The climate crisis needs all the ideas and imagination it can get. But today's guest says that liberalism - the system many of us live in, which cherishes individual freedom above pretty much all else - is a straitjacket on our imaginations, and our ability to think and act big. If it really is harder to imagine the death of capitalism than the end of all life on Earth, does that explain why most visions of the future are so, well, crap?
Joining Dave this ep is Dr Christopher Shaw, author of 'Liberalism and the Challenge of Climate Change'. Chris has a very large brain and tells us why the rules of the system we live in have a huge influence on how we think about what's possible. Follow him on twitter @kalahar1.
Owl noises:
-- 10.01: One of the people credited with the phrase is the late Mark Fisher in his very influential (including I bet on Chris) Capitalist Realism.
-- 11.34: Not cheery, but here's more in Science about the transgression of six of the nine planetary boundaries.
-- 15.47: Chris means Hope in the Dark, a book I commend to you in the strongest possible terms.
-- 32.35: Freud and his repression. For plenty more on Freud, check out episode 11 with Dr Aaron Balick.
-- 40:44: The shortcut to Chris's Twitter thread.
Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency. Contact the show: @brainclimate on Twitter, or hello@yourbrainonclimate.com.
Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Twitter. Original music by me too.
Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.