The Only Thing We Need to Do is Get Everybody REALLY Riled Up!

        Happy Sunday!  As soon as I get a little time I’ll start livening up the blog with polar bear videos and the like, but for now I’ll continue to examine Gene Sharp’s The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part One: Power and Struggle, and connect it to our need to stop climate change.

Sharp: “Obedience is not inevitable…The most powerful ruler receives only the habitual obedience of the bulk of his subjects…People are generally law abiding, except when ‘unmoored by catastrophic events or by social convulsions’.  At any point in a given society there are limits within which a ruler must stay if his commands are to be obeyed.”

         Think of the “ruler” here as the fossil fuel corporations, and how, by funding climate denial and using their political influence for twenty years to stop action against climate change, they have strayed beyond those limits. 

Sharp: “Obedience is essentially voluntary…although highly influenced by various social forces…The will or opinion of the individual is not constant and may change in response to new influences, events, and forces.”

        Consider the stranglehold the National Rifle Association has had on American politics for decades now.  Columbine didn’t have any affect on their power, Virginia Tech didn’t either, nor did Aurora, but the horrific slaughter of all those little kids at Sandy Hook suddenly has the NRA very much on the run.  Just like that, a political titan is on it’s knees.

Sharp: “In certain situations the subject may even conclude that it is in his self-interest to disobey a regime – especially if he foresees its collapse.  The degree of his lack of self-confidence also varies and may be influenced by changes in the attitudes of other subjects.” 

         The biggest hurdle we face is not the fossil fuel industry, it’s actually getting everybody riled up enough to stand up to that industry.  Once that happens, the fossil fuel industry will be on the run in a hurry.  But what will it take to make that happen?

Sharp: “Even in sanctions, there is a role for an act of will, for choice.  The sanction must be feared and its consequences be seen as more undesirable than the consequences of obedience.”

         I think this could be a huge motivating factor, because nothing’s worse than the consequences of climate change.  Nothing.  So what are we waiting for?

Sharp: “Gandhi, on the basis of his efforts to produce large-scale disobedience and voluntary acceptance of imposed sanctions, observed that feelings must be very intense to make possible the acceptance of such sacrifice.”

         So our challenge is to find how to arouse those intense feelings.  I know we Pissed-Off Polar Bears feel them, but few others do, even within the climate movement.  We have one great ally that will really get people’s attention: Mother Nature.  With the incredibly mild December we are having, it’s virtually certain we’ll face another scorching summer. 

CH

I’m including little snippets, but if we’re going to break Dirty Energy’s stranglehold you need to read Gene Sharp’s stuff.  Please muster up the $34.85 (plus shipping) and purchase The Politics of Nonviolent Action.  You can order it HERE.

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Why Does it Take a Catastrophe for Needed Action to Take Place?

I was moved to tears by President Obama's address to the grieving people of Newtown, Connecticut tonight, and impressed by his resolve to use the powers of his office to end the cycle.  "We can't tolerate this anymore," the President said. "These tragedies must end, and to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and it is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this."

Why does it take a catastrophe to make government take necessary action?  Aren't we smart enough to see that something must be done or the unthinkable will happen?  Maybe we are, but those in opposition say we're overreacting and nothing gets done until, well, something comes along like what happened Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

You hear it all the time from people who care deeply about the unravelling climate: the needed changes won't happen until a catastrophic event takes place, then we'll act.  Of course then it will be too late. 

Because if fires in Colorado, devastating heat across the nation, drought in the farm belt, and then the ginormous wake-up call that was Hurricane Sandy didn't count as catastrophes, what on Earth will?  

The event that will finally make people realize how serious this is will have to be so big that it will surely go hand-in-hand with permanent change setting in.  Greenland melting rapidly and Florida vanishing under ever rising sea levels.  Something like that.  Then it will be too late to stop this.

So every one who cares about the climate has to realize that he and she has to demand change.  They have to read Gene Sharp's books and educate themselves on nonviolence, and take it upon themselves to make the difference.  Don't just give to a climate organization, don't just wait for their next action.  Find people who share your concern in your community and start pushing your leaders, the media, your neighbors.  It's a thankless job, but at some point critical mass will happen, as it did with the Civil Rights movement.  Remember, the leaders are powerless without us.  We have to lead them.  Don't wait for the catastrophe.  Please.

CH


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The Need to Stick to One Issue, the Climate

I'm just sick about gun violence in this country, and am posting late because my mental energy today has been spent on the soul-crushing tragedy in Connecticut yesterday.

I try not to opine on politics outside of the climate (and I fail miserably at it) because I intend to be a one-issue guy.  Climate change is advancing so quickly that we need everybody on board in a hurry or we'll all be screwed.  I want the bankers and gun owners and everybody else who I fundamentally disagree with on board to help us remove the fossil fuel industry's stranglehold on American energy policy.  I'm left-wing on everything but the death penalty (fry 'em!), but I'd yield on all of it to save the climate.

We MUST stop the ship from sinking.  We can fight about he rest later, but time is so short.

CH


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