Theme of November/December 2018 Newsletter
Animations for the October 2018 Paper: Vision of a new economic system to replace America economic, population, military and environmental wars against our world, Earth. Animations for the October 2018 Paper: Vision of a new economic system to replace America economic, population, military and environmental wars against our world, Earth.

Environmental warfare Environmental warfare: animation.

Developed economies have been emitting most of the greenhouse gases that had caused the global warming of our planet, climate change, rising sea levels, and today's environmental and life extinction crisis. Unlimited fossil fuel exploitation and production by the developed economies mean a commitment to greenhouse gases pollution. The United States of America has been by far the worst polluter and largely responsible for the crisis in the world today.

Economic warfare Economic warfare: animation.

The extinction crisis was caused by an economic system based on capitalism which promotes accumulation by dispossession, and ceaseless growth designed and calculated to encourage a higher yearly GDP that is destroying ecosystems the world over. The global socioeconomic system of capitalism is thus forcing us to work harder to surpass previous GDP consumption and population numbers until we have devoured everything that maintains life, ending up with a polluted, lifeless, and scorched planet. This system made it possible for 1% of people in the world, namely Transnational Corporations CEOs, and mostly global corporate America, to have as much wealth as half the world's population, with always the overriding goal for which maximal profits, and not the needs and welfare of future generations. Capitalism has institutionalized a global ignorance, in which producers and consumers cannot know or care about one another, so that the pollution and human exploitation caused in the production and transportation of goods in the world has remained invisible and opaque to consumers. The combined effects of aggressive marketing, advertising, and planned product obsolescence has meant that the consumer’s oversized footprint is largely a consequence of the global power of this 1% so, in that sense, it is perhaps more accurate to speak of corporate global ecological footprints rather than the footprints of nations or individuals. In a nutshell, capitalism is responsible for the extinction crisis and, therefore, its defenders and endorsers, mainly the CEOs of corporate America at home and overseas, including their Chief Operating Officers, Board of directors, and Chief Financial Officers, should be brought to justice.

Population warfare Population warfare: animation.

What is going on today, the extinction crisis, is largely due to the failure of growth-based capitalism. We need to address the structural deficiencies in the existing system. To maintain a general satisfaction in a social system that’s driven and motivated with competition, endless growth is needed, but in a finite system it must end when natural resources are exhausted. However, greenhouse gases pollution produced in this economic system not only impairs life, but is causing the global warming of the planet, acidifying the oceans, and will be ending life if the system is maintained to its exhaustion. So we have now recognized that both the global environmental problem and the social justice issue associated with the crisis are linked to long histories of capitalist domination over people, other life forms, and plants. The crisis, in other words, ought to be a key issue in the fight for climate justice.

Military warfare Military warfare: animation.

The main source of economic success in America was transferred over time from gold to dollars, specifically to US treasury bills, which allowed the Federal Reserve to print dollars practically without limit. Given a current account deficit financed by savings of others in the world, the US government spending on global militarization and other priorities were able to expand without limit. Naturally, the more the dollar was used in the world, the more the United States of America had the power to spend on the military. The US found itself in the enviable position of being able to print pieces of paper (simply IOU’s) without any gold backing and then exchange them for real goods from other countries. They simply needed dollars for trade and bought US treasures to diversify their financial assets. To become great again, the US parlayed the world’s largest national debt, its trade deficit, budget deficit, capital account deficit and savings rate deficit, into a position in the global driver seat through the dollar remaining global hub currency. This economic arrangement has allowed the United States to achieve an unparalleled strategic advantage over its geopolitical opponents and, has allowed a practically unlimited dollar spending capacity even as the US accumulates an astronomical public debt that is now over 21 trillion dollars. Most of this spending was used for its military, but not for the American health and wellness.

New economic system New economic system: animation.

The primary goal of the developed nations must be to overturn the present expansionary economic system based on capitalism by fostering de-growth and creating steady state societies founded on principles of equality and environmental justice. Most importantly, nations that have benefited from burning fossil fuels must radically cut their carbon emissions in order to stop the climate chaos that endangers the vast majority of current terrestrial forms of life. What would be the shape and fundamental goals of such an expansive anti-capitalist movement against extinction and for environmental justice? It would have to commence with open recognition by the developed nations, especially the United States of America, of the long history of global ecocide. Such an admission would lead to the consequent recognition of the biodiversity debt owed by the developed nations to humanity. All nations should have the same level of greenhouse gas emissions per person. A country such as the United States, which has only 5% of the global population, would be allowed no more than 5% of globally sustainable greenhouse gas emissions. Such a move would represent a dramatic anti-imperialist shift since the US is at present responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. The powerful individuals and corporations that control nations like the US are not likely to accept such revolutionary curtailments of the wasteful economic system that supports them without a struggle. Already there is abundant evidence that they would rather destroy the planet than let even a modicum of their power slip away to save the world. Such behavior should be seen frankly for what it is: a crime against humanity and all other life forms on our planet. We should not expect to negotiate with such destructive entities. Their assets should be seized. A legally imposed contraction of the fossil energy supply and a rapid global conversion to renewable energy, are also necessary steps toward saving our world.