The Goal is Revolution, Not Reform

New studies about the warming of the planet and the risk of massive release of methane from the Arctic are worse than originally thought.

The warmongers of the Wall Street tell us there is not enough money for social services , for adequate health care or a decent education system. They tell us we must cut back. Yet there is plenty of money for their wars, and plenty of profits for the rich. The military-industrial complex garners extraordinary rates of profit. According to a study by financial advisory firm Morgan Stanley, shares in the major US arms manufacturers have risen 27,699% over the past fifty years versus 6,777% for the broader market. In the past three years alone, arms corporation Lockheed Martin has returned 149% to their investors, Raytheon 124% and Grumman 114%.

Most people are clearly aware that the main cause of climate change, which is destroying the planet, is profit motivated. Yet many environmental organizations and activists ignore the wars that kill people while they pollute the planet. They are naturally joined given that the main cause of these miseries is the same: Profit, power and greed; and the consequences are the same: death and suffering for humanity all other species. Bolivian President Evo Morales says about the causes in his “10 Commandments to Save the Planet, Humankind and Life”:

“There is no worse aggression against Mother Earth and her children than war. War destroys life. Nothing and nobody can escape war. Those who fight suffer as much as those who remain without food just to feed the war. Land and biodiversity suffer. Thus, the environment will never be the same after a war. Wars are the greatest waste of life and natural resources...We know that in order to cure Mother Earth it is necessary to be conscientious that this disease has a name: the global capitalist system...It is the logic of the capitalist system that is destroying the planet…the endless logic of consumption, of using war as an instrument to obtain markets and appropriate markets and natural resources...”

A study made by Oil Change International, written by Nikki Reisch and Steve Kretzmannfocuses on the damage to Iraq in the first five years of war (2003-08).
1) Projected total US spending on the Iraq war could cover all of the global investments in renewable power generation that are needed between now and 2030 in order to halt current warming trends.
2) The war is responsible for at least 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) since March 2003. To put this in perspective: CO2 released by the war to date equals the emissions from putting 25 million more cars on the road in the US this year. If the war was ranked as a country in terms of emissions, it would emit more CO2 each year than 139 of the world’s nations do annually. The CIA reported in its 2006 Factbook that only 35 countries consume more oil per day than does the Pentagon.

As Chomsky always says, if you want the real information, read the financial pages. Business MUST have accurate, true information or they will lose money.

President Erdogan of Turkey questioned the motives of the anti-Isis allies and accused them of meddling in the region's affairs for the past century. "Do you think they come for peace, with their planes and their missiles?" he asked an audience at Marmara University, Istambul. "No," he said. "They do it to get the petrol wells under their control." (Times, 14 October)

The Carter Doctrine as espoused by Zbigniew Brzezinski
"Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault  on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an  assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military
force."

Chomsky’s summary of all this is:
“Maintaining a hold on political power and enhancing US control of the world’s primary energy sources are major steps toward the twin goals that have been declared with considerable clarity: to institutionalize a radical restructuring of domestic society that will roll back the progressive reforms of a century, and to establish an imperial grand strategy of world domination.”

In Kuwait, Syria, Iraq and Libya, of course, it is oil and also natural gas that underlay and still underlies the conflicts. In the Ukraine natural gas supplies lurk in the background.  The Russians who hold one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the world and much concern is about its pipeline routes to Europe.. The  confrontation in the South China Sea between China and its neighbors, Vietnam and the Philippines, is a dispute over actual ownership of energy resources.

 According to information from China’s Ministry of Trade, by March 2011, when the Libyan  military operation began, there were 75 major Chinese companies operating in  the countryand they had concluded $18 billion in contracts. All that investment disappeared with Gadhaffi’s overthrow.

The ISIS forces in Syria and Iraq have seized oil refineries to advance their cause. They and every fighting force in the world understands that oil is power - political power, that is.  Oil-smuggling operations involving millions of barrels have recently been uncovered.
The oil comes from wells and refineries that ISIS has taken over inside northern Iraq and northern Syria, and until very recently it was easy to smuggle it into this quiet part of southern Turkey. One reason is that cheap, smuggled oil is a much-prized commodity in Turkey, where oil is so expensive that it almost doesn't matter who is selling it, even if it's your enemy. ISIS' oil sales probably makes between $1 million and $2 million per day.

About one-third of the more than 1000 organizations involved in the climate actions  around the world Among the better known groups are: La Via Campesina, ATTAC (France), and Global Justice Alliance (US)  agreed to a declaration on the causes and solutions “Climate change is the result of an unjust economic system and to deal with the crisis, we must address the root causes and change the system. There will be no going back from the climate chaos if we do not fight for real solutions and do nothing to confront and challenge the inaction of our governments’ policy-making being hijacked by polluting corporations. It is crucial for us to unify and strengthen our economic, social and environmental struggles and focus our energies on changing the capitalist system.”

Let us in the Socialist Party be very clear about this. It is not a matter of changing capitalism to a better version of itself but changing the whole edifice of capitalism to a completely different economic system - socialism. Reforms that tinker with capitalism, prolonging it and  it is time now to push for a genuine revolution.

Adapted from this article