We are living in an age of climate collapse, which will most likely result in mass displacement and death, warns Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion in the United Kingdom on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report. . And while that reality is hard to accept, it is an honest assessment of what lies ahead that must be addressed as we decide how to navigate what Hallam calls humanity’s “darkest hour.” In his new book, “Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death,” written while he was in prison for climate action, Hallam shares his background in academic sociology and organizing for social change to provide tools for resisting under the current repressive legal and political systems.
People often respond to repression with greater courage and resolve to resist it. Hallam’s experiences in prison and elsewhere taught him that “we always have that opportunity to choose how we’re going to react and how we’re going to live our lives in response to the involuntary hell that’s imposed upon us by the powers that be.”
Hedges and Hallam explore the ways that societies can fracture as they are collapsing, tending towards violence or hedonism. Some people may “retreat into crisis cults” as demonstrated by the growth of the Christian Right in the United States. They emphasize the necessity of a form of spiritual or moral grounding that transcends the individual and awakens our sense of connection, of being part of something greater than ourselves, of being willing to ask difficult questions and to make sacrifices. It is through organizing and collective action that people can confront the power structure effectively and build a different society.
Finally, Hedges and Hallam analyze the state of social movements and what it takes to create a popular revolution. They call out the liberal class, including mainstream climate organizations, that “perpetually undermines the ability to bring along the objective revolutionary conditions, which are strategically and ethically undeniably necessary at the present time.” They point to the dire need for revolutionary demands and prophetic leaders who will guide social movements. In the end though, Hallam points out that social transformation is the result of door-to-door organizing in our communities, building support systems and challenging power in the streets.
