Thesis: Climate Change Can Be A Catalyst For A Range of Social, Political and Economic Transformations

A peoples Shock
Thesis: Climate change can be a catalyst for a range of social, political and
economic transformations.
Why: Corporate interested have exploited regulations and policies that enrich a
small elite
Evidence:
Cutting social spending

Lifting regulations
Forcing large-scale privatizations of the public sphere
Extreme crackdowns on civil liberties and human rights violations
Why: The crisis of global warming will be an opportunity for the 1 % as resource
recollection, this is what our current system is built to do.
Evidence
1. Communal forest into privatized tree farms which are collected as carbon
credits
2. Weather derivatives markets and trades, (between 2005 and 2006), the
market humped fivefold.
3. Billions in profits by global reinsurance companies by selling protection
schemes to developing countries that have done nothing to climate crisis
but are vulnerable (its infrastructure) to the impact
4. Private militias vision on expanded business due to climate change.
(pg.9)
5. Agricultural business vision on expanded business due to climate change
(pg.9)
6. Construction business increase in profit due to rebuilding on new homes
due to climate change related crisis e.g. Hurricane Katharina.
Why: Our look-away and denial of climate change
Evidence:
1.Canadian College Student Anjali Appadurai at UN climate conference
2. Worlds governments talked for more than two decades on preventing
climate change.
3. Failure in inter-governmental agreements and the way they asked for
countless extensions
4. MIT economist John Reilly: The more we talk about the need to control
emissions, the more they are growing (Just words no actions)
5. Slowly the UN climate summit changes from a serious negotiation to a

forum of therapy session from representatives of the most vulnerable
countries to vent their grief and rage
Why: A grim reality check

Evidence:
1. The sobbing of young environmental activist who had interviews with many
journalists and said I really thought Obama understood
2. British psychoanalyst and climate specialist Sally Weintrobe describes the
summit as fundamental legacy the acute not cared for at the level of our very
survival.
Why: Minimizing economic disturbance is the key in this UN deal, not the climate
Evidence:
1.the non-binding agreement between major polluting governments (US and
China) of keeping temperature from increasing more than 2 C. is a political
one that try minimizing economic disruption than protecting the greatest
number of people (It is in fact very risky)
Sub evidence:
1. By increasing just 0.8 degrees C, Greenland ice sheet melted
2. 2012 Summer acidification of oceans (far more rapid)
3. 2012 World Bank Report - >2 C, interconnected events happened,
disintegration of the west Antarctic ice sheet and its sea rise.
4. Large-scale Amazon dieback affect ecosystem, agriculture, energy
production and livelihood
5. World Bank predicts we are on track of a 4-degree path and we will
be battled by extreme heat waves, declining global food stocks, loss
of ecosystems and biodiversity and life threatening sea level rise
and even more natural disasters
6. The International Energy Agency ()IEA) even projected a 6 degree
Celsius projectory
(Naomi Kleins sarcastic way of writing) - becomes difficult to
imagine that a peaceful, ordered society could be sustained (that is,
where such a thing exists in the first place).
(Naomi Kleins ways of writing that relate to the common people) -
The various projects are the equivalent of every alarm in your house
going off simultaneously. And then very alarm on your street going off
as well, one by one by one.
(Naomi Kleins ways of writing that compares to other political and

social incidents) - comparing climate change as the Cold War fear,
nuclear holocaust.
3. Governments refusals to binding agreements
Why: Even the stolid group of Climatologist stood up against Climate Change
Evidence:
Ohio State University Climatologist Lonnie G. Thompson - They are far

more comfortable in the labs and gather data in the field that giving
interviews to journalists or speaking before congressional committees,
why do we still speak before Congressional committees? Because we
know climate change is threatening our civilization.
Really bad timing

Thesis: Human Nature holds us back? No Human nature can overcome this? But why
and how did we just ignore it? Because it fundamentally conflicts with
deregulated capitalism the reigning ideology for the entire period we
have been struggling to find a way out of this crisis.
Argument:
No, we have shown ourselves willing to collectively sacrifice in the face

of threats many times.
Evidence:
1. The United Nations helped governments come together to tackle

cross-border challenges, ocean depletion, nuclear proliferation etc.
2. Created World Trade Organization
3. Last two decades we have seen an explosion of ingenious zerowaste design, green urban planning etc. (we have the technical
sufficiency)
4. Victory gardens and victory bonds during World Wars I and II, to
support fuel conservation, pleasure driving was eliminated in the UK
during the second world war and public transit went up by 87 percent.
(pg.17)
Argument:
In the name of stabilizing an economy in crisis, humans also

collectively sacrifice
Evidence:
1. We sacrifice our pensions

2. Our hard-won labor rights
3. our arts and after school programs
4. We send our kids to learn in ever more crowded classrooms led by
ever more harried teachers.
5. We accepted that we have to pay dramatically more for the
destructive energy sources that power our transportation and our lives.
6. We accepted that a public university education should result in a

debt
Argument: A deregulated capitalism is why we couldnt change our current model

and way of living.
Evidence:
1. Actions that could avert catastrophe conflict the elite minority that
has power over economy, political process and major media outlets.
2. The year that marked the dawning of globalization (signing of the
agreement of largest bilateral trade between Canada and the US and
later expanded into North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
with the inclusion of Mexico) coincides with governments and scientist
began talking seriously about radical cuts to greenhouse gases
emissions in 1988.
3. Climate Negotiation Process (always losing) vs. Corporate
Globalization Process (always winning) (pg.19)
4. Although Corporate Globalization Process had setbacks, the
ideological underpinning the entire project never dies, and it is not
about the trades, it is about locking in a global policy framework that
provided maximum freedom to multinational corporations to produce
their goods as cheaply as possible and sell them with as few
regulations as possible, while paying as little in taxes as possible.
Argument:
A market fundamentalism has from the very beginning, systematically

sabotage our collective response to climate change. Yet only a few
writings or research have talked about the costs of this problem.
1. Much has been discussed on costs of the the three policy pillars of
this era: A) Privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the
corporate sector, and lower corporate taxation, paid for with cuts to
public spending. E.g. Instability of financial markets, excess of the
super-rich, desperation of the increasingly disposable poor, failing

state of public infrastructure and services.
Argument:
This stronghold of market logic secured over public life and made this
climate response seem politically heretical
1. Government heavy regulation, tax and penalty fossil fuel vs
perception of command and control communism.
2. Protection and supports for renewable energy to replace fossil fuel
are seen as protectionism
Argument: Aside from the ideology of Market Fundamentalism, policies are the
culprit as well
Evidence:
1. Policies freed multinational corporations from many constraints e.g.

in 1990s, the market integration project ramped up, global emissions
were going up an average of 1% a year; by the 200s, with emerging
markets like China now fully integrated into the world economy,
emissions growth had sped up disastrously, with the annual rate of
increase reaching 3.4% a year for much of the decade. (This growth
was only slightly interrupted by the world financial crisis)
Argument:
A Market fundamentalism marked this era with two signatures that

made us difficult to get out and start a new way of life needed for
climate change
Evidence:
1. Mass export of products across vast distances (burning carbon all

the way)
2. Import

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A peoples Shock

Cutting social spending

5. Slowly the UN climate summit changes from a serious negotiation to a

Why: A grim reality check

(Naomi Kleins ways of writing that compares to other political and

Ohio State University Climatologist Lonnie G. Thompson - They are far

Really bad timing

No, we have shown ourselves willing to collectively sacrifice in the face

1. The United Nations helped governments come together to tackle

In the name of stabilizing an economy in crisis, humans also

1. We sacrifice our pensions

6. We accepted that a public university education should result in a

Argument: A deregulated capitalism is why we couldnt change our current model

A market fundamentalism has from the very beginning, systematically

super-rich, desperation of the increasingly disposable poor, failing

1. Policies freed multinational corporations from many constraints e.g.

A Market fundamentalism marked this era with two signatures that

1. Mass export of products across vast distances (burning carbon all

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