NEW BOOK AVAILABLE -
Youth Ecological Revolution: A handbook for leaders
The world's young people have been existentially betrayed. Prior generations ethically owe them a safe environment, but the natural world is being rapidly destroyed. Global leaders in 1994 vowed to avoid unsafe greenhouse-gas concentrations, but these are now at catastrophic levels. An activist slogan sums it up: "You'll die of old age; we'll die of climate change".
In my new book (PDF) I assert that the response to this betrayal must be revolutionary change, not government-based reforms. Because such change will require highly effective youth movements, the book offers analytical and strategic guidance to future movement leaders. It exposes the deceptions that currently prevent effective action, objectively explains the ecological crisis, identifies rational measures, and proposes a militant strategy to implement these measures. It also provides a set of documents, including a proposed manifesto, that will likely be useful to youth leaders.
As this book was being finalized, Netflix* released a documentary that highlights both the youth betrayal and the revolutionary imperative. Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet features broadcaster David Attenborough and climate scientist Johan Rockström. They tell us that, although humankind is massively threatened, we can save ourselves through a few simple measures such as shifting to renewable energy and eating healthy food. The film's environmental falsehoods and distortions are rampant, and its underlying message is clear: the older rich will cling to their unsustainable lifestyles until collapse occurs; the young, 90% of whom live in the vulnerable Global South, will be left to suffer and die. Only a profound transformation of the prevailing order can prevent this barbaric outcome.
My book is dedicated to all those young people who defiantly reject their planned genocide and instead embrace the manifesto's concluding statement:
WE WILL NOT BE PASSIVELY SLAUGHTERED!
FREE PDF of Youth Ecological Revolution: A handbook for leaders (3.14 MB)
Kindle and Paperback versions will be available soon.
* If you don't have Netflix, see these YouTube videos about the documentary: a trailer, a ten-minute preview, and a statement by Johan Rockström.
Because the environment that supports
human civilization is rapidly collapsing,
the following three groups face critical choices.
The YOUNG
must make a
SURVIVAL decision:
Given that governments have failed to rationally address the ecological crisis,
DO YOU TRUST THEM TO
SALVAGE YOUR FUTURE?
If not, or if you have doubts,
read further
The OLDER
must make an
ETHICAL decision:
Will you continue to support today's ecocidal social order because is serves your interests, or
WILL YOU HELP THE YOUNG SURVIVE?
If you choose to help the young,
read further
The MILITARY
must decide about
its DUTY:
Your core responsibility is to safeguard the people. Will you remain loyal to society's ecocidal leaders, or
WILL YOU DO YOUR DUTY AND REMOVE THEM FROM POWER?
If you choose duty and responsibility,
read further
This manifesto is a militant declaration by the young that they will not be passively slaughtered by the ecological inaction of their leaders and elders. Because this inaction is justified through a web of deceptions, the document identifies eight crucial lies and replaces them with their corresponding truths. Four core demands are then made: replace social leaders, implement solar radiation management, transform economies, and restore environmental health.
This document outlines my analysis of the ecological crisis and humankind's rational response. It explains why and how this response was blocked, why revolutionary change is now necessary for survival, and how a youth-military strategy could achieve this end. It also discusses the difficult transition from expansionary capitalism to a sustainable economy.
Our economies cannot be transformed without a new economic theory to direct the process. The Economics of Needs and Limits, or ENL, is my proposed starting point for this theory. The framework is based on an ethical principle and includes a set of concepts and analytical tools to establish rational economic objectives for the transition to a sustainable economy.
