[WSMDiscuss] Climate in movement…, Ideas in movement… : An Ecosocialist Green New Deal : Guiding Principles (DSA Ecosocialists)

[Dunu Roy]

While there can be little disagreement with the proposition that, "Creating
a fully ecological society will require a revolutionary transformation to
replace the capitalist social order based on exploitation and oppression
with a new society based on cooperation, equity, and justice"; and the 7
principles that follow; it is hard to see how "A Green New Deal must serve
as a bridge toward this future" because the GND does not really challenge
systemic power and exploitation.

Further, the DSA falls into the so-familiar trap that claims, "The most
vulnerable members of society will be hit hardest, first, and suffer most",
wherein it is implied that the most vulnerable are members of the working
class. Not only does this clash with the actual practice of consumption and
lifestyles on the ground, but it also negates the theoretical third
principle of "*Center the working class in a just transition to an economy
of societal and ecological care*"; will the working class be a mere passive
object of receiving benefits from the transitioned economy or will it be an
active subject in bringing about the transformation?

Clearly much rethinking has to be wrought in the socialist paradigm - which
our woolly-headed comrades seem to be avoiding!
Dunu


On Sun, Mar 17, 2019 at 6:45 PM Jai Sen <jai.sen at cacim.net> wrote:

> Sunday, March 17, 2019
>
>
>
> Thanks for this comment, Michael.  Is very good to know this, and from the
> inside as it were.
>
> The two main thrusts within DSA that you point out are of course classic
> ones within the ‘independent left’, and as far as I know are present among
> movements and organising in many contexts, and certainly in India (though
> of course with varying emphases).
>
> Since this is such a fundamental and common issue, I’m taking the liberty
> of copying this reply onto other lists that I had also posted the DSA
> Ecosocialists’ statement on, to make your comment available more widely and
> in the hope of getting comments in relation to other contexts.
>
> It would also of course be great if others from within the US – and
> perhaps also Canada, with its related drive by The Leap – were to come
> forward with comments on the DSA Ecosocialists’ statement and on Michael
> Gasser’s comment here !
>
> And where Michael, it would be great if you could keep this door open and
> periodically update us on developments within DSA and the US scene, and /
> or also post other related things.  Thanks.
>
>             Jai
>
> On Mar 16, 2019, at 10:45 PM, Michael Gasser via WSM-Discuss <
> wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks for posting, Jai. DSA is only the largest of various left
> organizations in the US that are pushing their own radical variants of the
> Green New Deal. Within DSA, chapters are debating and voting on whether to
> endorse the principles. It looks like all, or nearly all, of them will. I
> would say divisions haven't emerged yet, but, if they do, they will be over
> whether the main thrust now should be lobbying and electoral work or
> grassroots organizing.  That is, I think one group sees the challenge in
> the coming years in terms of how to convince national and local leaders to
> sign onto the GND and how to elect more such people. Another group sees the
> challenge as how to organize people, especially in frontline communities
> most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, to demand revolutionary
> changes that would be part of an explicitly anti-capitalist GND.
>
> Another campaign I'm familiar with is that of Science for the People.
> Their (our) "People's Green New Deal" campaign will last from Earth Day
> (April 22) 2019 to Earth Day 2020 and will culminate in the publication of
> the main outcome of the campaign, a People's Plan for a Green New Deal.
> Science for the People is committed to working with other groups, including
> DSA, to create a radical coalition around the People's GND. Here's a link
> to the campaign, with more links to resources, including other allied
> campaigns (like DSA's).
> https://scienceforthepeople.org/peoples-green-new-deal/
>
> In any case, it looks like the GND proposal of Ocasio-Cortez and Markey
> has opened up a whole new space for climate justice organizing in the US.
>
> Michael
>
> El 3/15/19 a las 16:14, Jai Sen escribió:
>
> Friday, March 15, 2019
>
> *Climate in movement…, Ideas in movement…*
>
> [The ‘Green New Deal’ that has been recently introduced by Rep. Alexandria
> Ocasio-Cortez in the US House of Representatives and by Senator Ed Markey
> in the US Senate is perhaps already somewhat known.  Here, in this post, is
> the statement and position of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)’s
> Ecosocialist stream on the Deal :
>
> “The radical Green New Deal we need will not be introduced in a single
> bill or resolution – it can only emerge from the grassroots struggles of
> working people and social movements. Together with our allies, we can
> organize a powerful multi-faceted movement to catalyze the major left turn
> in American politics and massive structural changes that are necessary to
> ensure climate justice and human survival.”
>
>             Michael (Gasser), others involved in DSA, and others, any
> comments, thoughts ?  Including on the debate within the DSA on this ?
>
>             JS
>
> An Ecosocialist Green New Deal : Guiding Principles
>
> DSA Ecosocialists <https://socialistproject.ca/author/dsa-ecosocialists/>
>
> Environment <https://socialistproject.ca/category/environment/>  •  March
> 15, 2019  •
>
> https://socialistproject.ca/2019/03/ecosocialist-green-new-deal/#more
>
> Humankind has reached a moment of existential crisis. Human activity is
> causing disastrous climate disruption and Earth’s sixth mass extinction
> event, triggering critical losses of biodiversity. We are already locked in
> for global warming that will have catastrophic effects, and we are on a
> slippery path to our own extinction. The 2018 Special Report
> <https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/> from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
> Change (IPCC) warns unequivocally that “without societal transformation and
> rapid implementation of ambitious greenhouse gas reduction measures,
> pathways to limiting warming to 1.5°C and achieving sustainable development
> will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.”
>
> Yet, the crisis we face exceeds ecological breakdown. Deepening
> inequality, suppressed democracy, precarious jobs, racial and gendered
> violence, border hostility, and endless wars make up the terrain on which
> climate destabilization will be unleashed. The most vulnerable members of
> society will be hit hardest, first, and suffer most.
>
> We must solve the climate crisis and the inequality crisis together.
> Climate remedies in the context of austerity will produce a popular
> backlash, as we see in the yellow vest protests against a fuel tax.
> Corporations profiting from fossil extraction have long worked to turn
> workers against environmentalists, claiming that clean energy would be a
> job killer. But working class and poor people’s quality of life, gravely
> threatened by climate disruption, would greatly improve in a just
> transition. Because corporate capitalism rewards extraction to concentrate
> wealth, it must be replaced by a sustainable economy. A Green New Deal can
> begin the transition from exploitative capitalism to democratic ecological
> socialism.
>
> The urgency and scale of the crisis we face demand solutions that meet the
> magnitude of this moment. The ineffectual gradualism and corporate
> obedience demonstrated by the U.S. government’s climate response has proven
> to be a dead-end for humanity. We need rapid, systemic transformation that
> heals the stratification of wealth and power while putting decarbonization
> and justice at the forefront.
> We need a Green New Deal
>
> We demand a Green New Deal, and we demand that it serve people and planet
> – not profit.
>
> For too long, our livelihoods have been undermined by the pursuit of
> profit. Land expropriation, mass murder, and slavery on a vast scale built
> the great fortunes, the markets in cotton and industrial goods, and the
> system of finance and extraction that are with us today. Their legacy is
> plain to see. People are starving while we throw away food. Buildings are
> empty while people sleep on the streets. Working class communities,
> especially those of color, are being poisoned by polluting industries that
> are wrecking the climate, all for the sake of making the rich richer.
>
> We can no longer allow our lives and liberation to be undermined by an
> extractive system that uproots wealth from nature, communities, workers,
> and vulnerable peoples, while imposing onto them all of the costs. We will
> no longer allow corporate monopolies and their political servants to
> control the resources we need and the outcome of our lives. We demand
> justice and power for The People to determine our future – a future that
> belongs to everyone living and yet to live.
>
> Future generations are entitled to a beautiful planet with a vibrant
> natural world that can sustain a good life for all people. Creating a fully
> ecological society will require a revolutionary transformation to replace
> the capitalist social order based on exploitation and oppression with a new
> society based on cooperation, equity, and justice. A Green New Deal must
> serve as a bridge toward this future. To that end, we support the
> resolutions introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the House
> <https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/sites/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/files/Resolution%20on%20a%20Green%20New%20Deal.pdf>
> and Sen. Ed Markey in the Senate
> <https://www.markey.senate.gov/download/green-new-deal-resolution> while
> recognizing that they are conversation starters – not complete and adequate
> blueprints. Their proposals are facing fierce opposition from corporate
> politicians and nervous ridicule from Wall Street pundits, but the
> opportunity to campaign for a radical and effective Green New Deal remains
> in our hands. Comments by the Climate Justice Alliance
> <https://climatejusticealliance.org/green-new-deal-must-rooted-just-transition-workers-communities-impacted-climate-change/>
> (CJA) and the Indigenous Environmental Network
> <http://www.ienearth.org/talking-points-on-the-aoc-markey-green-new-deal-gnd-resolution/>
> (IEN) advance the vision of what a Green New Deal rooted in a truly just
> transition should look like.
>
> The radical Green New Deal we need will not be introduced in a single bill
> or resolution – it can only emerge from the grassroots struggles of working
> people and social movements. Together with our allies, we can organize a
> powerful multi-faceted movement to catalyze the major left turn in American
> politics and massive structural changes that are necessary to ensure
> climate justice and human survival.
>
> Because we see the fight for the climate as a struggle against capitalism
> itself and the myriad forms of oppression which sustain it, we propose to
> organize within Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and without around
> the following guiding principles for a *radical* Green New Deal:
>
> *1. Decarbonize the economy fully by 2030.* We need to set a more
> ambitious timeframe than the IPCC 1.5°C pathways suggest because of the
> United States’ historical responsibility for carbon pollution, because
> highly industrialized societies have the greatest capacity to rapidly
> reduce emissions and afford the shift from endless fossil-fueled growth to
> regenerative systems, and because faster decarbonization will give us the
> greatest chance of avoiding more catastrophic climate tipping points. We
> must mobilize all carbon-intensive sectors of the economy to eliminate
> greenhouse gas emissions at the source, and to scale up processes that
> safely and naturally draw down and remove excess carbon from the atmosphere
> – not as market-based “offsets” for ongoing emissions, but to begin
> restoring a safe climate for all.
>
> *2. Democratize control over major energy systems and resources.*
> Nationalize fossil fuel producers to phase them out as quickly as necessary
> – no new fossil fuel projects can be authorized or built. Socialize
> fossil-dependent industries so that they can be scaled back or transformed
> to fossil-free processes. Establish public ownership of utilities and the
> electric grid, and support energy cooperatives and community solar and wind
> projects for democratic control of the shift to 100% renewable energy.
> Shift from monoculture and factory farms to diversified agroecology. Expand
> municipal and state public banks, finance community land trusts, and end
> water privatization. Reinvest in and expand national parks; vastly expand
> national forests, grasslands, and wildlife preserves to enable natural
> carbon capture; and preserve public lands for future generations. Encourage
> replacement of individually-owned vehicles and short-haul air travel with
> expanded regional and high-speed electric rail, free public transit, shared
> vehicles, bicycles and other non-fossil-fuel modes of transportation in
> ways that benefit disadvantaged communities. The future is a public good,
> not a private luxury.
>
> *3. Center the working class in a just transition to an economy of
> societal and ecological care.* Guarantee a job with union wages and
> benefits to everyone who wants one by creating millions of public sector
> jobs and funding massive direct investments to build decarbonized
> infrastructure in critical sectors like renewable energy, regenerative
> agriculture, soil and ecosystem restoration, environmental impact
> mitigation, and climate adaptation while also expanding support for
> low-carbon care sectors like healthcare, education, and domestic work.
> Empower workers with stronger labor protections and rights to collectively
> organize. Promote worker-owned and worker-controlled cooperatives and
> enterprises at all levels of the economy. Ensure workers’ democratic
> control over the use of technological innovation and automation at work.
> Reduce the work week and guarantee substantial, paid parental leave and
> vacation time for all workers.
>
> *4. Decommodify survival* by guaranteeing living wages, healthcare,
> childcare, housing, food, water, energy, public transit, a healthy
> environment, and other necessities for all. Ensure market forces do not
> displace frontline and working class communities from their neighborhoods
> by implementing universal rent control, and work cooperatively with
> communities in the line of climatic danger to relocate to safer grounds.
> Make college education free so everyone has access to learning skills that
> may better facilitate the rapid transition of society. Ensure land and
> resources are prioritized for building resilient communities and ecosystems
> for the many, not the few.
>
> *5. Reinvent our communities to serve people and planet, not profit.*
> Facilitate the creation of neighborhood transition councils as hubs of
> distribution, education, participatory planning, and democratic
> decision-making. Prioritize funding for projects that build community
> health and wealth, beginning with working class, racialized, and Indigenous
> communities that are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and collective
> struggles for environmental justice. Decriminalize, decarcerate, and
> demilitarize spaces across all areas of society. Legally and materially
> empower communities to meet human needs in ways that redress social and
> environmental injustices, including economic, racial, colonial, and
> gender-based oppression. Work within cities, towns, and rural communities
> to provide better and more sustainable lives through improved land use,
> sprawl repair, and support for household and neighborhood downshifting.
> Fund targeted cleanup efforts to address environmental injustices and meet
> a demand of clean air, water, and soil for all. Help communities plan
> resilience and prepare for climate shocks, material shortages, and other
> consequences of blowing past planetary boundaries.
>
> *6. Demilitarize, decolonize, and strive for a future of international
> solidarity and cooperation.* Enact policies and join in treaties to meet
> the existential threat of climate change and abandon the doomed strategy of
> global military domination. United States treaty commitments must account
> for our historical responsibility for the largest total and per capita
> greenhouse gas emissions, which will drive climate change for generations
> to come. Build consensus throughout the Global North for decarbonization
> targets that greatly outpace those of less industrialized countries, which
> have contributed the least to and will suffer the most from global warming.
> Welcome refugees, share life-saving technologies freely, and provide
> mitigation and adaptation resources requested by peoples in the Global
> South to whom we are materially and energetically indebted. Recognize the
> sovereignty of Indigenous peoples, with rights to free, prior, and informed
> consent before activities that will affect their territory or environment.
> Accept the decisions of Indigenous communities regarding the construction
> of future green infrastructure projects that impact their lands and the
> living beings they support. Remove United States military presence,
> influence, and occupation around the world; end military aid and arms
> exports; and demilitarize our borders.
>
> *7. Redistribute resources from the worst polluters* with just and
> progressive taxes on the rich, on big corporations, and on dirty industry,
> as well as by diverting funds away from policing, prisons, and our
> government’s bloated military budget, which have nothing to do with defense
> of people living within American borders and everything to do with
> maintaining imperial dominance over other nations and capitalist control of
> the world’s resources. United States monetary policy has financed endless
> wars and wealth extraction by elites for long enough – it’s time to use it
> to fund the transformation we need.
>
> These guiding principles are just a beginning, not an endpoint, for DSA’s
> engagement in the campaign for a Green New Deal. We agree with the call
> of CJA
> <https://climatejusticealliance.org/green-new-deal-must-rooted-just-transition-workers-communities-impacted-climate-change/>
> to develop a Green New Deal process that is transparent, inclusive, and
> democratic. We must warn all politicians that we will not accept a
> watered-down Green New Deal that they exploit as a mere electoral slogan.
> They will either fight for the radical Green New Deal that emerges from our
> coalition or be exposed as collaborators with the ecocidal elite who have
> no concern for our future.
>
> Our role is to help build a militant mass working-class movement that is
> powerful enough to secure human flourishing for all beyond the critical
> next decades, not just survival for some. Together, we can break the power
> of capitalists and guarantee the regeneration of a vibrant natural world
> that is home for humanity – and all forms of life – for many generations to
> come. •
>
> Adopted February 28, 2019 by National DSA Ecosocialist Working Group, and
> published on their website
> <https://ecosocialists.dsausa.org/2019/02/28/gnd-principles/>.
>
>
> The DSA Ecosocialist Working Group's mission is to ensure that the
> transition to socialism in the United States is based on sound ecological
> principles. Follow their tweets at @DSA_Enviro
> <https://twitter.com/DSA_Enviro>.
>
>
>
> ______________________________
>
> Jai Sen
>
> Independent researcher, editor
>
> jai.sen at cacim.net
>
> Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on
> unceded Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900)
>
> Current associations : www.cacim.net / http://www.openword.net.in
>
> CURRENT / RECENT publications :
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – *The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our
> Dance*. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press
> <http://www.pmpress.org/>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?*, Indian edition. New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration
> with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN
> <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>
> , MOM1Flipkart
> <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>,
> and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?*.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and
> hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2016a  – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?* and Jai Sen, ed, 2016b – *The Movements of Movements, Part 2 :
> Rethinking Our Dance* (both then forthcoming from New Delhi : OpenWord
> and Oakland, CA : PM Press), open access *ADVANCE PREFINAL ONLINE
> MOVEMENT EDITIONS @ www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net/>*
>
> *SUBSCRIBE TO World Social Movement Discuss*, an open, unmoderated, and
> self-organising forum on social and political movement at any level
> (local, national, regional, and global).  *To subscribe, simply send an
> empty email to wsm-discuss-subscribe at lists.openspaceforum.net
> <wsm-discuss-subscribe at lists.openspaceforum.net>*
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> ** Inspired by the World Social Forum, WSMDiscuss – the successor to a list named ‘WSFDiscuss’ started in 2005 - is an open, unmoderated, and self-organising forum for the exchange of information and views on the experience, practice, and theory of social and political movement at any level (local, national, regional, and global), including the World Social Forum.  Join in ! **
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>
> --
> Michael Gasser, Santa Cruz, CA, USA; +1 812 219-2296
> Processing Languages of the Global South
> Democratic Socialists of America; Science for the People; Sanctuary Santa
> Cruz
> ________________________________________
> ** Inspired by the World Social Forum, WSMDiscuss – the successor to a
> list named ‘WSFDiscuss’ started in 2005 - is an open, unmoderated, and
> self-organising forum for the exchange of information and views on the
> experience, practice, and theory of social and political movement at any
> level (local, national, regional, and global), including the World Social
> Forum.  Join in ! **
> _______________________________________________
> World Social Movement Discuss mailing list
> POST to LIST : Send email to wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net
> SUBSCRIBE : Send empty email to
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>
> ______________________________
>
> Jai Sen
>
> Independent researcher, editor
>
> jai.sen at cacim.net
>
> Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on
> unceded Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900)
>
> Current associations : www.cacim.net / http://www.openword.net.in
>
> CURRENT / RECENT publications :
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – *The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our
> Dance*. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press
> <http://www.pmpress.org/>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?*, Indian edition. New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration
> with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN
> <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>
> , MOM1Flipkart
> <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>,
> and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?*.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and
> hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2016a  – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
> Move ?* and Jai Sen, ed, 2016b – *The Movements of Movements, Part 2 :
> Rethinking Our Dance* (both then forthcoming from New Delhi : OpenWord
> and Oakland, CA : PM Press), open access *ADVANCE PREFINAL ONLINE
> MOVEMENT EDITIONS @ www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net>*
>
> *SUBSCRIBE TO World Social Movement Discuss*, an open, unmoderated, and
> self-organising forum on social and political movement at any level
> (local, national, regional, and global).  *To subscribe, simply send an
> empty email to wsm-discuss-subscribe at lists.openspaceforum.net
> <wsm-discuss-subscribe at lists.openspaceforum.net>*
>
>
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