If this happens, no, given the continuation of business as usual, WHEN it occurs, we go extinct. Period. If somehow, that did not do us in multiple other systemic failures are impending. If the planet had a control panel, all warning lights would be blinking red. All alarms would be noisily wailing.
What must change is NOT just the variant of capitalism the planet runs on, nor is it sufficient to replace "capitalism" with "socialism" and thereby, to reasonably expect a different fate; this because all of these approaches to economics are ultimately just variants of materialism. Rather, what MUST change if our species is to survive this century, is our materialistic outlook.
Humanity is enmeshed in a vast system of systems which in total comprise Nature. So long as our societal organizational methodologies are premised on ourselves, and our economic activities, being above and unaffected by, nature, we are doomed--not in some far off time--but rather in our near term future.
A fundamental change of worldview is required at this time. Evolution is about ADAPTATION. It has nothing to do with being the biggest, the strongest, and so on. It is all about being adaptive to changing circumstances. Our human world is a dinosaur right now. The asteroid is about to impact, metaphorically speaking. We are NOT central. Nothing and no one is. We are simply part of a vast web of interactions upon which we depend for our very existence.
It all comes down to this: change or die. The required change must begin within each one of us. Until and unless a critical mass of people's thinking globally has changed, just tinkering with our politics and our economics will not avail us. Civilization, defined as socially organized complexity, can survive only if it is "booted" on a very different, non-materialistic operating system, than neoliberal globalism.
Time, assuming that it has not run out already, is fast running out. Nature neither bargains, nor takes prisoners. If we lose the "war" we have instigated with it, we die.
So, do we make it or do we perish? It's up to you. Decide.
1) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/opinion/this-can-t-go-on.html
4) https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/holy-family/english-materialism.htm
(Article changed on August 18, 2014 at 22:32)
(Article changed on August 18, 2014 at 22:39)
(Article changed on August 18, 2014 at 22:49)
(Article changed on August 18, 2014 at 22:55)
(Article changed on August 19, 2014 at 14:07)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).