The Troubling Truths of Naomi Klein’s “The Right is Right”
In the first chapter of her book This Changes Everything, titled “The Right is Right,” Naomi Klein makes the provocative argument that the right-wing, which has typically denied climate change and various other environmental issues while also trying to silence environmental activism, actually understands the significance of climate change more than many liberals. Naomi Klein recounts how various climate deniers have accused climate activists of secretly trying to usher in some form of socialism, destroy the American way of life, and destroy various industries that have become central to the world’s economy. Klein argues that, although these people are completely wrong about the science of climate change, they are absolutely right about its political and social consequences. According to Klein, if one grants that industry and consumerism as we have known them lead to world-threatening climate change, then it naturally follows that we must drastically change industry and consumerism in order to reverse, or at the very least limit, the damage done. This then would mean that major global industries would be severely limited or outright abolished, the American way of life would be drastically altered, and that perhaps even some form of socialism may need to be implemented. Klein embraces what the right wing fears and what moderates try to brush off: that fighting climate change entails radical political and social change.
Klein is explicit in her criticism of capitalism. According to her, the climate crisis has not only been caused by industrial capitalism but has become increasingly difficult to combat due to the mechanisms of capital. The think tanks and activist groups that espouse rhetoric denying or downplaying climate change pull in massive sums of money from various sources, such as major fossil fuel companies, interested in stopping policy that would be effective in preventing environmental disaster. The wealthy shareholders of these companies do not only profit from the industrial activities that cause climate change, they also stand to lose very little, when compared to the general population, as a result of climate change. The people most directly impacted by climate change are the global poor, such as those in the Horn of Africa who face starvation on “parched land” (47). If global order collapses, then wealthy nations will, as Klein predicts, hoard their land and resources from those fleeing the global south, perhaps even employing brutal violent methods to do so (49). Some corporations may acknowledge the severity of climate change, but that still is not enough to motivate them to act against their financial interests. In fact, the only companies that appear to be vocal about the climate crisis are those whose interests are threatened by it, such as the insurance lobby, and even these companies will not push for aggressive climate policy. According to Klein, no meaningful change can be produced within the capitalist system because there can be no interest powerful enough within it to push for such change.
Klein’s greatest strength is in how she pushes against the naivety of which many moderates are guilty. Perhaps the most naïve position to hold at this point in time is that we can both maintain our current economic system while also reversing the effects of climate change. Those who “are still insisting that the response can be gradual and painless and that we don’t need to go to war with anybody, including the fossil fuel companies” (43) are in denial about how deeply intertwined our economic problems are with our environmental problems. While one may charge Klein with being excessively polemic, she does make a convincing point that the “middle-ground” moderate position has become implausible. If climate deniers are in denial of the scientific reality, these moderates are in denial of the political reality. Although the precise number of years is uncertain, it is certain that humans only have a very limited number of years left until climate change goes past “the point of no return.” It seems very idealistic to say that a meaningful enough change could be made within this narrow time frame without drastically changing our way of life and economic structures. Klein is therefore not merely polemic but also highly pragmatic and realistic in criticizing this idealistic way of thinking in favor of a way of thinking more in tune with reality and better poised to motivate the required actions.
One could possibly take issue with the weight of the accusations that Klein makes in this text. If one reads between the lines, one can see that Klein is making very serious accusations against the various corporate and political figures she mentions. It is not that she is merely accusing them of being greedy or reckless: she is accusing them of knowingly perpetuating a system that may very well end countless lives and make much of the world uninhabitable. On the one hand, she stresses that this is all the result of the capitalist system at large and not caused by individual actions. However, she also makes it clear that certain groups and individuals are more responsible than others. Certain companies, lobbying groups, and think-tanks have been especially active in suppressing policy that could have limited the effects of climate change, many of them either aware or willingly ignorant of the science behind climate change. What accountability and justice look like when dealing with people guilty of such large-scale and horrific things is a very important and troubling ethical issue. It would have been helpful if Klein had dealt with this aspect of the issue more in depth and explored possible solutions.
Questions for further consideration: Could we maintain any semblance of our lifestyle while also producing the changes necessary to stop the climate crisis? What does accountability and justice look like when dealing with the institutions, companies, and individuals who have played an active role in exacerbating the climate crisis?
Word Count: 921
Work Cited
Klein, Naomi. “The Right is Right: The Revolutionary Power of Climate Change,” This Changes Everything: Capitalism v. the Climate, Simon & Schuster, 2014, pp. 31–63.
