Rebecca Solnit: The Age of Capitalism is over

[ancianita]

38. Agree that "the age of captalism is over" is sweeping. NOWHERE does Solnit claim that.

That you both ignore that fact means that you're misreading.

As an attention-getting rhetorical device, editors often encourage a provocative slant that writers often don't consider. Call the Salon editors goofy, if you must.

But you're both debating an editorial decision, but not the writer's actual Main Point.

Solnit herself actually says this.

As it happens, the planet’s changing climate now demands that we summon up the energy to leave behind the Age of Fossil Fuel (and maybe with it some portion of the Age of Capitalism as well).

She reiterates the thesis later:

We need to end the age of fossil fuels the way the French ended the age of absolute monarchy.

And again:

Dismantling the fossil-fuel economy would undoubtedly have the side effect of breaking some of the warping power that oil has had in global and national politics.

These important junctures in a highly informative essay show a consistent support for her main point -- an update on humans' accomplishments in the face of fossil fuel power, and an encouragement to Salon readers to join in.

You may fairly criticize Salon's editor as title maker, but not Solnit as an essayist. From what I've read by her about women's and other issues, she's damned good. And if there's anything worthy of writing about, it's the environment.

So, anyway...

What is this "mantle" talk. Anyone, anywhere, writer or no, can advocate for ending fossil fuel economies through any kind of work -- activism, writing, divestment -- against fossil consuming sectors -- tech, transportation, agribusiness, etc. -- and they don't have to have any "mantle" of credentials or official approval to do it.

My favorite quote, one that Solnit credits to another media person -- "everything's coming together while everything's falling apart" -- sums up much of the mess and lack of perspective we have during the little and big fights of upheaval. Good title writing is one example; misreading the writer is another.