxic cross of human and fish, that evolved from Florida’s now completely polluted waters, thanks to FPL’s Turkey Point.

Our reality may not be far off from that of Mermutants… unless we get organized.

 

 

Every King Tide brings more severe flooding, while developers continue to build along the coasts.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) continues to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, blocking solar power. They are partners in the Sabal Trail Pipeline being constructed across sensitive and porous limestone, just feet above the aquifer system (Florida’s drinking water), to move liquified natural gas to Florida power plants.

FPL plans to build two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point. At the same time, they continue to contaminate Biscayne Bay and the Biscayne Aquifer, but were granted permission to charge customers for clean up costs. South Florida’s main sources of drinking and wastewater treatment are the Biscayne & Floridan aquifers. FPL also wants to store radioactive waste beneath these water sources.

And, in Florida style, University of Miami sold one of the last large swaths of natural pine rockland – one of the rarest forms of forest in the world. This forest and all of the unique species within it are slated to become a strip mall and ironically enough, a theme park called “Miami Wilds.”

 

Capitalism is Objectively at Odds with the Planet

Constant growth, expanding markets, and ever-increasing profits are inherent to capitalism, leading to the commodification of everything. To ensure maximum profit, production costs must always be minimized. Imperialism aides capitalists in this effort, providing new markets, hyper-exploited labor, and no regulation, allowing them to strip rainforests, rivers, farmers, indigenous peoples of their resources for privatization and commodification.

But, we live on a finite planet, you may say. It’s true. And, under capitalism this reality is also capitalized. Disasters or scarcity present demand and new markets. Climate change disasters have the potential to drive up the prices of land, housing, water, and more. This is why there are hedge funds set up to buy up water rights around the world and to speculate about resource scarcity so that when climate disaster hits, they come out on top with record breaking profits.

As we see evidenced in the world around us, this drive inevitably leads to crisis – environmental and economic. Capitalism is facing a structural crisis. Industrial expansion is contending with the physical limits of the natural world. At the same time, finance, debt and speculation have toxified the global economy. As a result any progressive veneer that capitalism used to retain is being eliminated, out of necessity for capital accumulation. Every element of life must be commodified for capitalism to continue.

This is why we see an acceleration of extreme extraction. Environmental regulation has constantly been weakened by industry lobbying efforts, but we’re witnessing a gutting of regulatory agencies here in the U.S. It was always OK to have zero regulations in dominated countries, but now this reality is coming to our own backyard.

 

Consolidating Fascism

Fascism is a form capitalism takes to deal with crises. It’s an autocratic approach to keep the economic engine chugging along for capitalists. The merging of state and corporate interests & the rolling back of regulations and democratic rights are necessary to keep markets expanding and to prevent the people from fighting back.

Trump et al’s solution for dealing with the crisis is moving us towards fascism. They are working to restructure bourgeois democracy as we know it. They are deconstructing bourgeois democratic rights, because they cannot accomplish their objectives of leadership within these confines. Regulation, public services, democratic rights all hinder the ability to plow ahead and commodify everything. This is part of the role of Trump’s cabinet. Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA is there to dismantle the EPA. Betsy DeVos will work to destroy public education. The revolving door of Trump’s cabinet members is also linked to this objective of privatization; merging state and corporate interests; and using the state as a method of accumulation.

But, let’s be clear, Republicans and Democrats alike have contributed to this crisis. They are two sides of the same capitalist coin. Further, there is no Green or Independent candidate that can reform an entire economic, social and political arrangement out of this crisis.

There are different fractions of capitalists, and some will also resist fascism. But they hold no real alternative to capitalism’s crises. By necessity and class interest, they will continue to put profits over the interests of workers, students, families, neighborhoods, our health, and the planet.

 

So What Do We Do?

Sign the petition to ban fracking. Go to the climate march. Call your local representative. Participate in direct action. Resist the fascist attempts to eliminate bourgeois democratic rights.

But, our global society is arranged by capitalism/imperialism. We need to shift our focus from moral arguments, pleading to capitalists and their politicians who are not concerned with morals. Instead, let’s zero in on the objective nature of our societal arrangement – the economic, political, and ideological – and organize to weaken it.

To do so, our organization and efforts must be independent of capitalist interests.

NGOs and politicians keep us on a hamster wheel with our hands bound, hustling for funds and empty promises from foundations and donors whose very wealth hinges on exploitation of workers and the planet.

The environmental movement, and most recent movements in the US have disconnected themselves from the working class, from the poor – the people who work the machines, the people who deal with the most negative effects of environmental destruction, and sea level rise.

If we’re talking about “saving the planet,” we need to get real and recognize the people who actually hold the power to do this – workers.  The people working oil platforms, the people putting up scaffolding for high rises on the beach, those laying natural gas pipelines are dominated by capitalism as well. They are compelled to work jobs that expose them to poisonous toxins and destroy their children’s land, water, and air.  Extraction industry workers are often pressured to work as fast as possible, to ignore safety guidelines risking their lives to increase production and profit, while wages are stolen from them.

This is why we need a broad and diverse, independent movement that can unify workers, students, immigrants, environmentalists against our common enemy – capitalism.

In this unity, we can organize to rise up against the capitalist attack on land, water, air, schools, neighborhoods and our rights.

Let’s stand up, fight back and organize to resist ecocide, imperialism and fascism.
Let’s construct a movement to weaken capitalism. Our future depends on it.
It’s all One Struggle.

 Get in touch if this resonates with you.

onestruggle.southflorida@gmail.com
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