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Oct 25, 2021Liked by Brad Zarnett

Well done. Robert's comment below is perfect though. I truly believe that humanity as a species is capable of collective wisdom and collaborative action and that governments will act in concert with that re-emerging practice. New company I am launching "Engage For 2030" is based on that premise above all. Let's go!

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Quite incisive well-written commentary, with which I whole-heartedly agree...except for one major problem. The analysis is still individualist--that is, it focuses on the individual's failings in a world that still focuses on the person and her/his addiction to the 'conveniences' of the industrial-consumer culture. Criticizing the individual is not enough (there are so many). What I see missing in virtually every critique of the failure to address the climate emergency is the recognition that the predicament is structural and while fairly large numbers of people will need to change their behavior, their lives are caught up not only in consumerism but in the jobs from which they draw the resources to live as well as over-consume. The only viable solution I can see is for local/regional community re-organization around ecosystem restoration (which, I know, would severely disrupt existing property relations). Advances in social network science suggest that social change via networked social movements could 'snowball' into enough social power as participants turn away from the industiral-consumer by becoming engaged in transforming society from the ground up. The underlying unspoken core fact is that comprehensive societal transformation is the one necessary driver of the political-economic transformation needed to mitigate as much climate chaos as is still possible. Not 'regime change' but revolution from below.

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