This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
Maoist Internationalist Movement

Capitalism a threat to humyn species:

Ice melting at North Pole

December 12--At a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco experts warned that there may be no sea ice left at the North Pole by 2040. Reporting on research to be published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists explained that the ice is melting at an unprecedented rate due to global warming--a direct result of humyn pollution of the environment.(1) The amount of Arctic sea ice is a key indicator of the rate and results of global warming.

Some experts believe we have not yet reached a point of no return, and that there is still a chance to restore balance to the earth's atmosphere and restore the Arctic sea ice.(1) But it is clear that window of opportunity will not be around for long. Unlike previous warnings which suggested the North Pole would be ice-free by the end of this century, a time that might be far enough in the future for many people to ignore, the year 2040 will happen in the lifetime of most people reading this article.

This environment change has serious direct implications for Arctic wildlife and indigenous people living in the area. In addition, the accelerated global warming poses health risks to all humyns, beyond the destruction of the environment and wildlife. But in a quick survey of top mainstream news articles about this story, virtually all mentioned potential benefits of open shipping lanes year round and other commerce benefits, ignoring or downplaying negative effects.

Humyn activities such as burning fossil fuels and clearing forests have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, raising temperatures, resulting in what we call global warming. In addition to the many animal species that are threatened with extinction by global warming, the hazards from the atmosphere to humyns will require significant changes in the way people interact with the environment. The long term effects are not certain, but it is hard to imagine how anyone could find these dramatic changes in the earth's environment to be anything but alarming.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists: "In the last 10,000 years, the Earth's average temperature hasn't varied by more than 1.8F (1.0C).. Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 2.5-10.4F over the next 100 years (as projected in the IPCC's Third Assessment Report) is likely to result in:

  • a rise in sea level between 3.5 and 34.6 in. (9-88 cm), leading to more coastal erosion, flooding during storms, and permanent inundation
  • severe stress on many forests, wetlands, alpine regions, and other natural ecosystems
  • greater threats to human health as mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects and rodents spread diseases over larger geographical regions
  • disruption of agriculture in some parts of the world due to increased temperature, water stress, and sea-level rise in low-lying areas such as Bangladesh or the Mississippi River delta."(2)
  • But for all the urgency behind global warming, the real environmental crisis in the world today is not global warming but capitalism. A system that puts profit over humyn well being inevitably must ignore environmental threats, especially those that are caused by capitalist production and consumption. There are many ways to modify production and consumption to stop the humyn destruction of the environment, but few of them will benefit the capitalists and most will cost in the short run. Ignoring the long term benefit to humanity is a hallmark of capitalists who sponsor invasions of Third World countries, murdering tens of thousands of people in the name of establishing "stability" for exploitation of resources and labor.

    As MIM wrote in 1997 in the MIM theory journal Environment, Society, Revolution: "The root cause of environmental problems is capitalism, the private ownership of the means of production by a relative handful of people. This essence of capitalism is one reason why capitalism creates environmental problems: while the majority of the world's people have a material interest in maintaining a healthy planet, the small capitalist ruling class is not accountable to this majority, except in the indirect sense that the ruling class seeks to co-opt the demands of the majority in order to maintain the capitalist system. A second reason why capitalism creates environmental problems is that although the world's resources are controlled by a relative handful of people, planning is not centralized under capitalism. Instead, production is anarchic; it is centered around making profits, not around meeting basic human needs in the short or long runs. Much of what is produced by the capitalist system is unnecessary and wasteful, and the system is not fundamentally capable of incorporating long-term human survival as a need. Finally, the capitalist system does not distribute resources equitably. Under capitalism, many people do not have adequate resources for survival. Many environmental problem stem from this root problem."(3)

    As destruction of the earth's environment continues it will become clear to more and more people that systemic changes are required to save this planet and the people who live on it. Revolutionary environmentalism is the only solution to this destruction--an environmentalism that fights to overthrow the system that puts profit over people.

    Notes:
    1. San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 2006
    2. Union of Concerned Scientists
    (http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/global-warming-faq.html)
    3. MIM Theory 13, Environment, Society, Revolution