Images from devastated Valencia appear to be a commentary on fossilized life.Image: trapezoid
review
Trump, Ukraine, Gaza: There are some reasons to worry about where the world is headed. As a result, the climate crisis is losing focus, something a book urgently warns us about.
It’s only been five years since climate change became a focus of political debate. Amid the climate strike “trend”, eco-parties experienced a boom. For a while, it was thought that climate protection was making progress. Instead, a series of new crises followed: the pandemic, war in Ukraine and the Middle East, migration.
Right-wing populists with simple methods, such as Donald Trump and the Alternative for Germany, benefited from this. The Greens, on the other hand, suffered losses on the stopwatch front. Concerns about purchasing power are replacing the climate crisis. There’s also a habit effect: you can’t change it! The result: The stigma of flying is a thing of the past and electric car sales are in trouble.
One bright spot is the strong expansion of renewable energy. But the world remains heavily dependent on natural gas, coal and oil. By 2050, when the Federal Council wants Switzerland to achieve “net-zero emissions,” “60% of energy needs may still be met by fossil energy.”
Increase in natural disasters
This sentence appears in the book and can be understood as a wake-up call or an almost final warning. The cover of The Future for Sale is the title of German sociologist Jens Beckert's readable and concise book, and its cover says everything about its contents: a young couple sitting comfortably in their apartment , while the earth outside is burning.
Our climate ignorance is at its best as natural disasters, a direct result of global warming, are becoming more frequent and massive. This year has seen severe storms across Europe causing flooding and deaths, with Spain being particularly destructive and also occurring in several areas of Switzerland.
storms and drought
The southern United States was devastated by two powerful hurricanes in a short period of time. We pay little attention to the devastating typhoons in the Far East, most recently in the Philippines and Taiwan. The sheer force of these storms is fueled by ocean temperatures that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
“This would require emergency braking, but there are none yet and none are visible.”
Jens Beckett
On the other hand, extreme droughts and heat waves are becoming increasingly severe from India to South America. The Amazon rainforest is actually one of the most important emitters of carbon dioxide2– Storage is being consumed to a greater extent than it has been in years. In what was considered a favorable year, our glaciers have again lost significant amounts of ice.
The greatest government failure of all time
Jens Beckert warns that our repressive reflexes will cost us dearly on all fronts: “Climate refugees, water shortages, famine and the ever-increasing costs of protecting natural forces, even in rich countries, It will also lead to new distributional struggles and real possibilities for loss of social control. “
Current climate protection measures don't go far enough: “This needs an emergency brake, but it's not there yet and there's no sight of it.” Beckett calls the climate crisis “the biggest government failure of all time” and for once people can have a clear conscience use this expression. Because it couldn't get any worse.
“Capitalist Modernity”
The sociologist, who is director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Research in Cologne, sees the main problem as a concept he calls “capitalist modernity”. It “alienates” humans from nature, both in production and consumption, resulting in huge damage to the environment.
Beckett does not deny that capitalist modernity made technological progress and “a massive increase in prosperity” possible. But while people fight for their share through strikes, unions and political parties, nature has no voice to protect itself from plunder.
carbon monoxide2-Reward a “blunt sword”
This means that an industry as powerful as “Big Oil” is difficult to bring down, despite all our talk about “decarbonization”. This is also due to the increasing demand for energy: despite the massive expansion of renewable energy, oil, gas and coal are not being burned less, but more “despite all climate warnings”.
Beckett uses numerous examples to demonstrate that ambitious attempts to change this status quo will be “sabotaged” by investors and shareholders. By the same token, “market economy” instruments such as CO2-Pricing or emissions trading is difficult. With so many exceptions, Jens Beckett described it as a “blunt sword.”
“magical thinking”
The author also doesn't think much about so-called solutions like the “green” economy, and he certainly can't do anything with the idea of ”overshooting”. The Paris climate target of maximum warming of 1.5 degrees is therefore unattainable, but from mid-century these technologies will be ready to “cool” the planet again.
Coal transport in Indonesia: Although alternatives are available, there is no immediate scenario for abandoning fossil fuels.Image: trapezoid
These include the capture and storage of greenhouse gases and geoengineering to create a protective shield over the Earth. For Jens Beckett, this “technologism” is “a magical form of thinking that distracts from the failure of the structures of capitalist modernity in the face of climate change.”
thoughtful realism
Real natural disasters actually make people wonder whether we can take our time and avoid painful decisions. Beckett describes this in a largely objective tone, without the blow of accusation or argument. He himself describes his approach as “thoughtful realism”.
What's even more annoying is that he is not hopeless in the end. He relied on civil society exerting pressure “from below.” This is the only way to achieve “the will to support measures against the excessive use of natural resources.” As Jens Beckett himself admitted, this is a vague hope because powerful structures hinder it.
limit damages
His relative optimism may be explained by the fact that, as a father of two, he hopes to provide at least a glimmer of hope for a better future for him and other children. Through previous statements in the book, he has made it abundantly clear that the only thing to do is to limit the damage as much as possible.
Even this message is difficult to convey. “The Future for Sale” was nominated for the 2024 German Non-Fiction Award. A book discussing German democracy won the prize. The jury seems more concerned with the direct threat posed by the AfD and its ilk than with the destruction of our livelihoods.
As a gay man, John Brooks has devoted his life to advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ people. He believes this is at great risk under Donald Trump. The fact that queer people voted for Trump baffles the Los Angeles-based artist.
I reached John by phone in Los Angeles. A mutual Swiss friend from their student days got in touch with the 46-year-old artist. She and her husband live in Kentucky, the same area where John lived just a few months ago. The two started talking because John's dog was wearing a Swiss collar.
