No worries, thought I should do better than a cheap one-liner.

Ta. Some sanity, at least : )

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like the climate will be one of those beneficiaries, as the tactic appears to be to beat the west at its own game - 'development', industrialisation, global trade, megacities etc etc.

Let's be clear, the west has lost and is clearly in the doldrums as we speak, economically, as well as ideologically, to my mind. Like I mentioned, the South is re-surging and there just may be a case that as west is deindustrialising, the South is industrialising. Oops. Apologies to colonial empires, but there is a certain logic to this. Thankfully. One can count the carbon units and see where it takes one. I don't think you have the case until you count the numbers. Do it.

Also, the unipolar order has only really existed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 80s/90s - multiple competing power blocks has generally been the norm throughout history, and the difference on how this plays out wrt resource extraction, environmental damage & human exploitation has been minimal. As a resistance movement you might be able to play one off against the other and retain your position, but otherwise the system as a whole continues to march onwards.

Far fetched imo. Circumstances have changed so very much since 80/90s, this scenario has changed beyond recognition. A new paradigm revolves around the Belt and Road, empowering the South, the old NAM (Non-aligned-movement) as declared in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955. It might seem inconsequential to a westerner, but there you have it.


I have in mind the 'peer polity' analysis of civilisation which Joseph Tainter articulated. Basically, in state/market societies locked into continual growth, there is a form a prisoner's dilemma where each polity must do everything it can to expand its power, resource use, complexity etc or else be overrun by its competitors. Back to my favourite source on these matters: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jason-godesky-thirty-theses/#toc19 So what we're seeing now is the (re-)emergence of a rival polity to the power block of the US+western European countries. As one power wanes, so another begins to take over - a very old story.

Same old. The new boss is same as the the old boss. I don't buy it. Take into account the Bandung declaration, consider the new circumstances. I doubt you can say with your hand to heart that 1% western uber neocon genocidal capitalist is equal to BRICS. Up to you, of course

I still harbour a belief in the essential decency of humankind, so I'm optimistic on that front.

Me too hehe