Saying that “humans” are
responsible for ecological devastation is a continuation of colonial
racism, and it is an insult to the peoples who have fought against
obliteration to preserve their way of life and their relationship with
their territory. It is also an insult to the many people who, despite
growing up in a culture totally infused with the values of capitalism,
have risked their lives and freedom to defend the land and halt
destructive development projects. And it is an insult to the hundreds of
millions who are subjected to extreme poverty or absolute precarity by
the very same economic order that profits from ecocide, who have to
worry about their personal survival and that of their family and
community, and do not have the luxury of choosing between different
job opportunities and consumer products based on how “ecological”
they might be.
As Kathryn Yusoff argues in A Billion Black Anthropocenes, the
framework of the Anthropocene is racist, and it also serves to obscure
our view, to hide the actual system at the heart of the problem.95
People in the Global South—people dehumanized by Western slavery,
colonialism, and racism—finally get included in the category
“human,” just in time to share the blame for the devastation caused by
a social system that has ravaged them far more than they have profited
from it.
-- Peter Gelderloos
GOOD POST!
The "population problem" narrative is just baby steps towards eco-fascism when the real problem is the devouring of resources by advanced capitalist systems. The USA consumes at 5x the per capita rate as the rest of the world for instance. This is often framed as a problem with regard to the development of the global south, which is just incredibly racist. "The lifestyle of USA is unsustainable if everyone else tries to do it too!" There's a complete lack of self-awareness that feeds into the construction of an Us-vs-Them perspective. This is just another iteration of the same "white man's burden" fascist fantasy.
Neo malthusianism.
I have a modest proposal. The bodies of the ultra wealthy could be used to make a sustainable protein powder to supplement the diets of the poor people suffering from malnutrition.
I know right? I hate it when misanthropes blame all of humanity over the actions of a few parasites. The problem is not "humans", it is the system they live under.
Oh and also eco-friendly civilisations have existed in the past.