Capitalism threatens planet-wide destruction
The endless drive to war, deadly pandemics and climate collapse are all symptoms of the same sick system. A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released this week paints a grim picture of the future.
It finds that climate change is already having devastating consequences far worse than predicted, and the window of time to act is rapidly closing. “Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” warns the report.
The IPCC says that new technology, the bosses’ favourite solution to climate change, will not only not be enough but could make the crisis worse. It is a sobering message. Only system change will save us from climate breakdown. The system’s defenders try to isolate the Ukraine war from everything else. But the catastrophes capitalism brings are linked and are hurtling towards us.
Capitalism is pushing the whole planet towards destruction, but ordinary people can pull society back from the brink. From anti-war protests to climate strikes, people have shown they won’t sit around and wait for the end. The revolutionary Walter Benjamin once described revolution as “the grasp for the emergency brake by the human race.” We need to grasp the emergency brake—we need that revolution.
