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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Many may still be sleeping, but the awakening has begun! [View all]GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)44. This might help quicken the awakening.
That Was Easy: In Just 60 Years, Neoliberal Capitalism Has Nearly Broken Planet Earth
Using what it calls a "planetary dashboard," the research charts the spread and speed of human activity from the start of the industrial revolution in 1750 to 2010, and the subsequent changes in the Earth System e.g. greenhouse gas levels, ocean acidification, deforestation and biodiversity deterioration. The analysis found that increased human activityand "predominantly the global economic system"has unseated all other factors as the primary driver of change in the Earth System, which the report describes as "the sum of our planet's interacting physical, chemical, biological and human processes." The most striking, i.e. "accelerated," changes to that system have occurred in the last sixty years.
"It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change. In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale," said Steffen, who also led the Acceleration study.
The conclusion that the world's dominant economic modela globalized form of neoliberal capitalism, largely based on international trade and fueled by extracting and consuming natural resourcesis the driving force behind planetary destruction will not come as a shock, but the model's detailed description of how this has worked since the middle of the 20th century makes a more substantial case than many previous attempts.
"When we first aggregated these datasets, we expected to see major changes but what surprised us was the timing. Almost all graphs show the same pattern. The most dramatic shifts have occurred since 1950. We can say that around 1950 was the start of the Great Acceleration," says Steffen. "After 1950 we can see that major Earth System changes became directly linked to changes largely related to the global economic system. This is a new phenomenon and indicates that humanity has a new responsibility at a global level for the planet."
Using what it calls a "planetary dashboard," the research charts the spread and speed of human activity from the start of the industrial revolution in 1750 to 2010, and the subsequent changes in the Earth System e.g. greenhouse gas levels, ocean acidification, deforestation and biodiversity deterioration. The analysis found that increased human activityand "predominantly the global economic system"has unseated all other factors as the primary driver of change in the Earth System, which the report describes as "the sum of our planet's interacting physical, chemical, biological and human processes." The most striking, i.e. "accelerated," changes to that system have occurred in the last sixty years.
"It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change. In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale," said Steffen, who also led the Acceleration study.
The conclusion that the world's dominant economic modela globalized form of neoliberal capitalism, largely based on international trade and fueled by extracting and consuming natural resourcesis the driving force behind planetary destruction will not come as a shock, but the model's detailed description of how this has worked since the middle of the 20th century makes a more substantial case than many previous attempts.
"When we first aggregated these datasets, we expected to see major changes but what surprised us was the timing. Almost all graphs show the same pattern. The most dramatic shifts have occurred since 1950. We can say that around 1950 was the start of the Great Acceleration," says Steffen. "After 1950 we can see that major Earth System changes became directly linked to changes largely related to the global economic system. This is a new phenomenon and indicates that humanity has a new responsibility at a global level for the planet."
The Second Law of Thermodynamics underwrites all our behaviour. The reason neoliberal capitalism has become the world's dominant economic system is that it is the most efficient means we have yet discovered for turning the planet into entropic waste.
WWII and the Cold War were fought to decide whose system would get to wreck the planet. The test was both ingenious and insidious. Those wars demonstrated that the winning system had both the power and will to wreck the planet, and also gave it the right (might makes right) to do so. The amazing part is that nobody noticed what game was really being played underneath the facade of politics and progress.
Now it's too late: the system that's wrecking the place resists all attempts at significant reform, and there is no way to replace the system outright without wrecking the place even more.
Of course most people don't see it that way, preferring to blame someone. To paraphrase a famous Einstein quote, "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who believe they are doing good."
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There are so many great OPs on this site, but I see so few that understand the urgency
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#18
You honor me far beyond my abilities, but I must admit, You always give me great encouragement
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#19
Vichy collaborators, discard isms for time is short, it is too short. We have run out of short time.
betsuni
Mar 2016
#11
you're funny, incapable of reading more than one liners and buzz words to distort, but you're funny
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#14
Thanks for the kick!, I really appreciate you guys keeping me on the first page on GDP
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#26
Thanks for the kick!, I really appreciate it, you guys have been a great help!
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#27
That is like kicked and recommended a whole bunch squared, I notice these things, Thanks!
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#20
But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants
Tierra_y_Libertad
Mar 2016
#16
Dark days indeed, we had Bush and Darth Cheney destroying the middle east and continuing
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#41
I see sighs of such an awakening yet still too many are glued to cable-harnessed lie boxes /nt
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#42
It is much better to be honest with them than pretend all is well, it is that illusion that
Dragonfli
Mar 2016
#49
You had me at "Vichy collaborators"!! Excellent description of the DLC/3rd Way type Democrats.
FighttheFuture
Mar 2016
#47