Eco-Socialism or Extinction

If humanity is to survive, capitalism must be eliminated!

The deterioration of the global biosphere is approaching a catastrophic crisis. This is not a natural disaster but the direct result of the operation of a social system which prioritizes pursuit of private profit over all else.

Humanity faces a choice between socialism or barbarism as our planet becomes increasingly less habitable. Human survival requires ending the capitalist system of production for profit by expropriating the existing apparatus of industrial production, communication, transport and finance in order to initiate the creation of a rational, egalitarian, planned economy which prioritizes the common good.

Yves Engler is running for the leadership of the NDP because he considers it urgently necessary to challenge the existing irrational capitalist system and the growing threat it poses to human survival. He is committed to helping build a militant mass movement, centered on working people, with the goal of breaking the power of the existing billionaire oligarchy.

In 2020, Greta Thunberg, the famous climate prodigy, insightfully commented:

“Recently a new scientific report was published by scientists from Uppsala University and the Tyndall Centre in the UK. It shows that if rich countries like Sweden and the UK are to fulfil their commitments to the Paris Agreement’s well-below 2°C target they need to reduce their total national emissions of CO2 by 12-15% every year, starting now.

“Of course there’s no ‘green recovery plan’ or ‘deal’ in the world that alone would be able to achieve such emission cuts. And that’s why the whole ‘green deal’ debate ironically risks doing more harm than good, as it sends a signal that the changes needed are possible within today’s societies.”
—time.com, 10 July 2020

For decades the growing danger of impending ecological collapse has been widely discussed by top Canadian and international authorities, but little substantial change has taken place. This is because it is “irrational” for capitalists to prioritize the biosphere over pursuit of profit. Capitalism is driven by a single imperative—profit maximization—and any corporation which deviates very far from this immutable principle faces bankruptcy.

It is possible, in theory, to win concessions—e.g., significant investments in mass transit or transitioning to safe nuclear energy via the use of thorium (rather than uranium) to power reactors. But history shows that all major reforms under capitalism come from social struggle that potentially threaten the status quo.

Capitalism is a historically retrograde social system which poses an acute and imminent danger to human survival; it must be transcended by socialism. Working people, whose labor drives all economic activity, are in a strategic position in the struggle to preserve and restore the ecosystem. It is vital that in the course of a socialist transition, workers in industries which need to be downsized or eliminated (e.g., petrochemicals) must be guaranteed jobs with equal or better pay and working conditions.

Yves Engler wants to see the NDP transformed into a party committed to organizing working people, and all other victims of capitalism, to fight for a socialist future–one in which security, equality and material well-being are guaranteed for all and the protection of the biosphere is an urgent social priority.