Bright Green Lie$
A New Book About Greenwash Capitalism. That collapse denial is green in color. Capitalism, mainstream science, technology worship and the dominant culture host "Bright Green Lies".
"In state affairs, by foreseeing problems at a distance, which is only done by men of talents, the evils which might arise from them are soon cured; but when, from want of foresight, they are suffered to increase to such a height, that they are perceptible to everyone, there is no longer any remedy..."
The Prince by Machiavelli (1533 AD)
How humanity has faced up to the environmental crisis over the last 30 years, is open to debate, and mostly loaded with contradictions, palsy agreements, big slogans and lots of jargon. Global industrial output, carbon emissions and levels of consumption continue to rise at unprecedented rates. The real impact of such growth and so called prosperity have become increasingly apparent. There can be no doubt that global warming is the single biggest threat that the living planet now faces. Over the last ten years, scientists, common people, even children and teenagers have become increasingly concerned (horrified even) about the world’s climate, and it's impact on the future of our civilization. The forces which control our civilization, high on energy and technology - call it a 'death march' if you will, are constantly telling us that we are moving towards a 'green' and 'carbon neutral' future. A world replete with techno-fixes, eco-friendly products and green energy. A world where everything will be ok! Yet there is immense deceit at the heart of that 'big green myth'. Collapse denial is green in color. Capitalism, mainstream science, technology worship and the dominant culture has colluded to create the "Bright Green Lies".
Bright Green Lies is a revealing new book by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith and Max Wilbert. The book is an in-depth narrative about how the global environmental movement "lost it's way" and became "obsessed with energy" - abandoning it's original manifesto (call it promise) of saving the living planet. The narrative is a critical insight, sustained by evidence and observation, debunking the big myths (and blatant lies) that surround Green Technology. The three writers are vested in radical environmental action and policy, for about twenty years now as Deep Green Resistance. BGL is also an analysis of why the biggest industries, banks, environmental lobbies, politicians and economists aided by mainstream media, are spinning this green but deceitful illusion. Clean energy solutions, be it solar, wind, hyrdro, biomass are as destructive as fossil fuel based energy. No matter how uncomfortable that may be to accept, we are obliged to contemplate and discuss further. Is clean energy full of dirty secrets?
The film version, directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Barnes, is a visual narrative comprehensively busting the fantasy of green technology. What actually is the environmental impact of solar, wind, biomass energy and eco-friendly consumerism? The devious false impressions created by Toyota, Mercedes, Audi, Ford, Tesla and every other electric vehicle brand. "A bold peak behind the green curtain" states an article on the Business Wire. The film examines the extent of the lies being told by prominent environmentalists and their supporters in-order to perpetuate the myth that out-of-control human consumption can be continued. How? Relax and just ‘buy green’. It's discernible to say that the biggest failure of the mainstream movement has been it's inability to change it's anthropocentric mindset, since the onset. The same anthropocentric ethos is now investing capital, power and hope upon the mantras and policies fabricated by the 'The Bright Green Lairs'.
The spectrum, of bright green lairs (sorry but the list is very long) are convinced and want to assure common people about infinite growth on a finite planet. "Often these people focus on technology, because it's the easiest way to avoid the real issues, of power and inequality. That issue is uncomfortable for many people, especially those living in the rich nations, mostly clustered in the north... For example Norway, a liberal socialist country, considered one of greenest countries in the world - yet it's wealth is largely built on oil... and earlier it was based totally around timbre and industrial scale fishing. Hence, the nation and it's wealth never moved away from an extractive economy and mindset. An economy based on taking resources and converting it into dead products..." says Max Wilbert in a recent interview.
Green or not, industrial civilization and our lives is hooked to a deeply internalized culture of extraction and plunder. It has been so for the last 10,000+ years! "The annihilation of nature has been going on for more than 3000 years now... but since early 1900s, the speed and extent of human impact has eventually triggered the 6th mass extinction... it is irreversible, and embracing new technologies and buying ecological products makes no difference to the decline" says Gerardo Ceballo, an ecologist based in Mexico. The last remaining Mayans (1440 AD) resorted to desperate survival measures, similar to what the average Sub-Saharan does today. A Chameleon can change colors naturally, adapting to a given habitat, alas we cannot.
A clear rupture is visible within the environmental movement across the world. Between those who remain loyal to the living planet and those who place immense faith on technology and capital. The grass roots movements, indigenous people's movements plus independent, radical, adaptive climate activism is gradually moving away from the mainstream climate movement - which is aligning itself to business interest and energy production.
It's clear that mainstream environmentalism, and the thousands of enablers made of prominent scientists, policy makers, economists, activists, lobbyists, politicians, film-stars and even artists. musicians and celebrities are riding a giant hoax. Pawning a fantasy that may never materialize, while "harvesting" the loyalty of millions and millions of youth, teenagers and children. "Leading environmental organizations often use misleading language - peppered with eye catching graphics, crammed with positivity and aspiration. Sustainable, the word has become the magic mantra to justify industrial activity" states Truthout.org. A polarized movement and billions of people in the middle facing a torrid future, barely aware of the ongoing mass extinction - as an average of 150 species go extinct everyday!
Vast area of the remaining natural world are being destroyed in the name of 'transition'. Renegade voices and independent climate scientists are being attacked and muted. Large and small communities across the world will be dislocated, rendered homeless, converted to climate refugees. Cities like Mumbai, Miami, Alexandria, Shanghai and London will be lost to the sea, by 2060. The Arctic will experience 'ice free summers' by 2025. Greenhouse gas emissions which effect global temperatures is causing heat related deaths, every summer on all five continents. "Human ability to adapt to hostile climates is often praised by most anthropologists and story-tellers, yet little attention is given to the number of times, the number of civilizations, big and small, young and old, have been wiped out very rapidly during the last ten millennia. The story of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is an epic story of a self-destructive economy and failure to adapt... and the big ones we know of very well, in Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, The Mayans, Xia and Tang Dynasty..." New Green History Of The World (The Environment And The Collapse)
BOOK
Capitalism and industrial civilization are incompatible with life on Earth. This irrefutable truth is something we all know deep down, whether we can bear to admit it or not. One way or another, denial always catches up. "Tackling the most pressing issues of our time will require us to look beyond the mainstream technological solutions and ask deeper questions about what needs to change..." Buy and share Bright Green Lies and visit Deep Green Resistance for more information and to perhaps volunteer!
Published June 2021