A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #334 - Ecology, Collapse: Beware of the fantasy of the Great Green Evening (ca, de, it, fr, pt, tr)[machine translation]

For many environmental activists, the collapse would be this new key moment 
capable of defeating capitalism and giving birth to a new society. Fact or 
fiction ? ---- In his book Capitalist Realism, Mark Fischer sums up his idea 
thus: " It is easier to imagine an end of the world than that of capitalism ". 
Between the pandemic, fires, floods or energy difficulties, our time can take on 
the appearance of the end of the world, especially when we know that these 
problems will become not only more and more frequent but also more and more 
intense. It is therefore tempting to see, despite the misery and destruction 
caused by this end of the world, a way out of the world that engendered it. In 
any case, this is what brings together those who support the hypothesis of a 
collapse.
If there is a reactionary version which conceptualizes it as a return to the law 
of the strongest capable of purifying society, there is an opposite version which 
sees in it a moment capable of federating mutual aid and solidarity and plant the 
seeds of a better world. However, even the version based on progressive values is 
dubious.

The central thesis of the collapse is based on the overcoming of a peak in raw 
materials which renders capitalism incapable of fueling its infinite growth. But 
will that be enough to wipe the slate clean? The first victims of the economic 
and ecological crises to come will be the popular classes, not the bourgeoisie. 
There is no doubt that the latter will fight to defend her domination. To 
maintain its profit, it will surely even have to significantly intensify its 
exploitation of the proletariat, whether international or national. Faced with 
downgrading, the reflex of solidarity between the exploited is very far from 
being universal and the context could favor, on the contrary, the most 
reactionary and authoritarian currents. Let's not forget that capitalism is 
already taking great advantage of the various crises to strengthen its grip, it 
is largely thanks to these that neoliberalism has been able to develop as in 
Chile in the 1970s or in the former bloc in the Is in the 1990s. Many are already 
those around the world but also in Europe to see their environment destroyed and 
their lives reduced to the worst exploitation.

More recently, many people have spoken of the world after, at the height of the 
Covid crisis, but these calls have remained incantatory. Worse, it is the far 
right and conspiracy theorists who have taken advantage of the crisis while 
health issues have taken a back seat.

The times to come will be troubled but waiting for the collapse of the system 
under its contradictions is an illusion or even a privilege because it will not 
hesitate to destroy more and more in order to maintain itself. Let us therefore 
beware of fictions full of idealism to predict the future and fight now for the 
defense of our class and the strengthening of networks of mutual aid and solidarity.

Corentin (UCL Alsace)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Effondrement-Attention-au-fantasme-du-Grand-soir-ecolo
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