The Only Possible Solution to Global Pollution of All Kinds is to Live Simply and Stop Over-Consuming

COP21 is spinning out headlines about historic promises in the corporate media this week and spurring many well intentioned writers to write moving pieces about how the process is, as always, designed to safeguard the industrial monster's death grip while at the same time never questioning the underlying over-consumption that creates the demands that extractive capitalism destroys the planet to supply.

Yesterday's article 'Apocalyptic Capitalism' by Chris Hedges at Truthdig was, as always, apoplectic. In it he says: "The global elites have no intention of interfering with the profits, or ending government subsidies, for the fossil fuel industry and the extraction industries. They will not curtail extraction or impose hefty carbon taxes to keep fossil fuels in the ground. They will not limit the overconsumption that is the engine of global capitalism." Right on Chris!

Today at Resilience John Foran's essay 'The Insanity of the COP: We Must Adopt a Different Vision' focuses on the verdict of the International Tribunal of the Rights of Nature which was held over two days in a packed auditorium in Paris on December 4 and 5. It's an excellent and careful look at the case made there in the last few days by the Witnesses for Mother Earth in attendance.

And at some point last night Jeremy Corbyn and Naomi Klien spoke to a packed crowd of trade unionists and said "Liberté Is Not Just A Word" Of course, they too, used their oratory skills to explain the terrible situation we all face and concluded: "Now is not the time for small steps”. Then called for mass civil disobedience to break French President François Hollande's ban on demonstrations during the COP21 summit. i'm guessing because all the previous marches by the millions of marchers has been so effective eh.

Naomi's great at calling for marches, so is her cohort Bill McKibben, and marches do make the marchers feel like they've done something, plus they act as pressure relief valve which is why the Bankers and Billionaire's Club usually allow them, i'm sure.

i totally agree the sentiments behind and the hopes expressed by all the articles above and many others, but, as Albert Bates said in 'Revolucíon', they are "long on dirty laundry and short on detergent". The basic economics 100 fact is that demand drives every exchange in every market, the only non-violent solution, and the one that always evades pundits, is too stop consuming needless crap.

As permaculture founder David Holmgren has argued, the only plausible solution to global warming, at this late date, is the collapse of the global economy.  That, he argued, should be our main goal as activists.  Beyond that, any decisions we may make are meaningless and symbolic and will succeed only in making a few smug environmentalists feel that they are better than everyone else.

The corporate captured governments, regardless of the name of the political party, and the corporate owned MSM are incapable of entertaining, let alone supporting, any idea that doesn't follow the logical impossibility of endless growth because their future entitlements depend on it and because back home the middle class's unreal expectations of endless more material goodies has hypnotized them into never considering wanting less.

To conclude, there another way to live in this world without destroying it - living simply. Living simply leads to action based on personal responsibility - the opposite of materialistic desire. Folks need to stop driving to the mall, stop consuming needless crap breath deeply, tend the garden, marvel in the wonder-filled world, be happy, peaceful and just slow down.