(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Finding The Resources -- Strike for the Planet week 92 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-29 You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information. You can push your local politicians to act. It will make a difference! This is the letter for week 92 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents of the topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile… STRIKE FOR THE PLANET Profiteers and pirates and parasites, oh my! SF needs a moonshot to survive.1 Moonshots need to be paid for. So how do we do that? This week’s topic: Finding The Resources. We need resources — fast — in order to act, and we need to act — fast — in order to survive. So where do we find the needed resources? First, stop the parasites. Parasites? Yes, parasites: organisms that injure or kill their hosts and reduce host fitness by general or specialized pathology. People getting rich off the destruction of the biosphere are parasites; they are literally, in real time, killing their host by destroying the ability of this planet to support life, injuring everyone not killed directly, and severely reducing our ability to survive.2 Who are these parasites, these thieves of the Commons?3 The 10 richest men (and they’re all men) have raked in enough money during the pandemic to pay for vaccines for the entire human race and lift everyone out of poverty without even touching the riches they’d bogarted pre-Covid.4, 5 It’s not hard to identify the parasites-privateers-thieves. They are the ones squeezing the planet as hard as they can for everything they can get out of it, and getting tons of publicity for doing so.6, 7, 8 How are they doing this, you ask? Capitalism. In capitalism, money is power. Those with money have the most power and are making global, national, state, and local policies with the sole purpose of enriching and empowering themselves and their cronies.9, 10, 11, 12 As Bill McKibben points out, the richest 1% cause more global climate damage than the bottom 50%.13 What’s the long-term plan of the super-rich? It’s a death spiral, a murder-suicide of not only our species but 90% of all other life on earth.14 If they can’t have the world, they are determined that no one can have it.15, 16 Would that this statement was an unthinkable exaggeration, but it’s not, and I hope we’ve finally learned that ignoring what is happening right in front of our eyes is stupid and unsafe.17, 18, 19 This crime in process must be stopped immediately. How? By taking back our power and resources. There are a few things we need to do to achieve this and, hopefully, survive. Then get back the stolen goods. All those resources that have been stolen must be returned. How? Progressive taxes and lots of them.20, 21, 22, 23 Restitution and reparations.24, 25, 26, 27 Making responsibility for clean-up and fixing eternally fixed on the individuals and corporations that do the damage (not allowing the cost to be dumped onto governments). Change the systems so we can never be ripped off again. Rewire the social contract to be about the health and happiness of people, not corporations or investors or stockholders. This means enshrining such things as minimum living standards, maximum wealth, healthcare and green access for all, and the elimination of various “insecurities” — food, education, housing, retirement, job, etc. All environmental damages must face massive damage fines and huge criminal penalties commiserate to the crimes. If the corporation isn’t paying for full, immediate remediation, the fine is insufficient. If individuals in corporations aren’t going to jail, losing their professional credentials and personal wealth, the penalties are insufficient. Polluting an entire ecosystem, killing individuals, and driving species to extinction are not lesser crimes than selling crack. Give all species and living ecosystems rights.28, 29, 30 And use what we have in a way that will save us. We’ve got tools available to us now. We’ve got resources available to us now. We’ve got expertise available to us now. We have to use them now. Use them on what? Environmental justice is social justice, so we push environmental justice hard.31 By rediscovering ways to coexist that are not capitalism-theft-death.32 By getting to 100% clean, renewable, green, locally-produced energy now.33 Through blackwater recycling now.34 Through massive planting of the buffer zones and carbon sinks now.35 By starting the retreat from the coasts now, before it’s too late.36 See? So much of this is easier than rocket science! Yes, it’s a moonshot, but we have it so much easier than the scientists of the Mercury and Apollo missions had it. We know how to do most of this stuff already. It isn't new. So, again, why aren’t you acting? By your inaction, you’re enabling this largest of thefts. These thieves, these robber barons, these privateers are literally stealing food out of your children’s mouths, water out of their cups, and happiness and years off their futures.37 Or is it like Mackenzie Davis said of the pandemic: We were watching it approach, like absolute idiots. We’re the exact same way about the fires in LA or climate change in general, that if it’s burning on the other side of the city, you’re like: “Oh that’s awful.” But you don’t change your behavior at all. And then the smoke is in your neighborhood, and you’re like: “I just won’t go outside.” We have such a delayed reaction to things. It’s shocking.38 Why does a movie star have a better handle on the issue than politicians whose job this is? Remember. Time’s up.39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 In almost 2 years, we have lost over 10 years time in which to act; our situation now is what we thought the worst case scenario would be in 10 years from now, and our current situation is worsening daily. 2020 was the hottest year on record, and it’ll end up being one of this century’s coolest years.47 Finally, at long last, you must act, and now! FOOTNOTES 1. We live on a peninsula. Roughly 40% of SF’s land is less than 100’ above current sea level. Between ice melt, sea water heat expansion, and storm surges, expected coastal land loss is currently at ~10’ elevation by 2100 but we also know the rate of sea level rise is accelerating. See Strike letters weeks 5 and 11 and Bob Berwyn’s 25 January 2021 article “Global Ice Loss on Pace to Drive Worst-Case Sea Level Rise” in Inside Climate News at https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012021/global-ice-loss-sea-level-rise/ for more details. 2. Michelle Bachelet. “Addressing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minority ethnic communities”. United Nations Human Rights Council. 24 November 2020. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=26541&LangID=E . 3. Alecia M. Spooner. “Ten Real-Life Examples of the Tragedy of the Commons”. Dummies. Accessed 26 January 2021. https://www.dummies.com/education/science/environmental-science/ten-real-life-examples-of-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/ . 4. Anna Ratcliff and Laura Rusu. “Mega-rich recoup COVID-losses in record-time yet billions will live in poverty for at least a decade”. OXFAM International. 25 January 2021. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/mega-rich-recoup-covid-losses-record-time-yet-billions-will-live-poverty-least . 5. Amanda Schupak. “10 Billionaires Made Enough Money During Pandemic To Vaccinate The Entire World”. Huffpost. 24 January 2021. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/billionaires-covid-19-vaccinate-entire-world-oxfam-report_n_600daa1dc5b6d64153accc64 . 6. “The Richest in 2020”. Forbes. Accessed 27 January 2021. https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ . 7. “Richest 250 People In the World”. The Richest. Accessed 27 January 2021. https://www.therichest.com/top-lists/top-250-richest-people-in-the-world/ . 8. “Bloomberg Billionaires Index”. Bloomberg. Accessed 27 January 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/. 9. Allan Holmes. “Trump’s Signature Legislation: A Transfer Of Wealth To The Richest Americans”. The Center for Public Integrity. 18 September 2020. https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/trumps-signature-legislation-a-transfer-of-wealth-to-the-richest-americans/ . 10. “How the Rich Shall Inherit the Earth”. The Atlantic. June 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/how-the-rich-shall-inherit-the-earth/361620/. 11. Fareeha Rehman. “New SF city administrator nominated amid scandal, resignation”. KRON. 14 January 2021. https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/carmen-chu-nominated-for-sf-city-administrator/. 12. Ryan Gaydos. “SF Giants owner under scrutiny for donations to Rep. Boebert’s campaign after Capitol riot”. Fox News. 16 January 2021. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/sf-giants-owner-under-scrutiny-donations-rep-boeberts-campaign . 13. Bill McKibben. “The Rich Shall Destroy The Earth”. Sojourners. January 2021. https://sojo.net/magazine/january-2021/rich-shall-destroy-earth. 14. Daisy Hernandez. “The Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction Is Accelerating”. Popular Mechanics. 3 June 2020. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a32743456/rapid-mass-extinction/. 15. Nafeez Ahmed. “Capitalism is Destroying ‘Safe Operating Space’ for Humanity, Warn Scientists. Resilience. 24 June 2020. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-06-24/capitalism-is-destroying-safe-operating-space-for-humanity-warn-scientists/ . 16. Paul Street. “Someone Tell a Reporter: the Rich are Destroying the Earth”. Counterpunch. 2 March 2018. https://www.paulstreet.org/someone-tell-a-reporter-the-rich-are-destroying-the-earth/ . 17. Donald Beachler. “How the West Missed the Horrors of Cambodia”. Daily Beast. 13 April 2017. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-west-missed-the-horrors-of-cambodia . 18. David Harsanyl. “Opinion: Why media's normalizing of white nationalists matters”. The Detroit News. 24 July 2019. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2019/07/25/opinion-why-medias-normalizing-white-nationalists-matters/1818209001/ . 19. Polly Toynbee. “Misogyny runs so deep in this society, it is even used against abused children”. The Guardian. 7 August 2013. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/07/misogyny-society-abused-children-predatory . 20. See Strike letters for weeks 61 and 62, and 10. 21. Greg Iacurci. “Why ‘tax the rich’ policies may make sense in a K-shaped economy”. CNBC. 26 January 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/26/why-tax-the-rich-policies-may-make-sense-in-a-k-shaped-economy.html . 22. Dylan Matthews. “How to tax the rich, explained”. Vox. 19 May 2019. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/19/18240377/estate-tax-wealth-tax-70-percent-warren-sanders-aoc. 23. Shane Croucher. “Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts Helped Super-rich Pay Lower Rate Than Bottom 50 Percent: Economists”. Newsweek. 9 October 2019. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tax-cuts-jobs-act-wealth-economists-inequality-1464048 . 24. Cymie Payne and Peter Sand. Environmental Restitution, Volume 2 of Designing Compensation After Upheaval . Berkeley Law, CLEE Publication. 2010. 25. Rachel Killean. “Imagining Future Reparations for Environmental Destruction”. SSRN. 15 November 2020. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3701678 . 26. John Cairns, Jr. “Reparations for environmental degradation and species extinction: a Moral and ethical imperative for human society”. Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics. 7 may 2003. https://www.int-res.com/articles/esep/2003/E31.pdf . 27. Lawrence Solum. “Killean on Reparations for Environmental Destruction”. Legal Theory Blog. 17 November 2020. https://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2020/11/killean-on-reparations-for-environmental-destruction.html . 28. “What Are Rights of Nature?” Invisible Hand. Accessed 27 January 2021. https://www.invisiblehandfilm.com/what-are-rights-of-nature/ . 29. Thomas Alan Linzey. “Do ecosystems have rights? Rethinking environmental laws could benefit us”. AL dot com. 6 March 2019. https://www.al.com/opinion/2018/09/do_ecosystems_have_rights_reth.html . 30. Geeta Shyam. “The legal status of animals: The world rethinks its position”. Alternative Law Journal. 2015. https://www.altlj.org/feature-articles/980-the-legal-status-of-animals-the-world-rethinks-its-position . 31. See Strike letters weeks 15, 23, 58, 64, 70, and 89. 32. Cooperative housing and communities, desegregation and anti-racism, centering women and BIPOC experiences, promoting accurate representation, money-less stores and exchanges, art as a public good, etc. 33. See Strike letters weeks 38, 39, 68, 76 (as it relates to energy), and 81. 34. See Strike letters weeks 1, 20, 23, 28, 52, and 82. 35. See Strike letters weeks 3, 6, 9, 11, 16, 22, 27, 44, 45, 59, 72, and 77. 36. See Strike letters weeks 5, 11, 13, 19, 30, 48, 71, and 84. 37. The Harper’s Index establishes an easy-to-extrapolate-from baseline. Number of climate-related disasters worldwide between 1980 and 1999: 3,656 Between 2000 and 2019: 6,681 https://harpers.org/harpers-index/ . 38. Rebecca Nicholson. “Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis: ‘It’s a gay Christmas movie. That's a huge exhale’”. The Guardian. 20 November 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/20/kristen-stewart-and-mackenzie-davis-gay-christmas-movie-happiest-season . 39. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 . 40. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report . 41. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html . 42. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ . 43. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html . 44. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ . 45. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ . 46. Kristen Callihan. “Earth’s Currently Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction Is Worse Than We Thought”. OutwardOn. 7 August 2017. https://www.outwardon.com/article/earths-currently-ongoing-sixth-mass-extinction-event-is-worse-than-we-thought/ . 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