The Revolutionary Socialist Network, Workers
NC -- AT: Change is Possible in the Squo
Download 2.09 Mb.
|
2NC -- AT: Change is Possible in the SquoTheir examples of changes are nothing but illusions and maintenance by the structures we criticizePillay ’18 [Devan; 2018; Former trade unionist, Associate Professor and Former Head in Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Co-editor of Labour and the Challenges of Globalization; Climate Crisis, The: South African and Global Democratic Eco-Socialist Alternatives, “CHALLENGING THE GROWTH PARADIGM: MARX, BUDDHA AND THE PURSUIT OF ‘HAPPINESS’,” Ch. 7, p. 152-153] SPark Indeed, as noted, nature has responded, threatening to bring down not only capitalism but the entire edifice of human civilisation. While the science on global warming and other ecological threats clearly demands a radical rethinking of the growth paradigm, the short-term thinking of the global economic elites – who prefer seeing the world in terms of GDP growth rates and profit margins – obliges them to engage in deception to maintain this system. To put it simply, the art of paradigm maintenance – perfected by global institutions like the World Bank, but used by hegemonic elites at the global, national and local levels – means agreeing that there is a problem; capturing the critical discourse and controlling it, partly by hiring or co-opting critical activist– intellectuals; using new concepts of critics (such as ‘sustainable development’ or ‘green jobs’) but emptying them of meaning; drawing non-governmental organisations (NGOs), labour and social movements into extensive ‘participatory’ exercises that give the illusion of participation; conceding minor reforms (such as a little renewable energy, some social grants or a temporary minimum wage); and through all of this, securing the power elite’s legitimacy and maintaining the fundamental economic paradigm Download 2.09 Mb. Share with your friends:
|