We are all passengers on a new Titanic. Unlike the Titanic of 1912, however, the officers and most of the passengers of this superb transatlantic liner are in the know. They know that if the new Titanic continues on its present course, it will inevitably hit an iceberg and sink. The iceberg is called “Climate Change”.
Some of the officers asked about a change of course. The answer was “too expensive”: passengers would have to be compensated, etc., in short, a huge expense. However, a resolution was taken to reduce speed, but it was hardly implemented. Meanwhile, in the luxurious Business Class, the orchestra was playing and the passengers were dancing. In Economy Class, people are passionately watching the football championship on television. A group of indignant young people protest, and demand another route, but their voices are drowned out by the noise of the orchestra and the television.
Some passengers, both in Business and Economy Class, are worried. Very worried, in fact. They know that a number of stowaways have managed to board the transatlantic. They are actively mobilising to hunt them down and throw them overboard. A philanthropic minority is proposing that they be given a life jacket before being abandoned in the ocean. This is still under discussion.
Meanwhile, the new Titanic is moving inexorably towards its iceberg.
This tragicomic allegory can be used to illustrate the situation of our civilisation (modern industrial capitalist civilisation) faced with the increasingly obvious threat of ecological catastrophe, i.e. irreversible and uncontrollable climate change that threatens the very foundations of life in general, and human life in particular. Wouldn’t this be alienating humanity as a whole, unable to fend off the imminent danger?
The Iceberg Approaches
So what is alienation? The Robert dictionary gives two definitions:
A mental disorder, temporary or permanent, which renders an individual incapable of behaving normally.
The state of being enslaved by the things and achievements of humanity, which turn against you.
Are we in the first case? Can we speak of a kind of collective “mental disorder” that renders individuals incapable of behaving normally? Perhaps. But rather than “mental disorder”, we should be talking about wilful blindness or aggravated short-sightedness or even ostrich-like behaviour (facing danger with one’s head in the sand).
I tend to favour the dictionary’s second definition, provided that it is extended from the individual to the collective.
The classic analysis of alienation (Entfremdung) can be found in Marx’s 1844 Manuscripts. For the young Marx, alienation is the process by which the products of human activity, labour and production, become independent of their creators and take the form of an autonomous power, which escapes their control and opposes them as hostile and alien.
This is the case with commodities, the global market, fossil fuels, industrial agriculture, productivism and consumerism. In fact, industrial civilisation as a whole has become an uncontrollable power, turning against its creators and threatening to destroy them. It is a kind of impersonal “automaton” system, operating according to its own rules, perfectly based on precise mathematical calculations (of profit and loss). The New Titanic sails under automatic control, a system that is fiercely defended by those who enjoy the privileges of this luxury ship.
The worst can still be avoided. We can still break out of the vicious circle of alienation and regain control of navigation. We can still change course. But time is running out …
Let’s Change Course
Who are these young people who are trying, with inexhaustible energy, to wake up the passengers of the New Titanic and break the deadly spell of commercial alienation? The new generation is increasingly aware that in a few decades it will be up to them to “pay the bill” for the blindness of those who today hold power, be it economic or political. It understands very well that the problem lies not just with the governments - whose inertia is obvious, and is reflected in the spectacular failure of dozens of COP meetings - but with the economic system in place (i.e. modern industrial capitalism). This awareness is reflected in the slogan of countless demonstrations since the Copenhagen Conference in 2009: “Change the system, not the climate!” Because, as Greta Thunberg sums it up perfectly: “It is mathematically impossible to solve the climate crisis within the framework of the current political and economic system”.
Greta Thunberg - called a “witch” by fascists, neo-fascists and reactionaries of all stripes - has undeniably played a catalytic role in mobilising young people for the climate. Her 2019 call for a global climate strike was followed by 1.6 million young people in 125 countries around the world, and her call for 20 September 2019 by 7 million! The covid-19 crisis undoubtedly slowed down this mobilisation, but it is starting up again, in a thousand different forms: Friday for Future, Global Climate Strike, Extinction Rebellion, Youth for Climate, etc.
Summing up the spirit of this generation, Greta Thunberg recently declared: “We won’t give in without a fight.” The fighting spirit of young people is our main hope of avoiding a collective shipwreck.
(Previously published in Ecorev No. 53, Paris, Dec. 2022)