As global temperatures rise, are liberal democracies on trial?

4 comments

1. At least in the US, awash with hatefearlie based media (With Fox News being the flagship) … and with the Democrats’ seeming inability to confront the Joseph Goebbels-like propaganda machine driving the US GOP due to the poor bonds between the Democrats’ disparate subgroups… it won’t take much of a kick to bring the façade of constitutional order to the ground. As climate stress intensifies domestically, and the global economy gradually (or suddenly!) collapses from the compounded stress of polycrises like financial shock, frequent political destabilization, and supply chain disruption, Americans will see their financial lives whither. We have 40 years of evidence showing how relatively modest shrinking of the US middle class has allowed MAGA to blossom and Hitler-wannabe Trump to be a viable candidate. And that’s just the warm up act. As the climate crisis takes off the accumulating impact on ordinary people will make them increasingly desparate, and desparate people will increasingly follow whatever authoritarian manages to con them and make them feel safe. Overt in-your-face fascism will spread and its recruiters will have easy pickings.

   It’s interesting that in the article it’s the economists warning about the risk to liberal democracy.

   Missing from this entire discussion is any mention that the problem of climate change is merely a symptom. A descent into the political abyss is inevitable unless we start addressing the root cause not just the symptom. The root cause is that the modern global economy is built on the foundational principle of perpetual economic growth addiction (PEGA).

   PEGA has always been a Ponzi scheme. The first stirrings of widespread awareness that PEGA is a multi century Ponzi scheme that is coming to its natural conclusion is starting to emerge. In the 1990s I’d go months – sometimes years – without seeing anyone writing about this. Now there are new articles every day. Those paying attention are starting to realize and talk about ourselves and our childern being the suckers left holding the bag. And even more of us around the world do not have the luxury to be reading and philosophizing. We are quite *literally* holding the bag, of whatever we could salvage, as climate stress drives us from our homes.

   As long as the leaders of these liberal democracies try to salvage the insane foundation of PEGA they will be unable to turn the tide and the existing world economic and political order will continue to disintegrate, increment by increment, puncuated by sudden shocks.

   But I’m not hearing anybody in positions of leadership calling for turning our backs on economic growth and embracing steady state economics. So the die appears to be cast.

   We should still try to mitigate against even more climate change doing everything we should have done in the 1990s and the 2000s and the 20010s and we should get all of that done by 2026. We do need Hope of course, but what we do not need is false hope. Real hope lies in identifying the actual underlying cause of the problem of climate change – Perpetual Economic Growth Addiction – not just trying to treat the symptom. This is why all the “Green Economy” hype ultimately won’t work – it’s a new coat of paint on the same old Ponzi scheme. The technologies are fine. The fatal flaw is that the vision is still built on the insane delusion we can have PEGA on a finite planet.

   Hang on folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride

2. Yes. 

3. Difficult times means racism and tribalism. Every time.

4. Humans’ inability to plan past their own lifespans is on trial.