A-Infos (en) Germany, LIKOS: Our speech at the GSD on September 20, 2025 (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Today we want to talk about ecosocialism. For the right, this has become 
a battle cry; for them, the term stands for paternalism, restriction, 
and renunciation, and they have successfully established this narrative 
in social debates. It's no wonder that the government, under the guise 
of climate protection, is tapping into people's already tight pockets. 
Even the Greens are accused of ecosocialism, although their policies 
really have nothing socialist about them. So what is ecosocialism all 
about? Are we threatened by a kind of eco-GDR?

First of all, let's establish: Capitalism simply can't do it! And that's 
not because it "doesn't want to" or "can't manage," but rather is rooted 
in the system. After all, it is capitalism and its mode of production, 
based primarily on fossil fuels, that caused climate change in the first 
place. It is therefore obvious that this system cannot be used to 
effectively contain the destruction, let alone stop the climate 
catastrophe. In capitalism, climate protection must always be 
"affordable" and "economically viable," meaning it must not jeopardize 
profits. This is the overriding premise and is never questioned in 
public debate.

But as long as production and the means of production remain private 
property, beyond social control, nothing will change. Companies under 
pressure to maximize profits do not care about the subsequent ecological 
costs of their actions, as long as the society burdened with these costs 
does not force them to do so.

In this system, however, politics is dependent on tax revenues and thus 
interested in the smooth functioning of capitalism. Neither a "Green New 
Deal" nor a so-called "post-growth society" will lead out of this 
impasse, because neither changes the mode of production. The climate 
crisis cannot be solved within capitalism, and there can be no 
capitalism without the imperative to grow, just as there can be no such 
thing as "a little bit pregnant."

The climate crisis requires a move away from the "blind forces of the 
market" toward a planned economy that coordinates itself globally and is 
oriented toward the needs of people and nature without having to 
generate profit - an ecological socialism. One that doesn't hamper 
people, but rather convinces them, and is realized by everyone together 
for the benefit of all.

Instead of remaining in the false dichotomy between consumption and 
renunciation and negotiating wealth only as a purely quantitative 
question, we want to advocate for a new form of wealth.

In capitalism, social wealth appears as an "immense collection of 
commodities" (a Marx quote is a must), from which large parts of the 
world's population are permanently excluded. The widespread satisfaction 
of basic material needs should be the top priority in a new society.

Material living conditions would improve significantly in an ecological 
socialism if the cornerstones of public services - healthcare, housing, 
education, and food - that is, all everyday goods, were removed from the 
capitalist logic of exploitation under democratic control.

Reducing material and energy consumption in industrialized countries to 
a level that could be generalized globally would not necessarily lead to 
a lower quality of life. For example, responsive, well-organized public 
transport - instead of stinking avalanches of metal - would mean more 
space, more life time, peace, security, and environmental quality in 
cities. Cities like Paris and Barcelona are already leading the way.

The radical expansion of such shared "public luxuries" and the conscious 
planning of society's metabolism with nature would also open up scope 
for qualitatively new forms of social wealth.

This includes, above all, more freely available time and thus the 
opportunity to care for oneself and others. Time to have a say in 
society's affairs, to educate oneself, and to be creative.

Sounds good, doesn't it? All we need to do is abolish capitalism and 
transform society. And quickly. Of course, such a task initially seems 
unrealistic, if not impossible, and it certainly won't work without a 
transition - of some kind.

André Gorz, a pioneer of the ecology movement, has drawn the bitter 
conclusion: "If we fail to finally find a way forward for the exit 
through negotiations together (and in this case, together means 
worldwide), nature will force it upon us."

We will have to deal with the consequences of the climate catastrophe 
one way or another. Let us, as the climate movement, strive to make our 
utopias concrete instead of moralizing or falling into fatalism. 
Authoritarian crisis management strategies, even eco-fascism, are 
plentiful. Only if we succeed in conveying to people that real climate 
protection doesn't patronize and exploit them, but can offer a 
perspective for new social prosperity and a better quality of life, will 
we be able to counteract this.

We don't need profit for some, but quality of life for ALL.

For ecological socialism!

https://likos.noblogs.org/2025/09/20/unser-redebeirag-beim-gsd-am-20-09-2025/
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