The Atlantic is at it again, this time, promoting political theories that dance along the borderline of madness. Yes, that’s right, they are ringing the bell for “degrowth communism” as a weapon against climate change. And they’re using the philosophies of a left-leaning Japanese academic to prop up their arguments. We can’t make this stuff up, ladies and gentlemen.
Recently, a headline from The Atlantic made a splash: “Is America Ready for ‘Degrowth Communism.’” The writer of this piece, Christopher Beam, attempts to sprinkle sugar over the notion by marrying it with the work of Kohei Saito. Beam acknowledges Saito’s ideas may seem kooky, but that doesn’t dissuade him from backing the concept.
The theory connects the state of the environment and economic output, or more specifically, a decline in both. By reducing consumption in wealthy nations, they’ll reduce the demand for energy, therefore lowering the carbon emissions that directly affect our climate, according to Beam.
Beam brandishes this concept as some sort of hidden truth in the fight against climate change. He morphs it into some sort of radical ‘protest vote,’ despite admitting that it may not even work. But hang on tight, because this wild ride of an article doesn’t stop there.
On one hand, it might be a comedic achievement to write such discussions without falling into fits of laughter. Yet, remember what we’re dealing with. It’s the same outlet that hysterically equated nuclear war with a climate problem. You have to hand it to them for sheer audacity, if nothing else.
While there are critics of Saito from varying ends of the political spectrum, Beam twists the narrative to depict his subject as some eco-warrior trying to buck the system. He further legitimizes Saito’s position by posing loaded academic questions about Marx’s alignment with the degrowth concept, dragging politics into an argument that already strains credibility.
Beam mourns the current political climate where proposing personal sacrifice is seen as political suicide. “Degrowth-ism” survives, according to the article, not in spite of absurdity, but because of it. All this paints a picture of The Atlantic trying to rail mainstream climate change discourse onto some avant-garde track.
As Marc Morano, founder of Climate Depot, highlighted, Beam’s article openly acknowledges the stark reality underneath it all. He points out that this ‘climate communism’ attack is a guise for controlling everything from what we consume to how we travel. This is Saito’s world, one of growing governmental control, masquerading as saving the planet.
Conservatives know that this is just plain wrong. Using the guise of climate change to peddle extremist ideologies is an abuse of the public’s trust. The Atlantic needs to stick to journalism, not propagation of wild, rampant theories akin to climate change alarmism. It’s time we asked for credibility, not hare-brained ideas.
