This week, the New York Times ran a major full page article on the climate crisis, youth climate activists, and “climate doomism.” The essence of the message of the article is this: The “messaging” around climate change is too negative, and “that focusing solely on terrible climate news can sow dread and paralysis, foster inaction, and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Instead, it is argued that “it’s ever more pressing to concentrate on all the good climate work, especially locally, that is being done.”

In short, the Times is telling you, don’t think about and confront the actual reality that the planet is careening toward disaster, instead focus on “feel-good” local actions that will not change what must be changed: the global system of capitalism-imperialism. Don’t worry your little head about the reality that ground zero for global warming and its devastating effects is the Global South. Focus on stepping up “local efforts” to use eco-friendly light bulbs and getting rid of plastic containers for water... when, right now, 450 million children in the oppressed and impoverished countries of the Third World do NOT have enough water to meet their everyday needs. And by 2040, that number will rise to one in four children as global warming leads to extreme weather events and disrupts water cycle patterns. Comfort yourself with the thought that those children are dying someplace else—just focus on changing light bulbs and think happy thoughts!

And true to the standards of journalism the Times has displayed in every war the U.S. has ever fought, i.e., selected lying for the system, here the Times is “selectively” featuring a set of climate activists who just so happen to conform to their political agenda: keeping people locked inside the system, demobilized and beholden to the Democratic Party—and NOT talking about people like the climate scientists who, in responding to the urgency of the moment, have called for a scientists’ strike.

In response to the New York Times, we say: If you cannot tell the truth, then Shut the Fuck Up—the climate crisis IS an existential threat to the very survival of humanity and much of the planet. There is nowhere on Earth, and no ecosystem anywhere, that has not already been impacted by climate change. And this is just the beginning. As outlined in an article at revcom.us on the recent International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, “Over three billion people now live in countries that are in the crosshairs of the cascading climate crisis,” with hundreds of millions of lives literally hanging in the balance right now. The Times advocates lying about the reality, sugarcoating the bitter truth that we need radical reductions in carbon dioxide emissions NOW, and instead wants to anesthetize people who are rightly anguished at how extreme things are getting with the environment and at the complete failure of this system to respond.

Yes, New York Times, people SHOULD act on the climate crisis. People MUST act. And people DO need hope. But on what basis? Of feel-good “local stories”? By simply “changing the narrative” on the climate crisis to make people feel less desperate? NO. We need hope on a SCIENTIFIC basis. We need to confront this reality squarely: The situation is VERY DIRE. And while there are no guarantees, there is still the possibility of preventing the worst of the consequences of climate change. People need to act ON THIS BASIS: On the understanding of the gravity, scale, and scope of the problem; and on the understanding of what the actual solution is—revolution and the remaking of society along the lines outlined in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America and “Some Key Principles of Socialist Sustainable Development.” And this revolution needs to be actively organized and prepared for NOW, not for some far-off and distant future: The reality is that we are living in one of those rare times when a revolution in this country could actually be possible. ESPECIALLY at a moment like this—when the rulers of this country are at each other’s throats, and with the revolutionary possibilities that could be wrenched from this rare time—promoting this “feel-good” fairytale nonsense is all the more unconscionable and harmful. As Bob Avakian recently put it:

This rare time must not be wasted, squandered, thrown away. Rather, revolution must be actively prepared for and vigorously, consistently worked for—now, and in an ongoing way—to build up the scientifically oriented and powerfully organized forces for, and to prepare the ground for, this revolution.

The Times wants you to look away from the very real horrors—horrors that understandably evoke deep feelings of dread and even doom—and instead delude yourself into believing that we’re making “progress” in combating climate change.  THIS IS BULLSHIT. The reality is that we’re going exactly in the wrong direction, AND that “the hour is getting late.” But there is hope—not a guarantee, but a real chance—and possibility to bring a radically different, and ecologically sustainable, world into being THROUGH REVOLUTION.

Suggested further reading:

“The War in Ukraine... Flying a Banner of Renewable Energy... Bill McKibben Wants You to Line Up Behind U.S. Imperialism” by Raymond Lotta

“Self-Delusion and Political Flim-Flam As the Planet Heats Up... Rebecca Solnit Puts on a Happy Face About Capitalism and Climate Change” by Raymond Lotta