The Interconnected Grid | Nafeez Ahmed
How infrastructure could change the world
“All of those sectors are rapidly changing and the incumbent industries in those sectors are going to collapse. This is being driven by economic dynamics. It's going to happen.”
What if the only viable future is a better one?
Whatever the future holds, one thing is certain: tomorrow’s world will not look like today’s. We could see fossil-fascism in which nations hoard their fossil reserves (coal and gas) for accelerated use at the expense of international collaboration. We could see eco-fascism after an unplanned recession which crashes the financial system and slashes demand. We could see a descent into madness in which we run out of fuel to heat, to eat, to survive.
We could also see degrowth, eco-socialism, renewable sharing and governance reimagined to meet human rights. No, this isn’t utopia—it’s laid out in the policy plans of many scholars around the world as one of the only paths to navigating the planetary crisis.
Systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed joins me to discuss the interconnected grid—a piece of renewable infrastructure which, by its design, would change our economic system, our geopolitics and our relationship with one another. Nafeez debated engineer Simon Michaux a few months ago, and I highly recommend listening to these episodes as a trio: Nafeez, Simon, the debate.
© Rachel Donald
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Articles I’d love you to read this week…
- It’s Time To Look Up by Jessica Wildfire
- Fascism Comes to America by Chris Hedges
- Buckle Up. Climate Change Could Destroy Half Our Economies by Umair Haque
- Meet the shadowy network vilifying climate protestors by Amy Westervelt and Geoff Dembicki
