Will green capitalism save the planet? Is it even trying?
Not when the very logic of the capitalist system pits it against Earth's life-support systems, as the Japanese philosopher Kohei Saito demonstrates in this astonishing international bestseller.
Drawing on cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines, Saito shows how nothing but a transformation of our economic life can save us from climate collapse. Karl Marx himself reached this breakthrough at the
end of his life, long before climate change had even begun. It radically altered his vision of proletarian revolution. Now that we are entering our own end-game, we must grasp Marx's final lesson before it is too late.
If we are to avoid the most terrible political prospects of of climate change, the future must belong to degrowth communism, a fair and humane existence within the limits of nature. There is no alternative: the endless
acceleration of capital has run out of road. We must slow down.
Karl Marx called religion "the opium of the masses" because of the illusory relief it offered from the cold realities of capitalism. Today, the hard reality that we must face is that we have fundamentally and irrevocably damaged life on Earth, and while distracting opiates are everywhere, it is clear that the root cause is none other than capitalism itself.
Building upon a completely unexplored facet of Marx's thought that has been lying dormant for more than a century, Japanese star philosopher Kohei Saito reveals how we are still caught in the trap that Marx diagnosed towards the end of his life - and proves that capitalism can never be compatible with a sustainable existence. Unless we can solve the dilemma that Marx spelt out in his final revelatory writings, and mend the breach we have torn in the fabric of the natural world, disaster awaits. A shock bestseller on publication in Japan, SLOW DOWN will help unleash the imaginative power necessary for us to create a better society in the age of climate crisis.
