Climate conversations can revolve around many scary topics; however, I want to push away from the narrative that there is nothing that we can do in our efforts against climate change. Climate Change is currently happening, but we can still adapt to or mitigate its effects. Hope should be the core of the climate movement, not fear.
Mitigation involves taking action to reduce our emissions in the future, while adaptation involves finding ways to deal with the current effects of climate change. Elevating the narrative that it is too late causes people to lose hope, to stop fighting. In the words of the climate sustainability scientist Alaina Wood, “Without Hope, Movements die.”
People aren’t going to fight if they feel that the cause is hopeless. We know who is causing the majority of emissions that contribute to climate change. It’s the fossil fuel industry and corporate billionaires. We have the information at our fingertips, like how much is being contributed, what we can do, and what the people around us can do.
Alas, we are fighting against the failure of our public-school systems, inaccessible education, propaganda from the ruling class, and an overwhelming fear of death, for themselves and for their families. These are just some of the reasons people don’t get involved in organizing. Our small branch of The Sunrise Movement, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is no stranger to these challenges, as we are made up entirely of disabled activists. We have witnessed and experienced the inaccessibility of organizing, yet we continue to fight, because we care, but also because most of us are also trans. Our lives have been made into a political campaign, and we have been forced to fight for our very own rights, along with many other people’s rights, in addition to fighting for climate justice.
However, for us to make more progress, we need more people, not just those who are being the most affected. Accessibility in organizing doesn’t just look like making things more accessible for those with mobility aids, which is still extremely important, but also simplifying language, breaking things down for people just starting out, educating people, helping people find roles that best fit them, and implementing systems that ensure protections for individuals during things like strikes.
Successful strikes in the past were backed by unions that had funds saved for striking workers. People aren’t going to risk starving, possible homelessness, and death for the cause, especially if there is uncertainty around if they even fully believe what’s happening.
At the center of organizing is social work, and we need to support our communities and push for person-first centered language. If we can show people that they have support, that they matter as themselves, and that what makes something like art, writing, or any other skill meaningful and beautiful is that it was made with human hands. Perhaps then we can spark a fire of hope within them enough to motivate them to take action alongside us.
Every single person can make a difference. One of the things that makes me incredibly sad about AI, since there are too many for me to write about currently, is that the ruling class and capitalism have convinced people that they cannot create. That people inherently have the skills, or they don’t. People aren’t taught the joy that comes with the struggle of learning a new skill. The sense of accomplishment upon finally getting something you have been working towards, until one day that skill is easy and doesn’t take as much time as it used to.
Instead, capitalism only cares about quick rewards and making profits, and it cares about the short-term benefits instead of the long-term damage they are doing to our planet and people. People have been stripped of one of their most important resources, their time. This has been done on purpose, as people who no longer have time, can’t organize. In pushing to make organizing more accessible, show people how to mitigate and adapt, and support those who need it most, we can work towards a better tomorrow together.
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