Humans vs the Planet

Published: July 13, 2020, 7:35 p.m.

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As Covid-19 forced humans into lockdown, memes emerged showing the earth was healing thanks to our absence. These were false claims \\u2013 but their popularity revealed how seductive the dangerous idea that \\u2018we are the virus\\u2019 can be.\\n \\nAt its most extreme, this way of thinking leads to eco-fascism, the belief the harm humans do to Earth can be reduced by cutting the number of non-white people. \\n \\nBut the mainstream green movement is also challenged by a less hateful form of this mentality known as \\u2018doomism\\u2019 \\u2013 a creeping sense that humans will inevitably cause ecological disaster, that it\\u2019s too late to act and that technological solutions only offer more environmental degradation through mining and habitat loss.\\n \\nWhat vision can environmentalists offer as an antidote to these depressing ideas? And how can green politics encourage radical thinking without opening the door to hateful ideologies?\\n \\nProducer/Presenter: Lucy Proctor\\nEditor: Jasper Corbett

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