We Are Having The Wrong Revolution
By Jo Lorenz
Revolutions jam-pack the lifespan of a nation’s normal political cycle — both the highs and the lows — into a short period of time
History tells us that ‘food’ and ‘justice’ (or lack thereof) are often the reasons driving revolutions — and if you couple that last sentence with the fact that 26 people are wealthier than the poorest 50% of the entire world, well, you can see why we have a problem.
Let’s talk about the populist revolution — the draining of the swamp — the tearing down of the establishment. Populism is the feeling that ordinary, ‘good’ people have been deceived and exploited by a corrupt elite. The struggle between the good people and a diabolical, unwholesome establishment.
CNN's Don Lemon recently said: “If you're used to having a preeminent voice, if you're used to the world being a certain way and it starts to change for whatever reason, that causes you to lose your footing and your equilibrium . . . it is fear of losing your place in society.”
The climate crisis is already threatening people’s existing place in society. In our current age of populism, our calls for climate action are (en masse) led by academics, scientists and students (the establishment, if you will). In contrast to this, populists resentment against the views of these traditional elites, is consistently burgeoning and thus aversion to climate change policies has become top of the populist agenda.
To fight the climate crisis we need systematic change throughout our governments — we need to change our capitalist economies and create equitable systems for people and planet. If the ‘regular people’ having the populist revolution took a one degree shift they’d actually be dismantling the real existing elite (our environmentally-adverse capitalist structures), which is needed for us to fight climate change. The populist folks are angry, they’re losing their privilege and they want to tear down the systems that they feel oppress them. Yet by supporting populist agendas, all they’re doing is widening the distance between their comfort and their place in society.
People want change. People are demanding a systematic revolution. Problem is, they’re demanding the wrong revolution. So the question is: how do we turn the populist revolutionists into the climate revolutionists we need? How can we shift our existing systems into a place where ALL people and the planet are the priority and not continue to serve a system where 26 of the world’s billionaires control our destiny?
Want more?
Read more on Climate Change and Social Justice
Read more from the author of this piece, Jo Lorenz
