The disaster victims of Valencia greeted the King of Spain, the Head of Government and the President of the region with shouts of « murderers » and mud throwing. With good reason!
Last Tuesday, torrential and deadly rains plunged the region's inhabitants into chaos. This Sunday, the overwhelming majority of those affected were still left fending for themselves, able to count only on the wave of solidarity from those who came to help them. Yes, they spoke their minds to those who claim to be their leaders, and they were certainly right to do so!
This tragedy isn't just « bad luck ». Many deaths could have been avoided if the red alert had been activated as a preventive measure. Despite warnings of the danger from the weather service at 8 a.m., the provincial authorities only issued the alert at 8 p.m., by which time the streets had already turned into torrents.
Why? Because a red alert would have meant closing public establishments and firms and sending employees home. In other words, it meant a wasted day for commerce and business.
A year ago, the president of the Madrid region was heavily criticized for having activated the red alert when rainfall had actually spared the capital. Business circles accused her of being over-careful. Well, last Tuesday, employees worked all day, and dozens of them died trying to get home!
Once again, the race for profit leads to turning a blind eye to global warming which is the main cause of the problem. For the 30 past years, climatologists have been warning us about the climate chaos caused by global warming. At the same time, state leaders have been bargaining their commitments to reduce greenhouse gases and breaking their promises.
Today, climate chaos is real. It has struck Valencia in Spain and, in Ardèche and Pas-de-Calais, we have not been spared. The worst is yet to come because society's current leaders - the bourgeoisie that dominates the entire economy - are incapable of doing what is necessary to halt climate change.
Capitalists see the slightest ecological norm or constraint as an obstacle to profitability and competitiveness, as an unbearable disadvantage for international competition. And they get their way. Today, agribusiness trusts continue deforestation, and Total, Shell and Co. are going to drill for oil in the waters liberated by the ice cap melting. At the same time, governments are making us feel guilty and are lecturing us on how to consume and travel!
The servants and profiteers of capitalism are leading us to the precipice because their system has only one goal: the accumulation of capital through the relentless exploitation of mankind and nature. Everything else takes second place: even human life and the future of our planet.
The laws of profit, market and competition decide what will be produced, where and how. Luxury goods count as much as food production, arms sales as much as medicines. Similar goods can travel thousands of kilometers and pass each other on the roads. It's an incredible waste of energy, resources and human labor.
Instead, we need to plan and rationalize production and exchange according to the needs of all humanity. This is not utopian: the means to achieve this exist, even on a planetary scale.
The tools for production and planetary planning are controlled today by the shareholders of multinationals such as TotalEnergies, BNP Paribas, Volkswagen, Nestlé, Arcelor, Amazon, Google, the giant of the seas CMA CGM, satellite companies… In the hands of workers, these tools democratically and collectively managed, would be incredible resources for solving the problems facing humanity, not only the climate crisis but also underdevelopment and the monstrous inequalities.
The only hope of using the existing resources to serve humanity and save the planet is to have a communist organization of society.
Capitalism is not inevitable or a natural fact. It was elaborated and is defended by a social class, the big bourgeoisie, which profits from it.The working class has every reason to want it to disappear. However remote it may seem, the communist revolution remains absolutely urgent.
Nathalie Arthaud