People

1. Race, Sex and Class, etc.    2.Population   3. Immigration   4. Indigenous Peoples

1. Race, Sex and Class, etc.

People are unjustly discriminated against or persecuted for natural differences such as “race”, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, national origin, beliefs and disabilities. Corporate backed fascist and other authoritarian governments often institutionalize such persecution as a divide-and-conquer strategy to suppress opposition, targeting those least able to defend themselves. Meanwhile the artificial and brutal divisions of social class go unquestioned. Business owners, investors and lenders profit from the wealth created by employees and their ideas, even when employees are not paid a living wage (see CEOs vs employees, Profits vs wages)¹⁰. Most of us depend for our survival and security on bosses, yet our work can often be automated or outsourced. This system of extraction and concentration disconnects us from each other and nature. Polluting power plants and factories, and parks without greenery are often located in oppressed communities.

Among other things, the following could help achieve greater equality:

- Sharing of domestic duties, often the exclusive responsibility of women, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, childcare and eldercare more equally between the sexes. Ideally, all able adults in a household should contribute a somewhat similar portion of their time and energies towards the household common good according to their abilities and proficiency. This may be towards cooking, cleaning, laundry, childcare and eldercare, but also towards house and vehicle maintenance, family record keeping (including financial matters), etc.

- Sharing work for pay more equally between the sexes

- Equal pay for equal work

- Job sharing to reduce working hours outside the home

- Raising the wages for human service jobs and teaching to more equally match those of higher paid business and professional jobs

- Reducing the wages of the highest paid executives

- Raising opportunities and standards of education in communities of color and poorer neighborhoods, with their input and participation, to more equally match those of wealthier neighborhoods

- Universal free education though all graduate levels

- Paid maternity leave, childcare leave and eldercare leave

- Raising the standards of healthcare in communities of color and poorer neighborhoods, with their input and participation, to more equally match those of wealthier neighborhoods

- Universal free healthcare

- Eliminating unnecessary advertising and marketing

- Replacing stock markets and futures markets with democratic planning and investing

- Eliminating private jets and yachts

- Eliminating the manufacturing and use of unnecessary toxic chemicals and plastics

 

2.Population

There is a shameful history of racist eugenics practices, as under the Nazis and the forced sterilization of indigenous women. This is not a legitimate option. However, there is legitimate concern about the population factor, especially with the waste and pollution per person in wealthier countries. Girls in school and educated women usually have fewer children according to the Drawdown Project (see complete list of climate solutions²⁰, family planning and education²¹). Poorer countries need more educational opportunities for girls, empowering women to make their own decisions, and this requires international financial support. Poverty and oppressive laws, even in the richest countries, restrict access to birth control and abortion.

Regarding birth rates in the global north and south: the global birth rate may be less important for the environment than inequality in environmental footprint.  The environmental toll of a child born to a middle or upper class family in the US is enormously greater than for a child born to a poor family in Africa. While the birth rate in the global north is much lower and declining, we still need to take into account the broader environmental effects. No one should be forced to carry and raise children. While not a mainstream degrowth policy, universal access to the voluntary use of medically sound and individually acceptable birth control and abortion in the US would help control the poverty, resource use, waste and pollution problems.

3. Immigration

Many immigrants into wealthier countries, such as the US, were forced to leave their homes due to environmental disasters related to climate change, political persecution or extreme poverty. Therefore, dealing with these international problems is essential. Restricting immigration is not the answer, because people are people, we are all interdependent, and we are all vulnerable and have the same basic needs. In addition, except for indigenous peoples and those kidnapped and enslaved and their descendants, the US is a land of immigrants, and immigrants contribute to the US economy by working and paying taxes. Everyone should be held to the same legal standards as citizens and permanent residents, judged only for any actual crimes committed. Immigration itself should not be considered a criminal offense, and individuals should not be punished by internment or deportation back to the situations that caused them to immigrate in the first place. Such punishment, intimidation and bigotry only serve to divide us against each other.

4. Indigenous Peoples

The colonial expansion that displaced indigenous nations and their means of livelihood also devastated the environment. Indigenous peoples of North America lived more sustainably with other beings and the land than the European settlers who displaced them. Native Americans have been in the forefront of resisting environmental destruction. Much can be learned from indigenous ecological stewardship. It would also be helpful for the US to support that leadership on indigenous and public lands. Also, the settler nation has continued to violate negotiated treaty rights even after the forced confinement and displacement to reservations. The US needs to respect the sovereignty of indigenous nations, while providing dedicated support to compensate for the loss of traditional livelihoods.