ONLINE FIRST
published on March 4, 2018
David Schweickart
Capitalism vs the Climate
What Then Should We Do? What Then Should I Do?
We are facing a terrifying moment in human history, but also a miraculous moment. At the very time when climate change threatens our species with extinction, we not only know that we face an existential threat, we have the means not only to avert catastrophe, but to provide virtually everybody on our planet with the material means for decent life. This paper asks, and attempts to answer, a series of questions: Why are we not doing what needs to be done? Is there a viable alternative to our current economic order? What then should I do?