Free trade is pitted against climate action.
There are a variety of tax schemes available. (462)The transformative movements of the past"modeled different values in their own behavior, and in the process liberated the political imagination and rapidly altered the sense of what was possible.
Klein moves on to climate scientists, 97% of whom disagree with the conservatives.
(9-10)"… we have not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism, the reigning ideology …" (18)"A different kind of climate movement [not led by Big Green] would have tried to challenge the extreme ideology that was blocking so much sensible action, joining with other sectors to show how unfettered corporate power posed a grave threat to the habitability of the planet. (182)"Space is opening up for a growing influence of Indigenous thought on new generations of activists … [so that] progressive movements are being exposed to worldviews based on relationships of reciprocity and interconnection with the natural world that are the antithesis of extractivism." "Again and again, linear, one-way relationships of pure extraction are being replaced with systems that are circular and reciprocal." Naomi Klein took five years to write This Changes Everything. Enjoy this free preview Unlock all 103 pages of this Study Guide by subscribing today. Use the HTML below. (91)"… as we remake our economies to stay within our global carbon budget, we need to see less consumption (except among the poor), less trade (as we relocalize our economies), and less private investment in producing for excessive consumption. And of course we’re up against the intellectuals they pay to think." "… the alternative to such a project is not the status quo extended indefinitely. (Source: "… the real reason we are failing to rise to the climate moment is because the actions required directly challenge our reigning economic paradigm (deregulated capitalism combined with public austerity), the stories on which Western cultures are found (that we stand apart from nature and can outsmart its limits), as well as many of the activities that form our identities and define our communities (shopping, living virtually, shopping some more). This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. Only then can real solutions prevail." As a journalist, Klein set out to get every viewpoint about the topic. (446)"… systems are being created that require minimal external inputs and produce almost no waste—a quest for homeostasis …. If there is an opportunity for effective climate action, I believe Klein’s approach may offer the best chance of achieving it.Scientists are helping us to understand climate change (part of a greater ecological crisis) and our role in it. (Source: "Some say there is no time for this transformation; the crisis is too pressing and the clock is ticking.
Klein writes how, unexpectedly, it is the Indigenous people of the world who have taken the lead in protesting, blockading and fighting big energy in court with many decisions handed down in their favor. (269)"We have options, ones that would greatly decrease the chances of ever confronting those impossible choices, choices that indeed deserve to be described as genocidal. We must, united across the globe, express our love and indignation, set goals, strategize, make sacrifices, and (shifting the balance of power) force governments to rein in corporations and reorient the economy.
People are recognizing that all of the various issues, concerns and struggles that we contend with – from tar sands, to fracking, from nukes and uranium mining to biofuels, from oppression and incarceration to poverty, sexism, racism and a lack of basic rights – all stem from a common root cause (named capitalism). Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. (222)Richard Branson pledged $3 billion from his businesses to tackle climate change, but did not make good on the pledge.Branson "dangled the prospect of a miracle technological fix for carbon pollution just over the horizon in order to buy time to continue escalating emissions, free of meddlesome regulation."
The film presents seven portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana's Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. (459)More ideas for action: "Twenty Things YOU Can Do To Address the Climate Crisis!"
(412)"And there are alternatives—models of development that do not require massive wealth stratification, tragic cultural losses, or ecological devastation.
Klein does not go into details about our climate change emergency, expecting that her readers are already familiar with the causes and magnitude of the problem.
Testing is necessarily inadequate, some important results will not be known until a scheme is actually implemented for years. Enter your location to see which
Climate change is not a problem that can be solved simply by changing what we buy—a hybrid instead of an SUV, some carbon offsets when we get on a plane. Deliberately strengthen egalitarian and communitarian values.