Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Capitalism Brought These Floods

There are clear links between big business, climate change and the devastating floods in western Germany.

Nathaniel Flakin

July 21, 2021
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: IMAGO / Future Image

In recent years, cities from San Francisco to Sydney have been covered in smoke. In Central Europe, however, things have felt safe — in Berlin, climate change has only meant somewhat hotter summers.

As floods ravaged western Germany last week, even militant atheists had to think of the Book of Genesis. At least 122 people were killed just in the county of Ahrweiler. It’s hard to process the images of destruction straight out of a dystopian film. Just a few years ago, we used to think that climate change would be devastating for our grandchildren. But the devastation is here now.

Many factors contributed to this catastrophe. German authorities were informed by meteorologists more than a week in advance. How could they possibly have failed to sufficiently warn the population? I heard one radio announcement from the region talking about “heavy rains” and not, you know, “your house is going to get swept away by eight metres of water.”

Denialists will say that this kind of thing has always happened — this was a “100-year flood.” But Germany’s last “100-year flood” was in 2013. And before that in 2002. This century has just barely begun and we have already had three of them.

This is a result of climate change. Global temperatures have risen about 1 degree celsius since the beginning of capitalism. That leads to 7 percent more moisture in the atmosphere — and all that water needs to go somewhere. This is what turned small streams, within a few hours, into the Amazon.

It is counterintuitive, but the changing climate leads to all kinds of extreme weather events. This includes worse floods but also worse droughts. Global warming has caused heat waves of 50C in British Columbia, but also a cold snap of -20C in Texas.

As Greta Thunberg said, we should be panicking. 2021 is not only shaping up to be among the hottest years on record — it will also likely be among the coldest.

Politicians: Subdued responses

Yet responses by German politicians have been almost shockingly subdued. They promised emergency aid to rebuild destroyed houses — but what about measures to keep the planet from warming further? Armin Laschet of the CDU is the prime minister of one of the Bundesland that sank under water, and he has a good chance to become Germany’s next chancellor. Asked if this gave him a new sense of urgency to fight climate change, he said that one can’t change policies “because of one such day.”

Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party, with somewhat worse chances to become chancellor, had an almost equally empty response: we need to “really top up the climate protection measures.”

This is an emergency. Yet both the CDU and the Greens agree that lignite coal mining (some of the open-pit mines were actually damaged by the flooding) should continue until 2038. There are currently not even plans to stop inner-German flights.

Every gram of additional CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to more catastrophes like the recent floods. Shouldn’t we stop fossil fuel extraction this second? What about ending the production of all cars (including incredibly destructive electric cars) in order to focus on public transport?

Instead, politicians and companies can offer are nice words. I can’t stop wondering: aren’t Laschet and Baerbock just a little bit worried that their children and grandchildren will be trapped on a planet that is so hot that it cannot support human life, or at least human civilisation?“After me, the flood” is the watchword of every capitalist and of every capitalist nation.

Capitalists and their politicians certainly understand what is going on. They clearly expect that they can use their wealth to escape the worst effects of the catastrophe — perhaps moving to Mars. But the problem is deeper than that. Capitalism requires constant accumulation, where each quarter needs to generate greater profits than the previous. So it’s not that capitalists don’t care about the world burning — it’s more like they can’t. If they cared too much about the destruction caused by endless accumulation, to the point that it affected their bottom line, they would soon get bought out by other, less scrupulous capitalists, and have to work for a living.

It’s not that all capitalists are psychopaths. It’s just that they are forced to act like psychopaths if they want to remain capitalists. That means ignoring the consequences of their system. As Karl Marx put it: “Après moi le déluge! After me, the flood is the watchword of every capitalist and of every capitalist nation.”

We need an alternative

But is there an alternative? Is buying and selling on a marketplace the only way to organise a human society? I would say: Look at what is happening in the flooded areas. People from all walks of life are helping their neighbours — people are coming from far away to provide relief. At the moment, no one is thinking about how to make a buck off the suffering.

We are constantly told that some kind of “human nature” makes people selfish and greedy. But why would this “nature” recede precisely when people are in greatest need? If human beings can work together to recover from a catastrophe, why wouldn’t “human nature” allow us to work together every day to provide food and shelter to everyone?

As Walter Benjamin wrote, capitalism functions like a religion. We are indoctrinated so thoroughly by this death cult that it is impossible to imagine any other form of society. Yet in a crisis, people are roused from this conditioning, and begin to act like real humans, rather than value-producing automatons.

In the coming years, we are going to see more and more catastrophes of biblical proportions. Today’s secular gods, like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, have no intention of using their wealth to save us — they have made clear that they intend to escape from the planet they are destroying. Our only hope lies in the intense spirit of solidarity seen among the flood victims. We need to make that solidarity universal, global and permanent. We need a system based on solidarity, rather than on accumulation for a tiny minority.

This article was first published in Exeberliner

Facebook Twitter Share

Nathaniel Flakin

Nathaniel is a freelance journalist and historian from Berlin. He is on the editorial board of Left Voice and our German sister site Klasse Gegen Klasse. Nathaniel, also known by the nickname Wladek, has written a biography of Martin Monath, a Trotskyist resistance fighter in France during World War II, which has appeared in German, in English, and in French. He is on the autism spectrum.

Instagram

Europe

Tracking, Deportations, Internment: European Countries Go on the Hunt for Migrants

On May 10, German chancellor Olaf Scholz strengthened Germany’s anti-migrant policy. This means more deportations, border patrol reinforcements, and economic agreements with sending countries. The new policy is being deployed throughout Europe.

Leo Stella

May 25, 2023
People in Berlin demonstrating on the 75th anniversary of the Nakhba.

Berlin Police Attack Jews and Palestinians Commemorating the Nakba

On the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, the Berlin police banned all Palestinian demonstrations, and broke up a demonstration of Jewish Berliners in solidarity with Palestinians.

Nathaniel Flakin

May 22, 2023

In France, There is No Return to Normal for Macron

Anger of the French people at Macron's pension reform is far from extinguished, despite moves by the Inter-Union bureaucracy which weakened the movement.

Juan Chingo

May 20, 2023

The French Union Bureaucracy Tries to Bury the Movement Against the Pension Reform by Resuming “Social Dialogue”

After historic May 1st protests, the Inter-Union announced the following day that the next mobilization will take place on Tuesday, June 6. This distant date appears only to be conceived of as a way to pressure the National Assembly, which continues its strategy of defeat and prepares to bury the movement.

Nathan Erderof

May 12, 2023

MOST RECENT

Image by the Economist, Satoshi Kimbayashi

The Debt Ceiling Agreement is an Attack on the Working Class and on the Planet

Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy’s deal to raise the debt ceiling is a handout to the military industrial complex and an attack on the working class and the planet. Rather than just raising the debt ceiling, a relatively standard practice that allows the U.S. to pay the bills for spending that already happened, this debt ceiling deal caps discretionary spending on everything but “defense” and fast-tracks the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Image in The Stand

SCOTUS v. Labor Movement: The Court Rules Against Workers

The Supreme Court issued a ruling which aims to weaken strikes. It is no coincidence that this comes at a time when unions have massive support among the general population. The labor movement must fight back against the state's attacks on our collective power.

Luigi Morris

June 3, 2023

This Pride Month, There is Hope In Fighting Back. Pride is in the Streets.

Pride is in the streets. It is the history of our community, it is the history of our struggle. Let us do them honor.

Ezra Brain

June 2, 2023
A rainbow display at the supermarket Target during Pride Month 2022.

Target Doesn’t Care about LGBTQ+ People

At Target and Anheuser-Busch, policies of inclusion and diversity have clashed with profit ambitions.

Pablo Herón

June 2, 2023