by Alternative Libertaire

1. The World is in Overdrive

1.1 The Ecological Peril

1.2 The Imperialist Peril

2. Capitalism is not the Solution

3. Three Revolutions are Necessary

3.1 Revolution in trade: putting an end to globalisation

3.2 Revolution in the modes of consumption: the question of décroissance (“de-growth”)

3.3 Revolution in the modes of production: energy saving

4. Strategic Conclusion

With a planetary ecological crisis on hand, it can no longer be denied that socialism will be incompatible with mass production and mass consumption. Indeed, even without returning to Malthusian catastrophe theories, we are forced to admit that the planet’s resources are not inexhaustible. These resources could provide for humanity’s needs, but only if they are used in a reasonable and rational way, i.e., in a manner directly opposed to capitalist logic, which in itself is a source of imbalance.

For decades, anti-capitalists have rightly raised the question of the “redistribution of wealth” between the Global North and Global South. This idea has commonly been imagined to mean an end to the pillage of the Third World by the advanced industrialized powers, so that the people of the Global South are able to attain an equivalent level of development. This demand, put simply, means that the South should catch up to the North’s “standard of living.”

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