Ongoing waves of globalization have led to the development of an increasingly integrated international economy, primarily driven by the interests of corporate capitalism. The present stage of global capitalist expansion, effectively dating back to September 11th, 2001 (or World War II, depending on your interpretation of history), has created multinational companies whose scope of operations span the globe as they buy, produce, and sell. With the force of an economic tsunami, today these market-driven forces stand to wash us all away in the name of the unholy dollar.
This Changes Everything, a book by Naomi Klein published in 2014, explores both the structures which support capitalist economies and how these systems play a pivotal role in determining our ability to sustain life on this planet in the coming future. Today, businesses and individuals around the world can exchange commodities across oceans with the single click of a button, but how often do we stop to think about the implications of all this?
The primary message of This Changes Everything is that capitalism’s “conveniences” are not worth the loss of our invaluable natural resources. This of course is tied to another key theme: to stop the worst of climate change, a reduction in the use of fossil fuels is absolutely necessary. When fossil fuels burn, the CO2 they release into the atmosphere creates a layer of greenhouse gas which traps pollution and heat close to the surface of the Earth. The Arctic, already “robbed of its winter” has now seen record-breaking warm seasons for years, melting sea ice and shaking up weather patterns all over the world.
Industrial manufacturing has led to an exponential increase in fossil fuel consumption throughout the globe. As Klein explains in her book, corporations have adopted an “unlimited” mentality towards our limited resources. Companies strive to produce as much as possible with no concern for the impact they are having on the environment. To make the transition to a clean-power economy, transformative thinking towards energy use is needed now. There are positive indications of change – according to ATCO gas, the recent global boom in renewables has allowed carbon dioxide emissions to flatline for the first time in 40 years – yet if our short-sighted business model is allowed to continue, the Earth’s natural resources and the protective atmospheric layer that surrounds the planet will be forever compromised.
Other themes in This Changes Everything include the complex relationship between consumer capitalism and climate change. While it is easy to view oil dependency as a problem for politicians to solve, Klein gives an action call to all global citizens to consider their own purchasing power and consumer habits. If we are to ever grind the wheels of capitalism to a full halt, each of us must accept some responsibility in pressing for radical change.
In her book, Klein pulls no punches in her discussion of the various ways in which consumer culture has led to the depletion of earth’s natural resources. Fortunately, Klein also outlines various ways in which the average person can take control of his or her carbon footprint and make measurable changes in the world. Her book discusses the need for people around the world to become activists in their own communities to push politicians to “change everything” and halt the business-as-usual model of capitalist economics.
From the manufacturing process to wildly fluctuating fuel prices, the way our global economy operates is intrinsically linked to the worsening climate crisis. Even though not all nations operate on capitalist systems, it is capitalism which ultimately drives the world to put profit before the welfare of the planet. From oil to gemstones, once resources are depleted, they are gone forever. This is also true for our species. We are a part of nature, not apart from it, and the sooner we realize this the sooner we can begin to make repairs: together.
This Changes Everything: Capitalism Versus The Climate
Politics
Simon & Schuster
September 16, 2014
576
In This Changes Everything Naomi Klein argues that climate change isn’t just another issue to be neatly filed between taxes and health care. It’s an alarm that calls us to fix an economic system that is already failing us in many ways. Klein meticulously builds the case for how massively reducing our greenhouse emissions is our best chance to simultaneously reduce gaping inequalities, re-imagine our broken democracies, and rebuild our gutted local economies. She exposes the ideological desperation of the climate-change deniers, the messianic delusions of the would-be geoengineers, and the tragic defeatism of too many mainstream green initiatives. And she demonstrates precisely why the market has not—and cannot—fix the climate crisis but will instead make things worse, with ever more extreme and ecologically damaging extraction methods, accompanied by rampant disaster capitalism.
Klein argues that the changes to our relationship with nature and one another that are required to respond to the climate crisis humanely should not be viewed as grim penance, but rather as a kind of gift—a catalyst to transform broken economic and cultural priorities and to heal long-festering historical wounds. And she documents the inspiring movements that have already begun this process: communities that are not just refusing to be sites of further fossil fuel extraction but are building the next, regeneration-based economies right now.
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