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This article argues XR should get the right wing to care about climate change by appealing to their values. In my opinion @ExtinctionR already does this too much & it’s dangerous (thread) @ScotlandXr theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This very quickly falls into enforcing harmful narratives, such as using anti-immigration arguments to talk about how bad mass displacement will be for the UK when people try to come here. Or framing climate change as an economic opportunity for business
In the article it suggests talking about ‘preserving pristine nature’ or ‘saving our national natural heritage’. If they ever stretch to mention people these frames will likely focus on white, western, future generations
This completely ignores the millions of people in the global south who are experiencing climate impacts already, ignores the economic and social inequalities that have caused this crisis and rid the narrative of any discussion of politics and power
Yes, it might attract a broader support base but it also isn’t enough to actually make the transformative change we need. The article argues this is why the climate movement has failed.
This is EXACTLY what huge chunks of the climate movement have been doing for decades!!!! & it led to apoliticising the issue and inaction!!!!
Climate change is POLITICAL, it is caused by big business and billionaires & governments in rich countries that allow this to happen because they reap the rewards.
And if we don’t change this and we actively build support for a racist, neoliberal response - then that’s what we will get. Tbh that’s what we’re already getting and we all have to fight like hell against it.
It will likely mean increasingly destructive extraction to get the last drops of oil out, carbon capture tech & geoengineering to allow business as usual for as long as possible, intensified green colonialism as big business & rich countries loot the global south for minerals
Increasingly violent border security and abandonment of the millions of people displaced by climate impacts, war over resources, erosion of our democracy through ‘states of emergency’ & other power grabs
The solutions to climate change could restructure our society to be fairer and more equal, or it could lead us into a geoengineered, eco-fascist shit show. If we want the first one we need to talk about it now & bring people onside with our vision of a fairer world.
