Arun Gupta – Terrorism, Climate Change & Capitalism

Arun Gupta, journalist and activist, was a founding editor of The Indypendent and the Occupied Wall Street Journal. His articles appear in Alternet, Truthout, The Guardian, and Z. He also appears on Democracy Now! and Al Jazeera.

So far in the 21st century very little has been done in addressing three inter-related problems: terrorism, climate change and capitalism. Terrorism in mainstream discourse has a very limited meaning. It’s shootings and bombings in San Bernadino and Baghdad. We need a broader definition that encompasses climate change and the capitalist economic system. Rising temperatures mean rising sea levels. If you live in low-lying areas you will be vulnerable to floods. That’s terrifying. The Paris climate accord does not have teeth to even implement its inadequate proposals. Capitalism produces its own form of terrorism when people don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  On the other hand, the richest 62 people are as wealthy as half of the world’s population. Inequality is soaring. Concerted and systemic action is needed on these issues, else the coming decades will be bleak.