Why We Need More Than Solarpunk
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
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In this Our Changing Climate climate change video essay, I look at the importance of speculative climate fiction, sci-fi, and utopias for political movements. Specifically, I look at various short stories, films, and books that introduce us to worlds beyond capitalism, that have, in their own way addressed our ecological and climate crisis.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:49 - Should We Dream of the Future?
5:09 - Visions of the Future
16:29 - Building Futures
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All About Climate: / @allaboutclimate
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#climatechange #sciencefiction #art
📚What are some of your favorite climate stories or speculative fictions?
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_Cries in debit card_ :(
Even as a great lady like Ursula K LeGuin says "any human power can be resisted, change..." However climate change and global warming are not
human power based issues nor can be just changed by wishful thinking or mere story telling (fictional or scientific). That change she speaks of, and many hope for, has always been violent and unfair for the majority. That change is being set by the 1% upon the rest 99%. Just because the public is angry and out with a trash loudspeaker (made in china) does not guarantee, even less pre-empt any change. Your story or claim needs evidence. When have we changed for the better during the last 10,000 years and how?
While I do have some strong logistical criticisms of anarchism as an end goal, I do think it really has a place in building a socialist future, anarchism has very important lessons to teach about how to build an effective and resilient activist movement, and shows how co-ops, strong unions, and green integrated communities have a place in a world where a balance is struck between a larger scale Truely representee, democratic, de-colonized, just worldwide government and local power structures.
The future is inclusive. Lots of wonderful stuff in this video but it gives me the impression that American academics are distracted with the counter-productive notion that everything bad = white people stuff. This kind of language isn’t only incorrect (most poor Americans are white fyi); it’s also the main reason most American white people vote for right wing politicians.
This language does more harm to the movement that beautiful videos like this.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.
It's a dystopian future where companies have used genetic engineering on humans and plants. The plants have copyright. So wars are about people starving over copyright infringement.
Oryx and Crake by Canadian Margaret Atwood.
Again, genetic engineering in a post apocalyptic dystopian future. Corporations own walled cities.
I feel like neither of these are directly about just climate change. But climate change and Capitalism both seem to be a foundation for the settings in the novels.
A big attitude that needs to change is the idea that "more is better". Instead, "Enough is best". Enough to be healthy and comfortable. We can go a little beyond that to make our surroundings beautiful. But anything beyond enough must have indefinitely sustainable as it's top priority.
"enough is best" wow, yes. How the heck do we get that slogan to be taken up as a core principle?
It feels so hard as a poor person to not sort of hoard things out of fear that you might one day need them.
I can't speak much for people with money who hoard. I've been benefitted by those with money who rapidly cycle old things out for new. Some people with money want to just give away perfectly good items because they want something new. That seems ok. But I know there's people who keep everything, even when they're not using it and they have a new replacement.
@@g0d5m15t4k3 it depends on what you are "hoarding". Things that have a high likelihood of making one more self sufficient is wise to keep. Things that you probably won't use is better bartered for something you will.
Then there's the "organized boneyard". Possibly useful things to yourself or the community that currently has no use.
Better to store it in an organized manner than throw it in the trash.
Demand for stuff that has no purpose in meeting our needs is what I'm referring to. Either because it doesn't do anything more than what we already have. Or because it's purely emotional/adrenaline based entertainment.
It’s also worth noting that if we leveled all of the world’s affluence right now, and redistributed from the Koch-level trillionaires to all the least among us … for nearly everyone - *including* in the U.S.A. and across Western Europe - that would mean a *lift* in lifestyle. So certainly “enough is best,” but also: for nearly all people, a world in which resources, production, and commodities are managed equitably wouldn’t mean a diminution in living space, comforts, entertainments, and health; it’d mean an *increase* in all of those, across the board.
@@danopticon currently we are over consuming. So a leveling of wealth won't do. A reduction in overall affluence, of dead things, is necessary.
Not only that, but we need to think of *what* we consume as well. We don’t need NFTs. We don’t need easy access to soda and energy drinks everywhere you go. We dont need ads in every place your eyeballs look.
While I agree with and enjoy this video, I think Black Panther is VERY out of place here. It doesn't represent a progressive solarpunk society. It's an ultra-protectionist, highly imperialist (remember, Wakanda didn't just find and share vibranium, they waged wars for it) ethnostate. Their whole society rests on mining finite resources. The ONLY reason they're even eco-friendly is because that's what's most profitable for them. Their main focus is extracting the miracle metal from their mines, it's eco-friendliness is pyrely coincidental. They're capitalist at heart. Wakanda doesn't represent a future beyond capitalism, it and their sci-fi metal represents the "innovations will reconcile capitalism and climate change" narrative.
ssshhhh, they don't like when you speak facts.
@@metoriltNani?
Same disease different mask
@@metoriltWho are they?
This video has a lot of "woke" influence. For a woke, African means liberation. But in reality, it's just another culture and aesthetics. Pretty much a self-hate because capitalism emotional rejection. Instead of a healthy critic on capitalism defects (and other systems) they choose an emotional rejection where capitalism is always bad, and other alternatives are overestimated.
It may not seem related, but the idea of showing the world what is ideal relates to what I've been doing at my job. My workplace has old clunky programs and ways of doing things, and brought me in to help envision a newer, nicer user interface that is easier to use and benefits all who work there. Once I finally showed my designs, everyone lit up and told me that once they were able to see what was possible, they felt way more motivated to pivot in that direction and get out of the tangled funk they were in. I know I'm tooting my own horn, but that's why I love being a designer! People don't know what they truly want until they see it. I feel the same way about these utopias.
:~) you go!
Hopelessness creeps in quietly and is so hard to notice our snap out of it once it’s there… but sometimes all needed is the first pebble to ripple a fantastic change. :)
this is exactly what i love about graphic and ui/ux design so much too! i went the more technical route with computer science, but i got a minor in studio arts where i focused in printmaking, letterpress, etc. i love bridging the gap between the technical and artistic, theyre not too dissimilar really! but yeah, it's a great feeling--always toot your own horn, be proud! i think creating art and just Making things in general is the closest thing we have to magic.
Like you do it in your job, a Utopia has to be designed too in many ways.
The problem I see in that is to invent a flawless and timeless design for everybody, everywhere is likely impossible.
So in my conclusion humanity as a whole cannot rely on an utopic design or the designer only, but rather has to addapt, has to struggle to achieve that utopia step by step together.
You should read the concept of an utopia, an ideal state, by Platon, he had a focus on the political side of things but the partially extreme ways he was thinking about how to achieve that state are pretty adaptable to modern problems and show the struggle and the changes we have to finally go through, 2400 years after Platon wrote that.
William Morris (yes, the Victorian wallpaper designer) is a very underrated voice on this subject. He was essentially an eco-anarchist. His view in ‘News from Nowhere’ is absolutely beautiful and need to be more widely read - it goes into detail about how beauty and art need to play a part in our future
Ok but you got me with "Victorian wall paper designer" for some reason 😂. I am now looking into him further.
@@g0d5m15t4k3 same! Especially philosopher wall paper! 😮
It's a great book. The houses if parliament is used to store horseshit.
We must hold onto hope and fight for what is possible. They want us to be hopeless and to give up. They want to make the world seem sp bad its not worth fighting for but it is. So long as we exist and are capable of love. It will always be worth fighting for the hope of it
Who's 'they'?
@@jeffbrownstain Fossil fuel companies mainly. And they people the lobby for.
@@magicmarker7658 Also I wasn't asking you.
@@jeffbrownstain Well I was answering, if the commentor wants to answer in a different way, I won’t stop him.
The right attitude is the will not quit attitude especially when it is framed around the need for system change to create a more healthy, sustainable society for our future. I believe we've got to try, because even if we don't get a Earth-wide system change to happen, if we get any significant success stories in communities and countries around the world - that is better than never having achieved that at all, and just letting capitalism destroy everything.
Please consider doing videos on these topics that billionaires are promoting: effective altruism, lifeboat ethics, pronatalism, and Longtermism. Please read Julia black’s insider article on billionaires promoting pronatalism. Anything billionaires are doing needs to be watched carefully with suspicion
"pronatalism" sounds like pure evil to me, just Brave New World tier dystopia
Yes and no. You give these HUMANS far more credit for their intelligence than most of them deserve.
A lot of these people can't even put on their own shoes without someone else's help.
There is no one in charge, it's just a headless blunder eating its own tail.
Hahahahaha! You're funny. Next I suppose you're going to tell me that that Elon Musk is working on a perpetual motion machine.
@elizabeth davis Pronatalism smells a lot like eugenics rebranded.
Eww pronatalism. They just want to have more cheap workers and consumers in the future. Antinatakism and natalneutrality threatens their control and forever growth mentality
Dude I started crying while watching this video. With all that struggle I go through as an eco-anarchist, with all these dreams I picture in my head every single day, this video sums up everything that I have to say about why we need utopian thinking. I am currently trying to build a newtopia with a group of other anarchists after a similar style as our fellows did in the little german village Lützerath, which was occupied by activists to prevent an energy company to dig out the coal underneath it, and really the only thing that keeps me fighting is the big dream of a better world. It may not be a perfect world, but it's a world where we can finally thrive peacefully. And I am so emotionally connected to it, I really just started crying to your words. Thank you so so much for everything. Never stop believing. This world is not lost yet. ♥
Great video! This reminded me of why I got tired of science fiction movies. All the "foreign worlds" look the same to me since they were created by people with very similar life experiences. A world of worlds is what we deserve
Yeah, good point. I've watched a fair bit of sci-fi movies and there aren't very many creative, inspiring new models of society. And even less that actually focus on how to get to a new, exciting, healthy, sustainable social system. The biggest contrast I can draw is between Star Wars and Star Trek. Star Wars is a world with advanced technologies like light sabres, death rays and flying vehicles but also still has poverty, currency, debts to pay, politics and, of course, war! Whereas in Star Trek, there is no money, markets or economic classes. Advanced technology is used to meet all those needs, abundantly. This isn't a key part of the story in the Star Trek movies, as far as I know, which is part of my disappointment, but it does come up more in the Star Trek: Next Generation TV series, especially in one episode where Captain Picard explains how a moneyless society works and what the motivation is to do anything.
The only movie I've seen recently that I'd recommend to all is a indie movie called InterReflections by Peter Joseph, who wrote The New Human Rights Movement book. That's something to look forward to and be inspired by.
@@coolioso808 Very true. My college philosophy class introduced me to Star Trek: The Next Generation and I enjoyed watching the episodes and dissecting them; the show presented a world quite different from ours and carved space to investigate the Self, Knowledge, Humanity within that world. Meanwhile, Star Wars has felt much more commercial, especially with the most recent releases - I hear Clone Wars is surprisingly nuanced, though I haven't seen it myself. Still, I'd be curious to see what big blockbuster franchises would look like (and address) if their writers were by non-White and non-Western. Black Panther is only one of those two, and it looked so different than anything I'd seen before.
Anyway, thanks for the rec! I'll check that movie out.
@@sybillelegitime4709 No problem. Another, more modern show, that might be of interest to watch and dissect would be The Orville by Seth Macfarlane. He was a big Star Trek nerd himself growing up and this Orville show mirrors that a lot, has a bit more humour but still that futuristic world without money. At least as far as I've been aware, they don't' have to deal in money, everybody has the things they need. The show is more about exploration and diplomacy, as well as dealing with natural human failures and insecurities.
I did see Black Panther and thought Wakanda was the first world in Africa I've seen depicted to be highly technical and providing a high quality of life for all.
I'm open to any other futuristic movies that might give a bit more insight and inspiration as to how humanity could evolve.
This topic plunged our Chatroom into an in depth discussion about the value of an idealized future. And also about dialectical materialism, because we’re nerds.
Hope this does too.
Whitepaper: A Societal System Based on Mutual Respect and Personal Responsibility:
Appreciation & Accountability
Introduction: Our current systems of law and governance have proven to be flawed, with power imbalances and injustices prevalent throughout history. However, we believe that a system based on mutual respect and personal responsibility can provide a framework for a fair and equal society.
How it Works: This system is based on individual autonomy, diversity of opinion, consensus building, transparency, and accountability. Individuals are free to make their own choices and express their opinions, but they must also take responsibility for their actions. A diversity of opinions is encouraged, but consensus is built around shared goals and values. Transparency ensures that decisions are made in the best interests of the system as a whole.
Implementation: To implement this system, individuals must first recognize the value of mutual respect and personal responsibility. They must understand that their choices and actions have an impact on the system as a whole, and that they are accountable for those actions. This can be achieved through education and awareness campaigns, encouraging individuals to understand the importance of their role in the system.
In addition, mechanisms for facilitating dialogue and debate should be implemented. This can include public forums, social media platforms, and other means of communication that allow for a diversity of opinions to be expressed. These mechanisms should also be transparent, ensuring that all individuals have access to the same information and can make informed decisions.
Accountability mechanisms should also be put in place to ensure that individuals are held responsible for their actions. This can include legal mechanisms, such as contracts and agreements, as well as informal mechanisms, such as peer pressure and community norms. By holding individuals accountable for their actions, the system can ensure that everyone is contributing to the greater good.
Potential Challenges: While we believe that this system has the potential to create a more just and equitable society, there are also potential challenges that must be addressed. If individuals are not willing to take responsibility for their actions, or if consensus cannot be reached, the system may fail. Additionally, if there is a lack of diversity of opinion, the system may become stagnant and unproductive.
Solutions to Potential Challenges: To prevent individuals from shirking their responsibility, accountability mechanisms should be put in place, and individuals should be encouraged to acknowledge their mistakes. To prevent a lack of diversity of opinion, mechanisms for facilitating dialogue and debate should be implemented. In addition, the system should be designed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing for changes and improvements to be made as needed.
Hopeful Message: We believe that a system based on mutual respect and personal responsibility has the potential to create a more just and equitable society. By valuing individual autonomy, diversity of opinion, consensus building, transparency, and accountability, we can build a system that benefits everyone. While challenges may arise, we have faith in the power of this system to create positive change. By working together and holding ourselves accountable, we can create a better future for ourselves and future generations.
Appreciation, in the context of this conversation, refers to valuing and respecting the autonomy, dignity, and rights of others. It involves recognizing and appreciating the diversity of opinions, experiences, and perspectives that make up a society. With a focus on self-control, appreciation means regulating one's own behavior in a way that is considerate and respectful of others, and acknowledging the impact of one's actions on those around them.
Accountability, in the context of this conversation, refers to the recognition and acceptance of one's own role and responsibility in contributing to the larger system. It involves taking ownership of one's actions and the consequences that follow, and being willing to be held responsible for those actions. With a focus on self-control, accountability means recognizing that one's choices and actions have an impact on others and the larger system, and taking responsibility for regulating one's own behavior in a way that is respectful, considerate, and responsible.
To implement automation for this system, a decentralized communication platform and a system of decision-making that prioritizes consensus-building and collaboration would be essential. Additionally, the establishment of clear and transparent rules and principles would help to guide individuals and groups in their interactions with each other and ensure that everyone is held accountable for their behavior.
Ultimately, the success of this system would depend on the willingness of individuals and groups to embrace the principles of respect, accountability, and self-control, and to work together towards a common goal of creating a just and equitable society.
Dialectical?
@@mikafizz1022 pertaining to the art of dialectics: put simply, an act of coming to Truth and Concensus via various types of Debate.
Hey, I wonder where a discussion about One Small Town by Michael Tellinger would go in your Chatroom? This is a Nowtopia idea where it's voluntary, ecologically sound and already starting in places in Africa and Lebanon, with lots of interest all over North America and the rest of the world.
I'd like to get a local discussion myself about these ideas.
@@mikafizz1022 Very simply said, our thoughts influenced our material reality and vice versa. As Marxists, we reject the metaphysical and focus on changing the material reality of people. But because of what I just said, something like an idealized future, while only existing in thought, can have a real impact on our actions. Look up “dialectical materialism”, someone has definitely already made a video explaining it way better than I could.
Speculative sci-fi writer reporting in! Couldn't agree with you more, what we do is activism more often than not, and we should all continue dreaming of better futures together. :)
Excellent video! All creation starts in imagination.
One side point: I don’t think we lost the divine right of kings, it just changed form. There are lots of world leaders and CEOs who have fanatic unyielding support. Plus most of our stories still use the chosen one formula, aka the right person will come along to solve the problems.
We're even taught history through a warped lens that deitifies select people, creating heroes and villains out of them that seemingly singlehandedly carried the entire motions of progress and conflict on their backs.
But that was never real. That's just individualism distorting our perspective of history. Such a lens ignores the push and pull of the nameless masses and their common knowledge, how they lived and what they believed, that give political and millitary leaders their power, and who also often took their power back, sometimes very loudly crashing entire systems of government to the ground in the process.
Power is always a borrowed thing. At every moment, every individual in every group that is following someone's lead in any way is individually making the decision to keep following those motions for as long as they still belong in that group, for one reason or another (usually it's the very feedback loop of the group itself that keeps the individual hands tied). But when the waves suddenly completely change throughout the entire mass, often after a long setup process that telegraphed the incoming change, power structures completely collapse pretty much instantly, proving that at the end of the day, they were always just an illusion that holds only by the work of the masses themselves.
Without this crucial understanding, people who want change are stuck feeling Atlas syndrome, and trying to carry the weight of the entire world on their backs all by themselves. Of course they're inevitably crushed by that weight, then. We cannot expect to change the world alone.
The modern equivalent is the attitude to "trust the experts" - this phrase suggests that the common person is too ignorant to know whats best for them which is essentially the divine right of kings to decide everyones fate since only they speak to god. I have had this argument with many educated experts that by denying the common man the input into the governing process they are disenfranchised and will feel no investment in the outcome. Climate activists commit this sin all the time, telling the common man to go along with decisions made by kings and experts that they had zero input into.
@@rrmackay No, these are not the same. The "divine right of kings"/"chosen one" is a role people were born into, and possessed only by existing. In the present day it translates to inheriting a big corporate conglomerate or loads of money from wealthy parents.
Experts aren't _born_ experts. They gained that title through thousands of hours of study of the field they became experts of. That work is the foundation that gives any credence to the things they say. If that work turned out to be illegitimate, then they wouldn't be experts. In choosing not to trust climate activists, you've implicitly trusted the word of Big Oil, who've been telling people not to trust climate activists for decades, and have no valid credentials to speak of. There are people out there who call themselves "experts" even though they are not, because they lack the necessary proof of work, or the proof of work turned out to be fake, or they were caught lying, betraying the trust that being an expert in the field granted them. But you won't find those people among climate activists. I'm not asking you to trust the word of climate activists, but _please,_ do NOT trust Big Oil.
@@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7 While I understand your point the result is the same. The people who blindly follow the experts don't research their background, they don't know anything more about a given expert than they did about the king. They assume that since the media tells them that this person is an expert that they must be omniscient.
The result is the same, immediate acceptance of their right to guide society based on claimed yet potentially unfounded assertions.
@@rrmackay I agree that trust the experts is a lazy way of convincing people, but that doesn’t mean the experts are wrong. Too many people take that illogical leap and focus too much on potential conflicts of interest among experts instead of among those telling you not to trust the experts.
How can one go through this whole video and comments and not see one mention of Star Trek? Unlike other big sci-fi franchises, it has always been the one that talked about a hopeful future. I mean it's not perfect but in genre of dystopia after dystopia it does stand out as what can be possible after humanity goes through a big struggle, comes together, fixes all of these problems we face and then takes to the stars.
Yea but they had a third world war before they managed to evolve. Also, humanity didnt save themselves, it was vulcans who intervened I think?
However, I wouldn't be surprised if another E.T. race intervened with us at this point because we are destroying an entire planet and honestly, what IS surprising these days?
Ish? The problem with the Star Trek vision of the future is that it never goes into how the Federation actually works. We never see what a normal person's daily life in the Federation is like. We only get some glimpses of critique from a Federation citizen's POV in DS-9, where Sisko visits our present or our recent history. But we never learn what changed. We're told that the Federation doesn't have racial problems, but how was that accomplished? Universal Basic Income? Reparations? Education? What did they do about reactionary dissent? The Federation isn't an aspirational future because you're just told that it magically has none of the problems that modern society does. Honestly, going just based on the show, I would argue that the Federation is a military dictatorship ruled by Starfleet through a puppet republic. Not exactly my, or anyone else currently living's, idea of a Utopia.
@sophiejones3554 I think they leave those things vague on purpose. But what you're describing is more in line with Starship Troopers than Trek. I haven't went to deep into the back story but we know that ww3 happens and that after first contact, humanity rallies behind a common goal to fix social issues. As to how that happens, I don't know if there is any explanation, but the things you listed would be a good start.
Maybe because a space civilization is incompatible with "degrowth" and romantic country-side "eco-anarchism". There are hierarchies there (functional ones) and huge amounts of energy, coming from two sides: technology and evolved human values. I see a no-go when distopian futurists do not include space development (maybe related to the "colonization" taboo), seeing it as a escapism to let Earth die, instead of seeing it as the huge oportunity both in resources, and to move dirty industries out of the biosphere (including food production ones). Space colonization is not the enemy of ecologism, but the only thing that can save it in the long term. Life on Earth has already spent 90% of it's window of oportunity here, in 500 my the Sun will erase this planet so sooner or later life must find its way out of here. Between capitalist dystopias and Solarpunk, Star Trek lies in the fine line between them, the only one that I can contemplate as a viable option in the long term.
@@sophiejones3554 How they treat other species they meet is how they learned to treat each other as separate cultures.
It seems like the resources to survive are plentiful no matter the planet, unless it is a colony just starting out.
The big difference, is the drive for humanity's reason to live together in Star Trek, is basically what TOS and TNG both did at the beginning of every tv episode in their opening voice overs.
yes. you are right. all the videos i have ever seen about fighting capitalism are made by white people for white people. as an indian, I too want to inspire younger generation of my country people, but we here dont have the same level of technology or even understanding of climate change in order to show them a world where we could escape capitalism. but people here only care about money and are willing sacrifice nature without giving a second thought. its difficult to capture the urgency at this current rate. i am not a youtuber, i dont have the exact knowledge about talking these things, i am afraid of backlash, and incomplete video essays. i am afraid to counter argument with people who are climate deniers. how can i educate and inspire ?
th-cam.com/video/KtHuIlfyJao/w-d-xo.html
This is cool and happening in India
I also have a wish to inspire the people of my country (Bosnia and Herzegovina), andI say you can still try. I also don't have that much knowledge, but I can research and I probably know more about this than the average bosnian. As for the backlash, you can always do it anonymously
Well at least you have a few small left wing political parties left, better that than nothing...
The thing about capitalism that makes it so widely used, is that it is a system of using money as an intermediary to solve problems. "What I want to make requires additional hands." -> offer money to someone to be those additional hands -> repeat, that's how businesses first appeared. One person can't be everywhere at once, doing everything themselves, or learn everything something complex may require. So you would need a system that is even better at getting problems solved. Nobody has been able to create such a system so far. So the next-best thing, imo, would be to build a better version of capitalism that changes it from "greedy for money" to "greedy for a better future".
@@Vaeldarg That's just not true, though. So many of our massive modern achievements couldn't have come to fruition by the work of capitalists. For example, the internet.
Capitalists have one goal: profit. If they don't have a way to control access and monetize it, they have no interest in developing it. No matter what "it" is.
These are some of the ideas I hope to propagate. I've even used the same words as you. Planting seeds, breaking down barriers, exploration of ideas. To anyone who reads this comment, know you're not alone in your struggles.
"Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear that until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice are the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting."
- Superman. Action Comics # 775 (2001).
At least Superman wasn't a delusional Utopian believer. Even if the fight to the world he wants will be forever, he will take that fight.
Problem with most Utopian thinkers is that they think there fight will end. That Utopia is over the hill and if XYZ wasn't in the way we would be there.
That's how Regimes like Stalin and Lenin exist.
@@silverhawkscape2677 You got that right!
In the Whole Brain Child, they go into the neuroscience that makes storytelling so compelling. The short answer is that it forces the left and right side of the brain to both engage, helping them get back in sync. The logical progression of the structure engages your logical brain and the content engages your emotional brain.
It’s advice for toddlers to break tantrums but I’ve never stopped thinking about that.
I absolutely love the nebula group you've promoted. It's amazing to see creators coming to the same conclusions but in so many different ways!
My utopia is: most adults are decent, kind to each other and reasonable, calm and patient, not afraid to be less than others, not condescending to others and not controlling, self-aware - fully grown inside individuals.
How we achieve it - by creating a new moral codex, uniting decent people who support it in the struggle for power. The should be no excuse for lies, abuse, double standards, hatred speach and suppression of our voices, I believe that more healthy society is the only way for more healthy people to grow.
And we need to be as close as we can to what we see as our future. Look at the Communist party of the Russian Dederation - a currupt organization comprised of rich enterpreneurs, with a dramatic imballance of power, where corrupt people hold their top positions despite showing zero efficiency, and people being punished for having their own opinion - what kind of "communism" can they bring about?
I absolutely love that quote in the beginning!! That's exactly why I've been interested in designing tools that help everyday people visualize their ideas of the future in community with other folks' visions.
We need to make it far easier for many people to actually envision and build better futures together!!
Nice Ashley C. Ford quote:
The goal of opporessors is to limit your imagination about what is possible without them.
❤
I had solarpunk as a topic for my research in one of subjects I took in college which was Environmental Science. It was an essay of some kind about a year ago, seeing this theme spreadout makes me hope for the environmental change
I've been slowly sculpting a story set in what I believe to be a society that I would like to live in, but still fraught with systemic issues that haven't completely left. It's great to know that there's actually a space for it!
Hi OCC, can u accompany this video with a hashtag? That part towards the end there where you describe a utopian Chicago, people could use your hashtag to make videos in the same style describing their own utopias and how they were achieved.
It would be a positive fun youtube collab project for the community.
i like this idea!
It's so refreshing to find content thats informative about the realistic complexities about all the possible solutions and ways we can change our worlds and societies for the better - its so hopeful.
This video is beautiful and I love its focus on imagining our future
I agree!
A lot of those dreams of the future always represent something where only the small local area matters. In most of them you don't see big events or museums or big and immersive movie theaters... And it is understandable. A lot of people couldn't care less about this stuff. A lot of people wouldn't mind living in a small villa. A few of my friends even want to buy a small farm to live there. But that's not all of us. There are people who also enjoy going to concerts with lots of people. Some of us love to go to a huge stadium watch their favorite team play. Some of us would love to go on a museum to see a HUGE 6-story tall exposition about human's technological evolution, from music to drawing to wheel to printing press to plane to nuclear fusion... Some of us wants to travel around the world and visit different sights and cities and trails and parks. Some of us wants to take part on a gigantic convention about a shared interest.
And to me it feels that those visions of the future never accommodate for those desires too. It feels like they were made buy cottage core lovers for cottage core lovers. I'd love to find ones that are not like that. If there aren't any, then maybe this should be my struggle.
Well there are different ideas for instance in an anarchist utopia you would have no state but instead large communities scattered around with varying cultures and ways of life. In this situation your community would only house about 500 people each (maybe 5,000 if there is a group of communities that wish to conglomerate into a city living space) and youd be free to travel from one to the next if you wish.
Scholars and philosophers have already solved all of these issues, we just need to try something different that is being reccomended but those in power refuse to let us do so. I think it will be easier once we have the help of A.I.
Agreed, there must be a balance of all things, nature and society must never overtake one another but must be in even balance, green fields and lush forest paradise must be there as much as town/city living should be for if one side is dominant then the other will suffer no matter what and that is not the true way of the world.
@@DharmaVibes What? Only 500 people per community how on earth would that work? How would you distribute resources, there is no state to build a water treatment plant and redistribute rivers so that isolated communities can get water too? So the people who get to live near rivers and rich farm land get to eat but the people living in rocky barren areas get nothing? How did you kick everyone out of their communities because we are not allowed anything bigger than a village of 500 people? Where do the 8 million+ people living in New York City go when you inforce this anarchy and basically every town and city on the planet?
What happens when the community 2 miles down the road loses all their crops and they are starving and they show up out side the gates of your community with pickaxes, knives and hammers because they are not going to let their children starve to death. Remember theres no state so no police, national gaurd or army are coming to help you. When a community of 500 people decide their culture and tradition is to violantly raid other communities with clubs and knives for food, water, materials and people for sa what do you do then?
Actually wild that you could even consider this being a viable social structure. This is what happens when the privlages of a capitalist society is taken for granted.
@@metorilt you are right, there is a log way ahead for solving all of those issues, and in the end these kind of utopias fail on the same spot:they forget about the context of the real world and focus to much in the small and local communities.
World si so big and so complex that we can not even imagine how to solve this whiteout questing in the loop of thinking small, may be the conglomerate ideas and the cooperative sistems are the right path but there is so much that isnt take in count.
I guess we all love to imagine living in a world full of lush green forest and cities of peace and cooperation, but this seems so unrealistic some times that we discard it and get on the labor that keep getting us away from a future like this.
There is a few political projects and parties that aim to start clearing the way for real solutions. For example there is project Migala in Mexico that his goal is to make a more cooperative sistem and fulfill the basics necessities of the population, but as I said, there is a long way ahead
@@metorilt that was literally just one possibility which I gave, ONE. There are many more solutions but I would have to write you an entire essay on all the solutions.
Yes all of our problems have been solved and a lot of the solutions are regarding changes to the agricultural sector. We have found ways to reduce water usage by 90% but we refuse to do so. We have discovered that we could grow enough food to feed the planet if we reduced the amount of beef we consume but corporations rake in profits from beef so we arent changing. There is no need for oil wars because we can easily solve the energy crisis with alternative energy technologies such as nuclear and maybe something else which A.I. can help us discover.
There are just so many things here to unpack, I would have to give you an entire lesson on what we are currently capable of but are unwilling to change due to the corporate powers blocking our path.
We can solve homelessness, we can solve the mental health crisis... so many issues in our planet have solutions that professionals have spent their lives trying to figure out but we refuse to follow through with any of it because the people who rule this planet are uninterested in those solutions.
Not the ai generated thumbnail…
Saving this for later, as you've just perfectly encapsulated most of the concepts behind a project I've been working on very slowly for years. It's often hard to stay motivated, to make progress without getting bogged down by the ever growing number of skills I need to either learn or somehow delegate, and all the small details that have to agree and align with each other for the bigger picture to be seen from the right distance and by as many eyes as possible. All that tends to cause me to lose sight of what I'm even doing it all for, so I stop working and go back to thinking all day... Anyway, this is the kind of reminder I needed today. I'm sure I'll need it again soon.
Love your vids. Been waiting for this one. Thank you so very much!
On a side note, I listen to these on head phones, and your S's hurt every time. Totally worth it though.
Ursula Gunn
Material changes.
Dialectics.
Zapatistas.
I love the energy here. As Engels once said, let’s get that bread.
Brilliant. Thank you for all the amazing reading resources. The term "appropiate abundance" resonated with me so much. We can all together, head towards a better future.
Your videos are always super well produced, but I think this sort of topic would be much better served by bringing on and interviewing a BIPOC organizer, creative/artist/academic that could talk about what they're doing to support afro-futurism and how the impacts people's lives on the ground. Hearing the voices of those creating future visions would be more powerful.
What would make it more powerful?
Just an issue with the intro quote; kings did not have round the clock surveillance, the ability to take your wealth without even being physically present, unmanned aircraft and assault vehicles and the ability to strike almost anywhere on the planet within minutes.
That’s a ridiculous comparison to our current situation, which is about to get much worse with the advent of AI.
Exactly. I remember the so called Mark of the Beast and how only those with the Mark can buy and sell.
Problem is, in the olden days this would be IMPOSSIBLE to enforce especially since it would be easy for merchants to hide who they were selling to.
Today? Unless you are using cash and it's accepted, A Digital only world would Make only those approved to buy and sell an enforceable reality.
I've been dreaming of a utopia for years and started building my mission step by step everyday. I got into making music, started a social work degree and started getting into politics so that I can make my way to prime minster of my country.
Selling the dream is the goal, creating it will follow.
Then prepare for disappointment when Utopia predictably never comes out as dreamed.
O boy can't wait for the killing fields 2
Thank you. This was inspiring. I wasn't aware of the Solarpunk genre, but I've been looking for visions of a better tomorrow and this video and that term provide a great starting point!
Seeing this is so awesome because I've been writing and drawing ideas for a future world I'm hoping for :)
!
Utopias will never catch on if they are frames as "anti-" whatever. They need a positive, constructive ideal.
You done some great research for this video
Great video! Will definitely be watching this one several times.
Just wanted to say that this new thumbnail is way more catching than the last one (if I’m remembering correctly). Nice work, this one rocks B)
Love this content! I learn so much more meaningful topics from OCC than from my uni classes. I would love to see a video on climate reparations.
We shouldn’t be asking for things to be perfect, but we should spend every day trying to get closer and get better. That’s the essence of practice, we keep trying, changing some things along the way. But it all starts with a small step, we need to apply the rules of practice to our society, for now we start with something small, then while we get the hang of fixing the climate we increase the scope, we can start with say a wind turbine bill or nuclear energy research. Afterwards we can do big things like rejoining the Paris climate agreement, breaking a transition into steps instead of making some far off goal, telling others that we ARE going to go green. Really just all the basic rules of sticking to learning an instrument or a skill can be applied, however this will only work if america isn’t constantly being held back by it’s own corruption.
Absolutely outstanding video mate!!
I'm actually bringing a book out next month, that shows a different, attainable way of living! Nice timing OCC! 🙂
Future is uncertain, we make the future, there for we should see all types of possibilities to make a brighter future.
Excellent video. You've motivated me to continue writing and finish my book.
What's your book on?
@@andy9735 Lol, probably a computer! 😂 Just joking of course...
@@andy9735 I'm writing a hard sci-fi taking part in an undetermined time in the future of our solar systm.
I am trying to combine fantasy themes (giants, dragons, angels, imps, revenants, etc.) into a world where it's all explainable with known scientific principles that don't rely on the dicovery of new physics.
I am trying to use various civilizations on each planel to show different types of societies and historical contexts ranging from totalitarian hyper-capitalism, imperialist theocratic autocracy, social democracy, democratic socialism, a state born from the liberation of an artificial race that was manifactured as slaves, space nomads that have moving communes, space pirates and even a civilization that decided that it's problems stemmed from there being many people and thus they "all became multiple versions of one individual thus they're all one person, all 30 billion of him"
As the story will go on my goal is to portray the abandonment of the nostalgia of a better, idealized pasts and instead focus on ways to make better futures.
If my setting can go on I am hoping to have a conclusion for each of my civilzations where despite not being ideal they'll be radically better, some ending with reform and others with revolution.
@@Robert_McGarry_Poems No joking, computers are a godsend.
with the amount of rewriting and worldbuilding I'm making I would have filled a small bookshelf.
@@fl00fydragon cool
I needed a future to dream about, because before that, I had nothing to fight for.
Sure, I was invested in climate justice, but it all seemed rather futile. I discovered Solarpunk first, and that became my dream. And when I kept researching, I discovered that socialism could give me that dream. So now I fight for it. I needed the dream to show me the way to the future.
You ever read ted reese?
idk how solarpunk led to socialism, those seem unrelated I like the idea of solarpunk but yet I despise socialism
@@Akrafena do you not understand the connection between the two?
@@karlmarx7511 one hates the exploitiation of the environment, while one hates the exploitation of the workers
@Akrafena I'm guessing your not familiar with marx's contributions to ecology and man's relationship with nature?
Really interesting video! Thanks for the shout out :)
The further reading and resources link seems to be broken. Please update. I hope it includes the names/links of the stories and media you covered
This has actually made me pivot my art journey. Im not very good now, but using my art to create beautiful worlds and people seems so wonderful. While it will take time for me to get there, i hope one day ill be able to make someone see how beautiful the world could be through my creation. I know its no major action too changing the world, but i hope it at least amounts to something
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING WILLIAM MORRIS. A truly truly underrated voice in this discussion!!!!
I really appreciate the attention to LeGuin and anarchism. It's important to know these things and it's still just so tough to talk about it to people.
YES! Show the challenges and the flexibility that is there to overcome them.
A.G.
Thank you so much, I loved this ✨
i love your videos, they make me feel like at least some people are paying attention, and give me some hope. thank you
Thank you for highlighting “The Dispossessed,” it is an important and essential book about what anarchism is and could be. I would like to add LeGuin’s “Always Coming Home,” to the reading list, it equally expresses anarchist thoughts, but in an even more relevant setting and manner.
1:52 His name was Friedrich Engels, not Fredrich x(
Could we get a list of all the media referenced in this? I want to add it to my reading list
Oh it's in the description nevermind!
As an aside, I like your smooth motion tracking
my problem with solarpunk is that it's been drenched in greenwashing that isn't quite realistic for what is actually feasible. Skyscrapers covered in plants is not as environmentally friendly as a lot of the art i've seen wants you to think. I want more stories that actually take a deeper look into what would make a true utopia by breaking down our preconceptions of what a utopia is. I'm tired of the same old eco drenched sci fi.
What's real and what works often flies in the face of what is desirable.
People need to get over their fantasies and get with the program.
A voice of reason, thank you.
How have I not found this channel before!
Great video, my current visions of eco utopias is being *orange pilled* by Jason from *Not Just Bikes* 😀👍💯
This is an incredible video. I would love to hear if people now of more nowtopias in Europe, as I would like to migrate my company to a place with a more intricate connection to nature
At age 50 , a devstating devorace left me broke , homeless , and confused. I had yo keep liveing but how . To me renting a house and getting a 9 to 5 was no longer q reality . That life left me scorned .
I finally got some money from the estate settlement. I bought land and a used rv . Slowly after 6 years I've built a small offgrid cabin ,
Loseing basicly everything , and little cash to start over . Much thought was put into ,what do I really need .
Water , shelter , food , lights are a luxury. But with solar i can have lights . I have developed a minimalist lifestyle . I'm doing my part . Peace y'all.
Thank you, we need a lot more content and thinking like this. Organizing in the climate movement is hard, theres a lot of doomerism and black pill thinking which is the opposite of what is needed to build a mass movement.
I often tell people that a 2-3 degree C world in which everyone has housing, community, and universal healthcare might very well be a world in which more people are happy than a capitalist world with no climate change.
Great ideas here
the Disposessed is my favorite book since i was 17 years old
it inspired me to become active to question privileges and anything I posses
if any of you is reading this please do yourself a favor as (I didnt want to say it but) it changed my life. (so cheesy haha)
Aand i would add "a spaceborn few" by becky chambers to the list it is beautifully written and helped me imagine what fully circular economy could actually mean and how society could thrive despite being basically locked up for multiple thousands of years. (Disclaimer: to get some references it might be advisory to read the long way to a small and angry planet first, also one of my favorite books)
I imagine this sort of utopic storytelling was one of the reasons MLK’s ‘I have a dream’ speech was so effective
This is some good content, I didn't even know about those anarchist enclaves.
May i offer Climate-Change-Video Recommendations?
Thank you❤🌹🙏 we need hope, we need action😢😊
I'm doing the work. I'm working to connect with receptive people. Many are just so pessimistic, untrusting and isolationist, so it can be difficult... the community building part.
Wow, thank you!
I love this video it's very hopeful
Its hopeful that videos like this are getting more traction. Even if just a little. While it's hard for someone as naturally pessimistic as I am, I am still happy there are those who understand this world of ours desperately needs a radical change
Very imaginative video.
Inspiring
The Universe I'm currently creating is one inspired by star trek, it's all about equality, rights, true self-fulfillment, respecting all sentient life and all planets and most importantly peace between organic and synthetic life. I don't want to sound scummy by doing a self ad, but you talked allot about hopeful future fiction in your video, so it seemed to fit.
Bucky Fuller's quote fits here, too: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Buckminster Fuller. (...or in this case: "envision a new model...")
loved this video. i'm so glad to see hopeful & grounded talk about all these topics :) it's really important to go in that direction rather than be doomery
Hope is strength
This is such an important video. I acknowledge that while scientific socialism might be an interesting topic to me, fiction depicting positivity is important. The 5 minute commune scene from the last of us actually really inspired me to continue reading theory which can be tough even for those interested.
I'm glad you gave a shout-out to Prolekult, their content is so well produced for such a small channel 💚
They're great
Hy! I stareted to watch your videos coupe of week ago, and now checked Your video on Nebula about Co2 emission. I want to ask somebody about it. I smoke 1 pack cigeratte a day. Is there any data how much emission the smokers do ? Is this a really silly question ?
We are all reaping fruits of capitalism, and people who have a problem are either rebels without a cause who need to pick a fight, or people who are on the receiving end worse than the others (like if your community is being pushed out).
There's very few people who really get the problem of suffering caused by this industrial system and choose to use the system ONLY to fight the system. That's why you'd see social justice activists eating meat, or vegans producing kids, or people who "reject the system" spending all their time traveling.
It's all going down.
I can't seem to find the video you mentioned near the end on nebula whether I go through all of the videos in your channel, or I manually search for it on nebula or Google
On dark mode in chrome, the like button is invisible. Had to mouse over to find it. love the message, a call for me to revisit my younger self's city projects
where do you get the metal to build the solar panels?
I think this video incredibly powerful in talking about how we imagine a future shapes what actions we pursue in the present, but I’m a bit confused on what those actions?
Like are we taking degrowth seriously? How do you get the necessary infrastructure and tech for a green future at the scale needed without capitalism? And most importantly, what if people don’t want this?
You will eat the bugs, you will live in the pods, you will own nothing, and you will be happy.
you should link the books you reference in the future!
Terence McKenna had a real vision for humanity. Never give in to nihilism. Find your pocket of optimism in the world and fan that flame like your life depends on it...we can not give up, we are closer than ever to something completely different and new.
Well that future about Plant-protein destroying indigenous comunities was massively misrepresented. Considering meat consumption is one of the lead causes destroying many indigenous communities now.
I am a member of Nebula but i come here because I love the comments! I can't even give you a thanks or thumbs up on Nebula!
Could you please tell me what the title of the song that begins at 7:17 is called?
Bloom where you are planted. Then when people look over the garden gate so to speak…they can see what you are doing and trying to replicate it. I am part of a group in small town Ontario bringing back community.
70's flashback is "Ecotopia" by Ernest Callenbach.
"Resistance & change often begin in art..." - so too does anarchy, chaos, and yes, civil war - let's see how this latest movement pans out...
The name is Friedrich Engels not Fredrich
Unlimited money printing coupled with new disruptive technology has made class mobility easier than ever, there will be the competent that take advantage of that and there will be those that sit around, complain and drag society down with their envy.
Trying to sleep, head full of negative thoughts, this is the first vid I see get recomended, man, this vid helped a lot
highly recommend the Green Dreamer podcast for more ideas related to this