Is Every Day Black Friday? How Climate Inaction and Hypermaterialism Betray Our Children - By Joe Romm

Black Friday is a sort of reverse “Hunger Games,” an annual ritualized competition, but one built around overabundance, rather than scarcity.  It is perhaps the inevitable outcome of a country whose citizens are commonly referred to as “consumers.”

So what better time to think about how the global economic system is a Ponzi scheme, an utterly unsustainable system that effectively takes wealth from our children and future generations — wealth in the form of ground water, arable land, fisheries, a livable climate — to prop up our carbon-intensive lifestyles.

Now it’s true, as I’ve said, that if we ever get really serious about avoiding catastrophic climate change, we could dramatically cut national and global emissions for decades under the auspices of our basic economic system.  You could use a high and rising price for CO2 plus smart regulations to encourage efficiency at a state and national level.

Is Every Day Black Friday?  How Climate Inaction and Hypermaterialism Betray Our Children - By Joe Romm