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| This is how it happens.
Here in the US, the impact of disaster capitalism is already devastating communities. Financial stress has been successfully exploited to expand the privatization of the public school system; healthcare “reform” has been twisted beyond recognition into a profit machine for the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries; investor-owned water utilities all over the country are attempting to push unreasonable rate schemes on consumers to increase their profit margins. In the wake of disaster capitalism, public power advocates in Marin and San Francisco counties, are seeing their dream of “energy democracy” reduced to a corporate mock up. The phenomenon, as Naomi Klein warns, can happen anywhere communities, institutions or governments are under financial stress. Disaster capitalism hit San Francisco’s green power program big time in October, 2011, when the City’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), after more than six years of unsuccessful efforts to establish a CCA, threw up its hands and decided to follow the “Marin model.” The City is currently in negotiations with Shell Energy North America to put the oil and gas company in charge of its CCA (aka CleanPowerSF). As with Marin County, San Francisco’s CCA is now officially in the hands of a mega-corporate polluter. The local manifestation of “disaster capitalism,” as Marin County and San Francisco are discovering, can take a variety of forms. All too often, as in the case of Marin, it comes via the fossil fuel and nuclear industries -- albeit in an attractive (green) package. This development should come as no surprise to anyone following California’s efforts to lead the “clean energy revolution.” The clues that the  |
“When people are panicked and
desperate and no one seems to know
what to do, that is the ideal time
to push through their wish list of
pro-corporate policies: privatizing
education and social security,
slashing public services, getting rid
of the last constraints on corporate
power. Amidst the economic crisis,
this is happening the world over.”
Award-winning journalist and Shock Doctrine author Naomi Klein:
“revolution” had been infected by disaster capitalism
have been there all along.
Back in October, 2010, reporter John Upton wrote in the Bay Citizen: “San Francisco is courting organizations with low credit ratings in an increasingly desperate bid to create a power company in the city to compete with [incumbent utility] Pacific Gas and Electric Company.” The new energy service provider must have the financial resources to meet the needs of CleanPowerSF, SFPUC spokesman Charles Sheehan told The Bay Citizen. The tendency for local officials struggling with tight budgets to take the path of least resistance plays directly into the hands of power brokers seeking to maintain (and benefit) the status quo. Having been thoroughly steeped in corporate culture, these officials often fail to recognize the warning signs of disaster capitalism. At a time when communities are literally the last line of defense against absolute corporate power, this may be the most significant -- and troubling -- aspect of disaster capitalism at the local level. |
Even local activists are often oblivious to disaster
capitalism and “corporate seduction.” This was evident last
year in Marin County, when environmentalists cheered on
the county’s corporate-lead energy plan without bothering to
question anything about it -- including the wisdom of putting
the fossil fuel industry in charge of their community’s “clean
energy future.” In San Francisco, environmentalists had
pushed for decades to implement a public power program
that included local ownership of clean energy resources,
yet they too ultimately felt forced to support a savagely
compromised version of “community choice.”
Today, Northern California’s once vibrant local
power movement has largely morphed into a corporatecontrolled
“public power program” – an oxymoron if
ever there was one, and a serious setback to the dream
of “energy democracy” once envisioned by activists.
It needs to be said here that what happened in
Marin and San Francisco counties (notwithstanding the
extortionary power of disaster capitalism) did not need to
happen. Despite the rhetoric, there were -- and still are --
viable alternatives to allowing corporations to take over our
energy futures. [SolarTimes has been covering -- and will
continue to cover -- some of those alternatives in depth. See
“Power to the People,” pps 18-19, this issue.]
What happened in Northern California is not unique.
Disaster capitalism is happening all over the world, and
its local manifestation should serve as fair warning to
communities everywhere, all of whom would do well
to view the phenomenon in the context of the deep
internalization of corporate culture.
In these transitional times, individuals and communities
will need to look closely at the ways in which we keep the
“corporate powers that be” in place.
Real transformation means building a more
sustainable world. To do that, we’ll need to be less reliant
on corporate sources for our food, water and energy.
We’ll need to grow more of our own food, cultivate
local water sources whenever and wherever possible
and generate our own renewable power -- locally.
If “we the people” are to win the struggle for human and
environmental rights over the forces of corporate gluttony
and excess, we should add to our list the task of disconnecting
ourselves from the feeding tube that sustains it.
The above piece contains excerpts from Sandy
LeonVest’s recently published article,
“The Magnetic Force of the Moment: Perils and
Potential on the Road to Transformation.”
It can be read in its entirety at:
www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/24. Sandy’s
other work in CommonDreams can be viewed at:
www.commondreams.org/sandy-leonvest
Listen live to “Political Analysis,”
with SolarTimes editor
Sandy LeonVest.
on the
Progressive Radio Network
every Tuesday
at 3pm PST/6pm EDT.
Political Analysis is a 21st century
news and public affairs program,
featuring voices and views you won’t
hear in the corporate-sponsored
media. To listen to past shows,
visit Political Analysis’ archives at:
www.progressiveradionetwork.com/
political-analysis |
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 “We were on a main street in an American city, opposing rule by Wall Street. “The upsurges of Fall 2011 have been much more than a wave of protests beginning with “Occupy Wall Street” actions in the nation’s mightiest financial district. “From Manhattan to Marin County and beyond, people are anguished, disgusted, angry and -- increasingly -- determined. “And we should be determined. The future is at stake. “Corporate power is fundamental to what ails our country. The remedy is genuine democracy. “It’s not possible to map out a plausible path toward a green, sustainable future without directly challenging corporate power. “Wall Street firms are not democratic. Unless civic engagement and government action are able to restrain their quest to maximize profits, the large corporations are accountable only to investors. “Ominous climate change is a clear -- and terrible -- consequence of corporate dominance and government inaction. We cannot, we must not, accept the idea of “corporate personhood” that allows large companies to ravage the earth while further enriching the already rich. “I believe in government of, by and for people -- not of, by and for corporations. “That’s why, as a candidate for Congress, I’m not taking a single penny of corporate PAC money. “I marvel at candidates who talk about their love for the environment while taking many thousands of dollars from environmentally destructive companies. Those firms are not engaged in philanthropy when they hand out big checks to politicians. “The power of Wall Street is undermining our prospects for a truly democratic and sustainable future. |
We need to create millions of green jobs, end the Bush
tax cuts for the wealthy, close corporate tax loopholes,
implement a transaction tax on Wall Street and cut the
huge Pentagon budget that fuels endless wars.
“The US military -- the most polluting institution on the planet -- represents an apex of destructive technologies that are lucrative for Wall Street. If we don’t reorder our priorities, their cascading effects will be horrendous for future generations and, overall, for life on Earth. “As the great environmentalist Barry Commoner pointed out four decades ago, “Everything is connected to everything else.” That certainly includes how we treat each other and how we treat the planet. “When I think of the people who filled the sidewalk along San Rafael’s Fourth Street back in mid-October, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, I’m moved by the idealism that brought them there. “In essence, that’s the kind of idealism that continues to energize people from the North Bay to every other region of the world. As we cry out for social justice, for protection of nature, for human rights, for peace, we’re giving voice to our common human spirit. “From climate change to perpetual war to vast gaps between the wealthy and the rest of us, the trends are wrong. “These are not ordinary times. We must create basic change. Countless lives are at stake. And countless species on our beautiful and fragile planet are at stake. That’s why I’m running for Congress. With Lynn Woolsey retiring at the end of 2012, we need to continue to have a strong progressive voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Our campaign is dedicated to “principle as strategy.” We will remain principled. And, on that essential basis, we can win. Norman Solomon was co-chair of the Commission on a Green New Deal for the North Bay. He is the author of many books including “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” For more information: www.SolomonForCongress.com |
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