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Climate & Militarism: Underlying Structure
April 10 @ 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
The 2nd of a 4-part teach-in series on Climate and Militarism: Nick Rabb of Sunrise Boston and the Mass Peace Action Peace & Climate Working Group will lead a discussion about the societal structures that lead to the issues, including the military-industrial complex, the history of policing, and post-war global politics..
Though the climate crisis has become something clearly worth addressing for so many of us, our understanding of what caused, perpetuates, and is caused by the crisis could often stand to be deeper. Particularly for those of us who grow up in the U.S., one aspect of the crisis that we rarely understand is how it is intertwined with militarism. The U.S. is perhaps the most violent empire in history. Its tentacles stretch to almost all corners of the world, and it concerns itself with maintaining supremacy at very high costs. Yet, we in the core of empire rarely see it for what it is. Therefore, we also fail to see how U.S. militarism is deeply intertwined with the U.S. role in the climate crisis. Fully addressing the crisis cannot be done until militarism is understood and dismantled.
The entire teach-in series will consist of 4 teach-ins spanning across four weeks:
: Examining the immediate connections like Pentagon emissions, environmental justice, the military budget, etc.
– 4/10 — Underlying Structure: Learning about the societal structures that lead to the issues, including the military-industrial complex, the history of policing, and post-war global politics.
: Digging deeper into the ideologies that feed these structures — imperialism, racism, US exceptionalism, patriarchy, etc.
: How do we move forward? What does our analysis lend us in terms of theories of change?
(These are all Saturdays, each from 1-3pm ET)
Each will feature both information and guided discussion in groups. The series is intended to be engaged with week-by-week, as each piece builds on the next, but it is possible to come in for some and not others. Additionally, each session’s informational portions will be recorded and available for viewing afterward.
If you are a climate activist or organizer trying to understand the intersections of the crisis, this series will absolutely deepen your understanding. Militarism is itself a complex issue that has roots in other deeply problematic aspects of our society. The combination of the two provides a very holistic picture of the world as it is, and the challenges facing the climate movement if we are to create a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.
