hilariously, i never update this blog becasue i imagine no one reads it. so posting a video like this on this blog is almost counterintuitive. but i wanted to share. in fact, i think it’s my obligation to share. and you should too.
the more i look at it, the more i realize how inextricably capital is tied up in the degredation and destruction of our planet. i’ve never been much of an “environmentalist” but i am a fan of living and i can see where this is all heading. as resources become more and more scarce, life will only become more and more violent just as it’s done throughout human history. if you don’t believe that’s true, you need only look at the example of haiti right now.
“as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, haiti’s troubles significantly increasted with the passage of four deadly back-to-back storms last fall— fay, gustav, hanna, and ike— that killed more than 800 persons and worsened the nation’s food crisis. the storms devastated the small, impoverished island nation, washing away roads, bridges, and crops. thousands lost their homes. by some estimates, 80 percent of the country’s population had been displaced by wide-ranging flood damage. a joint world bank, united nations and european commission assessment released last november determined that total losses from the storms— ‘the largest disaster for haiti in 100 years’— could equal 15 percent of haiti’s gross national product.” (from: http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/02/will-obama-help-haitian-immigrants.html)
as a result of the devastation, scores of haitians found their way to the united states and instead of welcoming these economic and environmental migrants with open arms, the u.s. government has imprisoned them in deportation camps and/or put them on house arrest (complete with ankle bracelets) and is set to return more than 30,000 haitians to their country of origin. their crime? the will to live. can you really believe that we are all in this together?
the logic of capital is ultimately the problem. so it’s almost comical the way that the leaders of the so-called “developed” world continually rely on solutions rooted in capitalism. carbon trade your way out of climate chaos! um, good luck with that… the time to act is now and the action that needs to be taken won’t be easy. but is any of us willing to risk the alternative?
