jason on double objective

jason hickel on double objective via his tweet [https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1698606399264075799?s=20]:

I'm excited to share this new article, "The double objective of democratic ecosocialism", published today in Monthly Review.

"This is not a time for mild reformism, tweaking around the edges of a failing system. This is a time for revolutionary change." https://t.co/2GGdYVDlnw
— Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) September 4, 2023

notes/quotes from article – 2023 – The Double Objective of Democratic Ecosocialism [https://monthlyreview.org/2023/09/01/the-double-objective-of-democratic-ecosocialism/]:

No political program that promises to analyze and resolve the ecological crisis can hope to succeed if it does not also simultaneously—that is, in the same stroke—analyze and resolve the social crisis.

deeper.. need problem deep enough to address all the things..

we need a problem deep enough to resonate w/8bn today.. a mechanism simple enough to be accessible/usable to 8bn today.. and an ecosystem open enough to set/keep 8bn legit free

ie: org around a problem deep enough (aka: org around legit needs) to resonate w/8bn today.. via a mechanism simple enough (aka: tech as it could be) to be accessible/usable to 8bn

Attempting to address one without the other leaves fundamental contradictions entrenched and will ultimately give rise to monsters. Indeed, monsters are already emerging

what we’ve been doing since forever.. need to try something legit diff.. for (blank)’s sake

Peter Kropotkin noticed this dynamic more than 130 years ago. In The Conquest of Bread, he observed that despite high levels of production in Europe even in the nineteenth century, most of the population lived in misery. Why? Because under capitalism, production is mobilized around “whatever offers the greatest profits to the monopolists.” “A few rich men,” he wrote, “manipulate the economic activities of the nation.” Meanwhile, the masses, who are prevented from producing for their own needs, “have not the means of subsistence for a month, or even for a week in advance.”

rather.. need global detox leap.. so we know/grok legit needs.. (we have no idea what legit free people are like.. what they need) .. so.. need 1st/most: means to undo our hierarchical listening to self/others/nature as global detox/re\set.. so we can org around legit needs

pëtr kropotkin.. conquest of bread et al

But all of this productive activity could be organized toward other ends. *“What is squandered in this manner,” Kropotkin wrote, “would be enough to double the production of useful things, or so to plenish our mills and factories with machinery that they would soon flood the shops with all that is now lacking to two-thirds of the nation.” **If the workers and farmers had collective control over the means of production, they easily would be able to ensure what Kropotkin referred to as “well-being for all.” Mass poverty, deprivation, and the artificial scarcities that characterize capitalism could be ended more or less immediately.

*that would be just arranging the deck charis ness..

**unless we org around legit needs.. will be same song

It is clear what needs to be done: *we must achieve democratic control over finance and production, as Kropotkin argued, and now organize it around the double goal of well-being and ecology. This requires that we distinguish, as Kropotkin did, between the socially necessary production that clearly needs to increase for social progress, and the destructive and less-necessary forms of production that urgently need to be scaled down. **This is the revolutionary world-historical objective that faces our generation

*yeah.. not deep enough..

**yeah.. and we’re missing it with part\ial ness.. for (blank)’s sake

To secure the social foundation, first we must *expand and decommodify universal public services. By this I mean health care and education, yes, but also housing, public transit, energy, water, Internet, child care, recreation facilities, and nutritious food for all. **Let us mobilize our productive forces to ensure everyone has access to the goods and services necessary for well-being..t

*rather.. need 1st/most: means to undo our hierarchical listening to self/others/nature as global detox/re\set.. so we can org around legit needs.. because most/all of those ‘universal public services are actually.. cancerous distractions.. graeber violence in care law.. steiner care to oppression law.. et al

infinitesimal structures approaching the limit of structureless\ness and/or vice versa .. aka: ginorm/small ness

**again.. first need global detox leap so we can grok/org for legit necessities

Second, we must establish ambitious public works programs..Third, we must introduce a public job guarantee..Next..scale down socially less-necessary forms of production. Fossil fuels are obvious here.. Finally, we urgently need to cut the excess purchasing power of the rich using wealth taxes and maximum income ratios..t

all cancerous distractions

If, after taking these steps, we find that our society requires less labor to produce what we need, we can shorten the working week, *give people more free time, and share necessary labor more evenly, thus permanently preventing any unemployment.

cancerous distractions and a special oi to *this.. giving ness .. invited vs invented.. et al.. rather than as the day ness et al.. let’s do this first.. for (blank)’s sake

*Some will say this sounds utopian. But these policies happen to be **extremely popular. Universal public services, a public job guarantee, more equality, an economy focused on well-being and ecology rather than growth—polls and surveys show strong majority support for these ideas, and official citizens’ assemblies in several countries have called for precisely this kind of transition. This has the potential to become a popular and feasible political agenda.

*not utopian/diff enough..

**popular vs what each heart/soul already craves.. (let’s org around that)

But none of this will happen on its own. *It will require a major political struggle against those who benefit so prodigiously from the status quo. **This is not a time for mild reformism, tweaking around the edges of a failing system. ***This is a time for revolutionary change..t

*huge red flag.. takes a lot of work ness et al

**exactly.. which is what you are laying out here.. mild reform

***indeed.. and again.. we’re missing it..

Finally, progressive movements in the core must unite with, support and defend radical and anticolonial social movements in the Global South..Any political philosophy that does not foreground Southern workers and political movements as leading agents of revolutionary change is simply missing the point.

oi.. that too is missing the point..

This requires the hard work of organizing, establishing solidarities, and uniting around common political demands. It requires strategy, and it requires courage. Is there hope? Yes. We know it is empirically possible to achieve a just and sustainable world economy. But our hope can only ever be as strong as our struggle. If we want hope—if we want to win such a world—we must build the struggle.

*nah.. again..

need 1st/most: means to undo our hierarchical listening to self/others/nature as global detox/re\set.. so we can org around legit needs

imagine if we listened to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & used that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness as nonjudgmental expo labeling)