I'm a decade late to the book, but Christian Parenti's 'Tropic of Chaos' and discussions about it point to the immediate need for action prior to ice caps melting that will lead to methane release resulting in an unstoppable engine of climate catastrophe. He points out we don't have the time to experience revolution and then work towards solutions to this problem and that we must be acting now even within the bourgeoisie systems. What is to be done?
He admits he is primarily an academic who engages in some activism so he doesn't have the answers. I think we all agree that our governmental systems are broken to the point any meaningful action for the earth is going to be incredibly difficult if not impossible to achieve, but I also agree with his opinion that we don't want to inherit a dead or dying world. Should action towards building the revolution be groups focused on anti war and climate justice? How do we accomplish change in our current system?
I agree with the urgency, but I don't agree at all that we can solve the problem within bourgeois politics.
What is to be done?
Someone wrote a book about that, it's a good read. I think the main challenge we're facing now is we don't have a network we can get working in concert to investigate the links between local conditions and systemic problems and hash out the actions, agitation, and exposure that best mobilize people.
His argument isn't that we can fix the situation entirely within our current system, but that we need to at least slow this down to the point that there is something left by the time revolution is achieved. Is it realistic to think we can create enough change within our system to actually have a meaningful impact on emissions or would any work we do towards that end be better applied towards establishing a revolutionary government that will be able to do more change faster?
As our mystery writer says, there are weeks where decades happen, are we confident that those weeks are upon us or near enough that we shouldn't be trying to find ways today to effect change for the climate now? Are there any changes we can really even attempt?
Not trying to debate or be rhetorical, posted in chat because your questions are the same that I've had but I'm not sure what the answers are and if they necessarily refute Christian's analysis.
Reading further on the urgency, the clathrate gun that Christian refers to isn't as dire a threat as thought then, but more recent research does show we're in the likely stages for some climate tipping points even if we were to adopt Paris Accord plans
https://climatetippingpoints.info/2022/09/09/climate-tipping-points-reassessment-explainer/