Ecocide and Genocide

 

Caracol is a caucus of DSA. They are eco-socialists working to bring degrowth to the heart of the left.

The theme of the webinar was how capitalism is causing ecocide and genocide and how the two are connected.

It is also causing corporate domination of land and labor, and depends on endless growth.

The alternative is to scale down war, emissions, wasteful industries, and scale up access to health care, education, housing, food, democracy, etc.

The first speaker was Prof Mazin Qumsciyeh, a Palestinian from Bethlehem. He explained about settler states such as those created by the formation of Israel and the European colonization of the Americas. Settlers bring with them invasive species, uproot trees and replace them with monocultures, replace diverse indigenous communities, cultures and languages, divert vital water resources (like the Jordan River, which is now practically dry). Qumschiyeh's organization https://palestiniannature.org nonviolently resists and informs people about injustices such as the destruction of greenhouses, hospitals and universities, and builds seed banks and community gardens with volunteers from around the world.

The second speaker was Francois Komate from the Republic of Congo. He explained how Congo could be a "climate solution" country, because it is rich in minerals used in batteries and turbines, but this wealth is being used to fuel armed conflict, rape, disappearances, etc. Belgium left the Congo with a 46B Franc debt and siphoned off the funds to Belgium. His organization (I didn't catch the link correctly) nonviolently mobilizes and educates people against corruption and fights for climate and social justice and democracy. The government wants to start a major oil mining project, which they oppose.

The third speaker was Gina Cortes from Columbia. She spoke about feminism and eco-justice, pointing out the international increase in military spending, murder and genocide while we reduce spending on climate control and mitigation, especially in the global north. At the same time there is a far right push back against the rights of women, body autonomy, gender identity and immigration. This is not a coincidence. It is based on the old model of colonization and slavery, where those who are used for subsistence work are also the targets of such attacks. How will we break the capitalist mode of division of labor? Corporate green transitions just exchange one form of destruction with another, with land and minerals being taken to generate profits. We need to pay attention to how the green transition is to be made and include the affected social policies, social needs, immigrant needs, consumption and production choices. She had just come from the degrowth conference in Oslo.

The fourth speaker was Anna Levi from Denver. She spoke about the DSA Caracol campaign there targeting Chevron. Chevron is the fourth greatest industrial carbon polluter, more than all other fossil fuel companies. They discharged huge quantities of cancer causing waste in Ecuador. No one has not yet been able to hold them accountable. They are also heavily involved in fracking. They also drill for oil in waters off Gaza and pay taxes for it to Israel. Levi's campaign got marathon runners to drop sponsorships from Chevron and forced Chevron to drop their 2026 sponsorship of the Denver marathon and take a PR hit.