# What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis (Copy) (Copy)

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Podcast: [Tech, Innovation & Society - The Creative Process: Technology, AI, Software, Future, Economy, Science, Engineering & Robotics Interviews](https://stenobird.com/podcast/tech-innovation-and-society)
Published: 2025-08-27T08:03:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.creativeprocess.info/technology-innovation-society/malcolm-harris-epdge-3tjlw
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## Resource

Malcolm Harris explores the intersection of capitalism and the climate crisis, arguing that our current economic structure is fundamentally incompatible with a stable biosphere. He proposes moving beyond individual consumer choices toward a radical redesign of our social metabolism and collective organization.

## Highlights
- Main idea: The climate crisis is rooted in a 'value-theoretical' rift where capital exploits the biosphere as a disposable resource
- Failure mode: Treating decarbonization as a commodity to be purchased by individuals fails to address the systemic need for production redesign
- Practical takeaway: True political engagement requires a willingness to risk complicity in imperfect systems to secure long-term survival
- Main idea: The future requires 'new constructs of collectivity' that exist outside the traditional, failing structures of the nation-state
- Failure mode: Relying on existing large-scale political constructs to navigate planetary instability is a losing strategy

## Topics

Climate Crisis, Capitalism, Political Theory, Social Metabolism, Internationalism, Environmental Justice, Economic Value, Sustainability

## Chapters
- 0:00 — From History to Future: A transition from studying the history of capitalism to analyzing the existential threats of the planetary crisis.
- 3:00 — The Value of Oil: Exploring how the concept of oil and value theory informs our understanding of the climate crisis.
- 6:10 — Redesigning Social Metabolism: The necessity of moving toward a system based on collective needs and decarbonized production.
- 9:10 — The Myth of Individual Solutions: Why individual consumerism cannot solve the systemic problem of atmospheric decarbonization.
- 18:20 — The Ethics of Complicity: Discussing the difficult political necessity of engaging with compromised systems to achieve progress.
- 31:10 — New Forms of Internationalism: Looking toward indigenous internationalism and new modes of organization in a disordered world.

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