August 27 2023 Black Rock Desert, NEVADA - "30 seconds, send your leader to my vehicle, let's talk, get off the fucken road" - Tribal Ranger announced on the...
I love seeing it, but I have to agree with you slightly. The people waiting might have been slowed down about an hour getting to black rock.
I guarantee other lines of traffic had to wait longer because the shitbox ahead of them flipped their RV shitbox going around a corner because they loaded it improperly with too much shit, then stood there looking at the mess with their hands on the head pacing back and forth while waiting for somebody else to come clean it up. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it. The only joy I'd get out of the delay is when I finally got to drive by the mess, I got to slow down and tell them how goddamn stupid they look and that I feel sorry for their mothers. Then I'd make it far enough just to get slowed down again by another horde of idiots that did the same thing.
There's 75 miles between Nixon, NV and Black Rock and about 80 miles between Eaglevile, CA and Black Rock. That's nearly 150 miles of mostly uninhabited road where one could properly space about 1000 spiky bois over the stretch and cause way more damage and chaos. A group of 3 or 4 people could weld up 1000 caltrops in less than a day for about $150.
this seems silly, what did they hope to accomplish.
Well could be many things. Likely they are individual eco conscious liberals which are connected to the climate strike (small numbers speak for that). Then it is mostly a symbolic action till they are cleared. What they did manage to show though is the disproportionate response of police against minor infractions like could be seen here.
They did get some screen time though and the argument of "people having to work" are a bit silly when the work is handing out alcohol at burning man and cleaning toilets for rich people taking drugs.
Their signs were:
degrowth now
abolish capitalism
general strike - for climate 🦾
burners of the world (and an image of the globe burning)
keep oil in the ground
Group says the blockade’s purpose is to draw attention to capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown along with protesting against the popularization of Burning Man among affluent people who do not live the stated values of Burning Man, resulting in the commodification of the event.
Video by Oliya Scootercaster Desk@freedomnews.tv to license
also we have enough far far far more shocking bloody videos of policy brutality,
True, after Floyd it is absurd to continue with just that action. But some white individual eco people do retain the way of Gene Sharp and a reduced non violence discourse which doesn't build power.
Though blocking Burners from their festival is quite a bit of fun.
This is liberal of me but degrowth is just not possible politically. It's like how a general strike sign or Twitter post doesn't do anything, because a general strike needs unions to help strikers stay fed and housed, but 100x worse. If you tell people that they can't have a hot shower every day, because the energy required to heat the water of every person on earth would cook the earth too much, they will not give up hot showers. You cannot implement degrowth without coercion from a socialist state which, at best, gets legitimacy from most people saying "well I hate doing this, but the only way for the planet to survive is if we all sacrifice together". Under capitalism it's a nonstarter of course, people won't even wear masks during a pandemic let alone make sacrifices. But there is not going to be a socialist state with this kind of power in the US for decades, if ever.
You can probably get some half-assed solution where people accept things that nudge them in the direction of less consumption. Bikeable cities. Showers that turn off every few seconds, like the ones at campgrounds, to encourage you to use less hot water. But actual degrowth is so far from possible right now, in the complete absence of any ecosocialist power, that asking for it seems like putting the cart before the horse to me.
It's kind of like veganism. Some people are tenderhearted idealists like me, but if you look at a group of individuals they're not going to give up eating flesh for anything immaterial. Can we get state pushed/mandated veganism? Well, not without a state. And we can't rally around the final goal because by definition it's not popular yet (otherwise we wouldn't need a state to do it), so must start with other vegan goals. Curb the worst excesses of the climate criminals, build up a movement. Slow down growth. Then we can try to implement degrowth.
I can't rip on them too much because they're out there doing shit and I'm in bed on my phone. But this is why I don't like degrowth. Conceptually it's ok.
P.S. also it is basically full communism, in terms of how vigorously capital will oppose it. GDP is basically 1:1 with energy consumption
Degrowth is sometimes lumped in with eugenicist talking points which can trigger reflexive pushback. I always like to reply to “overpopulation” concerns with “let’s start with white Americans to get the most bang for our buck”
It’s a relatively small portion of humanity living unsustainable lifestyles, and if we removed the profit motive that would be even smaller.
The conversation is moot though, degrowth is happening whether we like it or not. Laihana is degrowth.
Hey sorry for the late reply I was offline (amazing tbh)
I don’t think it’s so much a question of it fixing anything it’s just the inevitable outcome of carrying on the way that we are. If we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change we need to radically restructure society and learn to do with less particularly in the imperial core. Not talking return to monke either, more like no blueberries in December. No more driving your SUV 30 minutes to go buy groceries. No more private planes for billionaires.
Needless to say this will require a completely new government and a centralized economy and redistribution of resources. But planned or unplanned it’s gonna be degrowth either way. We are like a car speeding towards a concrete barrier. Whether or not we choose to apply the brakes, we are stopping.
deleted by creator
I love seeing it, but I have to agree with you slightly. The people waiting might have been slowed down about an hour getting to black rock.
I guarantee other lines of traffic had to wait longer because the shitbox ahead of them flipped their RV shitbox going around a corner because they loaded it improperly with too much shit, then stood there looking at the mess with their hands on the head pacing back and forth while waiting for somebody else to come clean it up. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it. The only joy I'd get out of the delay is when I finally got to drive by the mess, I got to slow down and tell them how goddamn stupid they look and that I feel sorry for their mothers. Then I'd make it far enough just to get slowed down again by another horde of idiots that did the same thing.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
There's 75 miles between Nixon, NV and Black Rock and about 80 miles between Eaglevile, CA and Black Rock. That's nearly 150 miles of mostly uninhabited road where one could properly space about 1000 spiky bois over the stretch and cause way more damage and chaos. A group of 3 or 4 people could weld up 1000 caltrops in less than a day for about $150.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Well could be many things. Likely they are individual eco conscious liberals which are connected to the climate strike (small numbers speak for that). Then it is mostly a symbolic action till they are cleared. What they did manage to show though is the disproportionate response of police against minor infractions like could be seen here.
They did get some screen time though and the argument of "people having to work" are a bit silly when the work is handing out alcohol at burning man and cleaning toilets for rich people taking drugs.
Their signs were:
deleted by creator
True, after Floyd it is absurd to continue with just that action. But some white individual eco people do retain the way of Gene Sharp and a reduced non violence discourse which doesn't build power.
Though blocking Burners from their festival is quite a bit of fun.
deleted by creator
This is liberal of me but degrowth is just not possible politically. It's like how a general strike sign or Twitter post doesn't do anything, because a general strike needs unions to help strikers stay fed and housed, but 100x worse. If you tell people that they can't have a hot shower every day, because the energy required to heat the water of every person on earth would cook the earth too much, they will not give up hot showers. You cannot implement degrowth without coercion from a socialist state which, at best, gets legitimacy from most people saying "well I hate doing this, but the only way for the planet to survive is if we all sacrifice together". Under capitalism it's a nonstarter of course, people won't even wear masks during a pandemic let alone make sacrifices. But there is not going to be a socialist state with this kind of power in the US for decades, if ever.
You can probably get some half-assed solution where people accept things that nudge them in the direction of less consumption. Bikeable cities. Showers that turn off every few seconds, like the ones at campgrounds, to encourage you to use less hot water. But actual degrowth is so far from possible right now, in the complete absence of any ecosocialist power, that asking for it seems like putting the cart before the horse to me.
It's kind of like veganism. Some people are tenderhearted idealists like me, but if you look at a group of individuals they're not going to give up eating flesh for anything immaterial. Can we get state pushed/mandated veganism? Well, not without a state. And we can't rally around the final goal because by definition it's not popular yet (otherwise we wouldn't need a state to do it), so must start with other vegan goals. Curb the worst excesses of the climate criminals, build up a movement. Slow down growth. Then we can try to implement degrowth.
I can't rip on them too much because they're out there doing shit and I'm in bed on my phone. But this is why I don't like degrowth. Conceptually it's ok.
P.S. also it is basically full communism, in terms of how vigorously capital will oppose it. GDP is basically 1:1 with energy consumption
deleted by creator
Degrowth is sometimes lumped in with eugenicist talking points which can trigger reflexive pushback. I always like to reply to “overpopulation” concerns with “let’s start with white Americans to get the most bang for our buck”
It’s a relatively small portion of humanity living unsustainable lifestyles, and if we removed the profit motive that would be even smaller.
The conversation is moot though, degrowth is happening whether we like it or not. Laihana is degrowth.
deleted by creator
Hey sorry for the late reply I was offline (amazing tbh)
I don’t think it’s so much a question of it fixing anything it’s just the inevitable outcome of carrying on the way that we are. If we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change we need to radically restructure society and learn to do with less particularly in the imperial core. Not talking return to monke either, more like no blueberries in December. No more driving your SUV 30 minutes to go buy groceries. No more private planes for billionaires.
Needless to say this will require a completely new government and a centralized economy and redistribution of resources. But planned or unplanned it’s gonna be degrowth either way. We are like a car speeding towards a concrete barrier. Whether or not we choose to apply the brakes, we are stopping.