Only Revolution Can Save Life On Earth!

Everyone’s help, including yours, is urgently needed. We’re closer to extinction than most people realize: Nuclear war grows likelier, and runaway warming and other forms of ecocide are ongoing. Can we solve these problems through mere reforms, “working within the system” ? No, that approach has failed for decades, and now we’re out of time. Indeed, our current socioeconomic system is causing the problems, but few people see the system as it really is. Most people are in denial, and live by the system’s myths:

“Democracy.” No, really we have plutocracy, rule by the rich. Gilens and Page showed statistically that, regardless of elections, our laws serve the rich, not the general public. The two money parties differ substantially in speeches but not in actions.

“Reforms” full of loopholes are just for show. Things actually happen if and only if they make the rich richer – for instance, wars happen; reductions in poverty and ecocide don’t happen.

“Freedom.” Really it’s wage-slavery: a low-paying meaningless job and endless debt. We’re “free” to quit that job and hunt for another just like it.

“Opportunity.” Not really. By favoring the trader in the stronger bargaining position, trade increases inequality, which is now huge.

“Efficiency.” Really the market is very inefficient, but that’s hidden in externalities. Those are huge unmeasured costs borne not by buyer or seller but by community and ecosystem.

“Responsibility.” We’re told that corruption is a failure of individuals, but much of it really is systemic: Property separates us, so we’re all rivals, not allies; your loss is not my loss and may be my gain. Competition causes fear, hate, lies, unconcern, racism, sexism, greed, cruelty, shootings, etc. And the powerful must compete against each other for short-term private profits that keep them in power one more day. They profit from war and warming; they only pretend to be concerned about long-term consequences.

“Human nature.” Greed is widespread, but it’s not our nature – it’s just a cultural overlay. Private property was invented 12,000 years ago, but even since then we’ve had many sharing communities. And before then, as hunter-gatherers, we shared steadily for 300,000 years. Caring, sharing, cooperating is how we evolved, and genetically it’s still who we are.

We can and must return to sharing. That will be difficult, a huge cultural change. But it’s the only way we’ll solve war and warming, the only way we’ll survive – and it will bring us friendship and happiness.

Join the conversation today, in social media and in real life. We must end the denial and myths, spread love and understanding, and tell the 1% “we will no longer serve you.” Call a meeting, carry a sign, write a song or a leaflet, copy this leaflet if you like it.

April 17, 2023. Downloadable copy and related links at
https://LeftyMathProf.wordpress.com/only-rev

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(Version 4.22. Click here for the leaflet itself. The leaflet contains all the text above, but not this parenthesized paragraph. The leaflet is a Word document, fitting on two sides of 1/2 page; I think it looks a little better than this web page version. I’m still revising the contents; your suggestions for alterations are invited. I’d like to thank Tom Skolfield for his many suggestions. I hope to hand out copies of the leaflet at the Earth Day festival on April 22.)

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