The Shady Figures Behind Extinction Rebellion.

         I have tried a couple of times to express my opinion of Extinction Rebellion, that green capitalism is not the saviour of the planet, it is the next phase of capitalism's destruction of the planet, it is flawed and has a hidden agenda. It is an attempt to re-finance capitalism by means of a green agenda. At the risk of being a bore, I'll re-post this article, not a new one, but worth reading, it gives you an opportunity to peruse through  a catalogue of information that could perhaps give you insight into the background and make up of Extinction Rebellion.

This from ACORN: 

         The global movement calling for action on climate change has captured the imagination and enthusiasm of thousands of people who care about the future of our world.
       However, alarming evidence has emerged, suggesting that this movement is being manipulated by business interests who aim not to save the planet but to save capitalism, not to halt the environmental crisis but to profit from it, not to protect nature but to commodify it.
         We don’t want the powerful positive energy of nature lovers and environmentalists to be shunted into the sterile dead end of “green capitalism”, used as a PR tool to make it easier for governments to raid our collective piggy banks and channel trillions of pounds and dollars into the pockets of venture capitalists who have leapt aboard the “climate justice” bandwagon in the hope of getting very rich.
        For this reason we have put together this page of useful links, so people can study the evidence and come to their own conclusions.

Rebellion Extinction: a capitalist scam to hijack our resistance. An Acorn report.

So who exactly is Christiana Figueres? An Acorn report.

“The X Agenda”: what does XR actually stand for? An Acorn report.

Deepening our resistance, from Acorn 49.

Capitalist vultures target Jamaican sunshine, from Acorn 51.

Skin deep solutions & Greta and the story-tellers, from Acorn 52.

“The opposite of rebellion” – Paris activists slam XR leadership. An Acorn report.

The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg for Consent by Cory Morningstar.

Volume I

1. The Political Economy of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex.
2. The Inconvenient Truth Behind Youth Co-optation.
3. The Most Inconvenient Truth: “Capitalism is in Danger of Falling Apart”.
4. The House is On Fire! & the 100 Trillion Dollar Rescue.
5. The New Green Deal is the Trojan Horse for the financialization of nature.
6. A Decade of Social Manipulation for the Corporate Capture of Nature.
Volume II

1. A Design to Win; A Multi-Billion Dollar Investment.
2. Controlling the Narrative.
3. To Plunder What Little Remains: It’s Going To Be Tremendous.
4. For consent: they mean business.
5. The behavioural change project – “to change everything”.
6. Natural climate manipulations.

La fabrication de Greta Thunberg – pour consentement, acte I : l’économie politique du complexe industriel à but non lucratif

La fabrication de Greta Thunberg – pour consentement, acte II : la vérité dérangeante derrière l’embrigadement des jeunes
La fabrication de Greta Thunberg – pour consentement, acte III : la vérité la plus dérangeante : « le capitalisme est en danger d’effondrement »

La fabrication de Greta Thunberg – pour consentement, acte IV : la maison est en feu ! & le sauvetage à 100 billions de dollars

La fabrication de Greta Thunberg – pour consentement, acte V : Le New Deal vert est le cheval de Troie de la financiarisation de la nature

La fabrication de Greta Thunberg, acte VI [crescendo] : une décennie de manipulation sociale pour la captation de la nature par les grandes entreprises

Extinction Rebellion training, or how to control radical resistance from the ‘obstructive left’ by Cory Morningstar.

In defense of Cory Morningstar’s Manufacturing For Consent Series by Hiroyuki Hamada.

Unpacking Extinction Rebellion — Part I: Net-zero Emissions by Kim Hill.

Unpacking Extinction Rebellion — Part II: Goals and Tactics by Kim Hill.

Unpacking Extinction Rebellion — Part III: The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Kim Hill.

A Propos d’Extinction Rebellion — Partie I: zero emission nette par Kim Hill.

A Propos d’Extinction Rebellion — Partie II: solutions et tactiques promues par Kim Hill.

A Propos d’Extinction Rebellion — Partie III: La 4e révolution industrielle par Kim Hill.

Lettre ouverte aux militant·e·s d’Extinction Rebellion par collectif Désobéissance écolo Paris.

Extinction Rebellion : ni désobéissance, ni obéissance, mais servilité et crédulité – Paris Luttes.

Quelques heures sur le pont de la Concorde avec Extinction Rebellion – Paris Luttes.

Jutta Ditfurth zu Extinction Rebellion: „Irrationalismus einer Endzeit-Sekte“

Just Say No to Fake Action by Wrong Kind of Green.

Trees don’t grow on money – or why you don’t get to rebel against extinction by Tim Hayward.

Extinction Rebellion: Socialist Revolution by Simon Elmer, Architects for Social Housing.

Capitalising on Crisis: Extinction Rebellion and the Green New Deal for Capitalism by Simon Elmer, Architects for Social Housing.

Empty Gestures by the South Essex Heckler.

Greta Thunberg, PR and the “Climate Emergency” by Brian Davey of The Foundation of the Economics of Sustainability.

Greta Thunberg, Green Barbarism and #ClimateStrike – Azhar Moideen on why “climate” activism is against the interests of the Indian working class.

Between the Devil and the Green New Deal, by Jasper Bernes in Commune magazine.

Entre le marteau et l’enclume du Green New Deal – French translation of Jasper Bernes article.

Entro o Diabo e o Green New Deal – Portuguese translation of Jasper Bernes article.

Green New Deals – The Degrowth Perspective. Features links to some useful articles challenging “green growth”.

The climate movement: what next? by Clive L. Spash, ecological economist.

Of ecosystems and economies: re-connecting economics with reality by Clive L. Spash and Tone Smith.

Le mouvement climat, et après ? par Clive L. Spash, économiste écologiste.

The Paris Agreement is a suicide pact – this is why by Clive L. Spash;

Le capitalisme vert utilise Greta Thunberg, par Isabelle Attard.

Green capitalism is using Greta Thunberg by Isabelle Attard (English translation)

‘Green growth’ won’t save the planet by Oliver Taherzadeh and Benedict Probst in The Ecologist.

Towards a revolutionary ecology: an interview with Max Wilbert.

Wind energy development, conflict and resistance. Interview with Alexander Dunlap.

Podcast. For Your Consent: Climate Activism and the Financialization of Nature. Last Born in the Wilderness interview with Cory Morningstar.

Podcast. Saving the Earth or Saving Capitalism? The Inconvenient Truth Behind Today’s Youth Climate Campaigns. Global Research interview with Cory Morningstar.

Podcast. The Green New Deal Will Not Save Us. Jasper Bernes of Commune magazine talks to This Is Hell!

Podcast. Between the Devil and New Green Deal. Last Born in the Wilderness interview with Jasper Bernes.

Video. Selling Extinction by Prolekult.

Video. Who runs Extinction Rebellion? Heiko Khoo reports.

Video. Earth Trek: The Economics of the Future. On the commodification of life.

Video. A Message to Greta Thunberg and the Youth Climate Strikers from Charles Eisenstein.

Video. My alarm about Climate Change & Extinction Rebellion by anarchist Andrew Flood on his new We Only Want the Earth Youtube channel.

Video. Andrew Flood: Violence, Non-violence and Extinction Rebellion.

Video. Ce qui cloche avec Greta Thunberg. Tatiana Ventôse sees through the hype.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Extinction Submission!

       On Extinction Rebellion, I have made my views known in a couple of previous posts, I still hold the view that those behind this movement are not what they portray themselves to be, and are leading the public along a road that will not solve the problem of possible planet extinction.

     This is an extract from an article, which I endorse, from Acorn:

         We are well aware that there are many genuine grassroots activists involved in Extinction Rebellion protests, people we know are on our side. But more and more questions are being asked about the nature of the organisation itself, about the true agenda of the leadership lurking behind a flimsy illusion of horizontality.
         The non-existence of a mass radical anti-capitalist movement in the UK (let alone a radical ecological anti-capitalist one!) means that XR has appealed to a lot of people who have long been waiting for some kind of rebellion to finally emerge.
        Perhaps they have been tolerant of XR’s eccentricities (starry-eyed love of the police, dogmatic non-violence bordering on control-freakery, connections with business interests, refusal to consistently condemn capitalism) because they are the only show in town and it is a question of XR or nothing.
        The same is not true in France, though, where revolution is often in the air and where the last year has seen a full-on yellow-coloured challenge to the neoliberal state. XR have been active there too, but their fake radicalism and lame submissiveness to authority has shocked many eco-radicals and anti-capitalists, who have been voicing their concerns online.
        On October 12 the “Désobéissance écolo Paris” collective published an open letter to Extinction Rebellion members, containing a wide-ranging critique of the organisation and its approach.
      Then on Monday October 14 two reports appeared on the anti-capitalist Paris Luttes site. The first of these was entitled “Extinction Rebellion : ni désobéissance, ni obéissance, mais servilité et crédulité” – “Extinction Rebellion: Neither Disobedience or Obedience, but Servility and Credulity”.
      Reporting on the XR occupation in Châtelet, it said “Extinction Rebellion scuttled its own initiative in a total absence of strategic thinking and analysis of power struggles”.
       It explained: “The ‘diversity of tactics’ working group on Wednesday evening had asked each of the six blockade points to start thinking about what we would say to the press, the authorities, the public, on the day that we were moved on.
     “For instance, it was suggested, in the spirit of a convergence of struggles, that we say ‘we are not leaving without the passing of a law for carbon neutrality by 2025 and an amnesty for all activists incarcerated during the various Gilets Jaunes protests’. That would have been awesome.
      “But the XR leadership decided, at a sparsely-attended assembly on Friday morning, October 11, to dismantle the camp, to move most of the equipment and to pull out from the six blockade points.
      “In short, XR removed everything which made this public space a living space where we could discuss, debate, get to know each other.
       “The given reason was, of course, the next day’s action, but anyone with a minimum of strategic sense should have seen that this camp, now that it was there, now that it had been reinforced by Gilets Jaunes and other anti-capitalist and environmental activists, the night before the weekend, had definite subversive potential. Predictably the action on Saturday October 12 was, on the other hand, a total flop”.
       The article went on to comment: “This is not a case of ‘non-violent civil disobedience’ nor indeed of ‘obedience’ since there was no official warning from the police or the authorities. It was rather a case of servility: we ended the camp before even having been ordered to leave. This is exactly the opposite of struggle or rebellion”.-------

------- They added: “It was a rather pleasant surprise to see that many XR activists did not stay stuck in the XR box, did not shy away from more radical action, less focused on media PR, and were asking real political questions about the scope of these actions. As often happens, the grassroots could quickly outgrow the organisation”.

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

A Magical Rise To Fame!!!

         Extinction Rebellion is certainly grabbing the headlines at the moment it was a very rapid rise to prominence and its figurehead Greta Thunberg is a most remarkable and sudden rise to fame. A little girl sitting all alone on a pavement complaining about "climate change" suddenly is a world figure. I find that rather strange. How come, all those other activists that have been complaining for years never got the same treatment, a lot of them instead, got a criminal record for their efforts.  Who really is the driving force behind this little girl, where did the financial support come from originally? As I have said before, I'm not against mass protests to stop the obliteration of the planet, I just feel that this particular protest is being steered deliberately, and for ulterior motives, in the wrong direction. See previous article.

        This is an extract from an interesting article from Acorn:

    ------It also turns out not to be entirely coincidental that Rentzhog came across Greta’s little protest. He later admitted had already done PR work for her mother and was “tipped off” about the event in advance.
       So the bottom line is this: from the very first day of her “rebellion”, Greta Thunberg was being promoted by two corporate PR professionals paid for their skills in “brand development” and “storytelling”.
        Since then, of course, she has addressed the UN, the WEF, the European Parliament, featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a “next generation leader”, met Barack Obama and Emmanuel Macron and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
       This is all rather strange in a world where the usual reward for environmental activism is a criminal record.-------

        It is well worth reading the entire article to try and understand who really is pushing this particular campaign.

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What Is Wrong With Extinction Rebellion?

           Though I have always believed that the people have to take to the streets in a drive to change society to one that sees to the needs of all of society, not just the privileged few, I just can’t accept the direction of this particular protest. Yes I accept that climate change is a rapidly impending disaster, and yes we have to tackle it head on. However to ignore the root cause of this looming disaster, which is the capitalist economic system, which is part and parcel of the state system, is doomed to failure. This particular protest is aiming to get the state apparatus to legislate for “green capitalism”, a mythical beast that belongs in the category of fairy tales. Capitalism, green or any other shade, can only survive by continual growth, ever increasing consumption and growth of profit for the few. These are its essence, its blood vessels for survival, and it is obvious that these very goals are the very cause of the climate disaster that we face. To “save the planet” we have to stop the drive for continued growth, drastically cut consumption and end the mantra of everything must produce a profit. In other words we must destroy capitalism if we are serious about “saving the planet”. 

 

 

       I consider it naive in the extreme to expect capitalism ever to embark on a drive that will destroy it, an end to perpetual growth, and to work towards a continual cut in consumption, as both these aims would destroy its need for ever growing profits. Profit, wealth and power is what capitalism is all about, no matter its colour. If you wish to “save the planet” then get behind those who wish to destroy capitalism and its bastard twin, the state, as that is the only direction that will take you down the road to “saving the planet”. 

       Yes, take to the streets, grow your numbers, create disruption, stop the city, but have no illusions about who your real enemy is, capitalism brought us to this catastrophe, it can never get us out of it. Capitalism of any shade or colour and “save the planet” ideals, will never make pleasant bed-fellows, one will have to kill the other to survive, they are totally incompatible. 

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Save The Planet, Stop Wars.

       At the moment environment destruction is now moving to the headlines. People are becoming more aware of the need to sort out our energy supplies away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. They are taking to the streets, "extinction rebellion", and the dedicated kids having a one day strike a week, all points to this awareness. Then there is the drive to get companies to vastly reduce their use of plastics. Then of course the blame game, it is up to you to just boil enough water for one cup of tea, turn your central heating down a degree, take a shorter shower, take a shallower bath. All well and good, after all, each little helps.

     Meantime, airline companies are doing their best to increase passenger numbers, Travel agents are trying hard to ship more and more people to further and further "exotic" holidays. Cruise liners are pushing hell for leather to increase the numbers that float around the oceans, merrily polluting, CEO and other billionaire buy ever larger and more luxurious yachts and private jets. 

       Sort out that lot and you would make a big impact on environmental pollution. Then of course there is war, probably the most devastating polluter on the planet. Wars and the backup companies that are necessary for developing, manufacturing and delivering the implements of wars, plus the logistics of carrying out these endless wars, out strip most other polluters on the planet.

     But so often, wars don't appear on the environmentalist's list, and governments all make pleasurable sounds about cutting greenhouse gases, but doing next to nothing, and the same time arming themselves to the teeth and supporting these endless wars.

      Then there is the pentagon, without a doubt, the world's worst polluter.

This extract from Liberation, 

(newspaper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation): 

Navajo land contaminated with uranium

        Large swaths of Native lands have been contaminated by the military. U.S.-funded mining companies blasted 4 million tons of uranium for atomic weapons out of more than 500 mines on Navajo land between 1944 and 1986. The mines are now abandoned, leaving the Navajo nation with poisonous waste from the mines, and radioactive drinking water. Many Navajo people have died of kidney failure and cancer, conditions linked to uranium contamination. And new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show uranium in babies born now. And then there’s the contamination that waging war brings. Iraq is littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, the Guardian notes. Additionally, after the bombing by the U.S. in its first war against Iraq in 1991:

 “Sewage flowed into the streets and rivers. Refineries and pipelines leaked oil into the soil. The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq meant little was repaired and land and cities have been poisoned. One observer in Basra in 2008 said people “live amid mud and faeces. … Childhood cancer rates in Basra are the highest in Iraq. The city’s salty tap water makes people ill. And there is more garbage on the streets than municipal collectors can make a dent in.”

       U.S. use of toxic and radioactive depleted uranium weapons in Iraq have lead to an unprecedented number of birth defects there. These same U.S. weapons that poison people and the earth were used in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq in both Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, North Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Libya.

War-makers reject science, plan more polluting

      But the U.S. Department of Defense is not done polluting. In November 2016, the U.S. Navy announced its plan to release 20,000 tons of environmental “stressors,” including heavy metals and explosives, into the coastal waters of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. It also plans to release every year some 4.7 to 14 tons of “metals with potential toxicity” into inland waters along the Puget Sound in Washington state.
     In response to public concerns, a Navy spokeswoman said that heavy metals and depleted uranium are no more dangerous than any other metal, a statement that represents a clear rejection of scientific facts.

Read the full article HERE: 
 
       If we really wish to save the planet and the species that live on it, then we have to take a holistic view of the situation and environmentalists have to put war at the top of their list.

Visit ann rky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk