Multipolar Ltd. and The Eco-Environ Enclosed Loop

essay

author’s note: A bit longer than typical essay, with some winding roads, so
i hope you’ll give it the attention i feel the topic deserves.

The root meaning of the word “economy” is: of the household, well-managed, frugal, thrifty –― a far cry from nowadays mentioning “the economy” which evokes . . . Major imbalances having to do with money due to forces outside the common person's control; the costs of stuff you get, which determines how much stuff you get, or not; investments, in which people use money – if they have extra in the first place – to make more money. The word “economy” lacks concern for the process of production and the people involved―the relationships both with the workers and the living beings from which the materials are extracted.

“Surround, enclose” is the root meaning of the verb “environ,” thus the active principle of “environment.”

Both those words, and the concepts and actions they spawn, reflect limited thinking and imply there are gatekeepers of the enclosures. “Economics” is an enclosed loop focused on the individual household rather than community and the land from which the bounty comes in non-frugal, limitless space fashion. “Environment,” as a euphemism for the Natural World, has become: That thing out there we must take care of to avoid going extinct!… so one enclosure over there gets cared for while too many over there don’t, but we’re making some progress with the “environment.”

The enclosed loop “economy” feeds off of the enclosed loop “environment” ― and everybody knows the corporate-governmental (aka fascist) playing field is not level. As Leonard Cohen sang, “Everybody knows that the dice are loaded / Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed...”

But not everybody knows of the current situation on the global chessboard, so the brunt of this essay is to identify and poke holes in the shifting eco-environ enclosed loop otherwise known as Multipolar.

Multipolar is the recent term in geopolitical and news circles for defining the breakaway from USEmpire's hegemony of domination, also referred to as “unipolar” and “rules-based international order” (guess who's been making up the rules), which has been especially dominating the global scene since WW II. But that brand of domination is said to be going out of style. The shift is spearheaded by Russia, China, and other BRICS countries and organizations. Over and over I have heard and read how monumental this shift is ― yet rarely is it questioned or criticized. “Multipolar Ltd.” reflects both the corporate aspect of empire in a different form, along with what I see as the limitations of the Multipolar shift.

First of all, some of what I see as the positives. Multipolar is far less warlike, though considering Russia and the attacks on Ukraine, some would disagree. Yet clearly there is far less building of military bases – what the USE is infamous for – and more focus on working with other countries, the emphasis on commerce. People need goods and jobs to survive, so this aspect of Multipolar is far more cooperative and constructive. And for all the pain that’s been inflicted on economically poorer countries by the USE, IMF, WEF, etc., Multipolar allows for the possibility of a ripple effect for countries of the Global South to take care of their own affairs—yet the disregard for the likes of small farmers and Indigenous Peoples everywhere, their lands and the Natural World, and instead the emphasis on extracting resources is what I consider the brunt of Ltd.

war is a huge chunk of the global economy
I'm a peacenik yet from everything I had read and heard at the time, it seemed to me that Russia had some legitimate reasons for invading Ukraine. Some analysts say it was an illegal invasion and/or an imperialistic act. While the corpserate media blamed Russia for starting everything, they failed to highlight the 2014 USE-backed coup in Ukraine, strategic creeping up on Russia’s borders, and credible intel of a massacre about to be perpetrated on the Donbass region which had already been bombed and approximately 6,000 people killed since 2014; that civilians were killed, but that didn't raise any breaking news for eight years reeks of corpserate news deception.

It's a tangled issue so rather than get into hashing out details am only mentioning a few bits. Another stated reason for Russia's SMO (Special Military Operation) was to root out neo-Nazis, some of whom revere Stepan Bandera who was a “far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.” And they proudly post photos of such stuff on social-media. They just don’t hide it anymore… in Ukraine or the USE. A recent GrayZone headline and first paragraph: "Air Force base hosted charity golf tournament for Ukrainian neo-Nazis: Three weeks before Trump and Biden sparred over their respective golf games at last Thursday’s presidential debate, ‘The Courses at Andrews’ Air Force Base hosted a charity golf tournament for wounded Ukrainian veterans of the neo-Nazi Azov movement."

Am all for any wounded being cared for but a golf tournament for neo-Nazis?

Add to that the more recent mentions of 44 to 85 standing ovations for Netanyahu's speech to Congress; by the way, his actual last name before his father changed it, Mileikowsky; that factoid from the provocatively headlined article, “Netanyahu’s Polish Nazi Heritage Showing as Israeli Civil War Erupts.”

The son of Mileikowsky, with USE and other countries’ backing, is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 40,000 Palestinians, approximately 50% women and children, and “The accumulative effects of Israel’s war on Gaza could mean the true death toll could reach more than 186,000 people, according to a study published in the journal Lancet.”

Standing ovations?! They just don't hide it anymore. The Tao Te Ching (Thou Dei Jinn) refers to drastic economic imbalances as “brazen banditry,” so I would call however many standing ovations brazen butchery. Adding to the brazenry, 97% of access to water has been cut off to Palestinians in Gaza. The utter lack of human decency and empathy, some of what water represents, is noted.

But, sadly, who really cares about such a revolting display of the celebration of butchery because the campaign trail has been “energized,” now that the Gaffer-in-Chief has been re-branded with the Cackler-at-Large. Let me remind readers that in 2008, Obama won Advertising Age's Marketer of the Year. Not only do they not hide the stuff, they show it off with pride; they have no heart-filled chests but medals galore to pin them on. Am not a Trump fan either and though his braggadocio could fill a stadium, imho, at least he makes some sense some of the time, and at least his previous term was not as war-mongered, and at least there's a chance he's not completely bought-and-sold by the established “rules-based international order.” But what do I know about politics, I’d rather watch PGA golf.

Considering the above mentioned atrocities, Multipolar as a potential for a far less war-mongered and far more cooperative world would be a monumental shift.

Indigenous land defenders
More recently I read, at Censored News, articles about the Indigenous of so-called Russia at the UN gathering in Geneva; my awareness of the bigger picture was expanded. As with extractive industries worldwide, Indigenous lands are high on the list for being mined for ingredients for weaponry. Thus some of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian region are against the war with Ukraine. This made me wonder if the following two scenarios can be presented in the following stark terms: Indigenous Peoples defending land, against resources for weaponry for war AND Russia defending itself from USE/NATO/Ukraine and neo-Nazism.

The topic, however, is not new. From a 2021 article "In Russia, Indigenous land defenders face intimidation and exile":
"Russia’s 46 Indigenous groups are known officially as the ‘small nations of the North, Siberia and the Far East.’ They amount to less than 300,000 people, or 0.2 percent of Russia’s population of 144 million, but live in autonomies that are often larger than some European nations."

Yes, Leonard, “the dice are loaded.”

In a recent interview, perhaps strengthening the Russian side of the diced coin, professor and economist Michael Hudson stated:
“The joint Israel and Ukraine wars have given a sense of urgency for other countries to realize that they have to act now in order to avoid a similar fate.”

The neo-Nazism or whatever label given is a real threat, YET so is the current pace of destruction of Earth with the greedy grabbing of resource and the squelching of Indigenous voices.

I'm not going to try to come up with an answer, nor do I want to polarize the nuanced topic. While my sentiments are always with Indigenous Peoples protecting and defending land, water, and and age-old lifestyles, I objectively don't know what the best choice for Russia as a country is— though I venture to say the country could stop destroying Indigenous lands for so much weaponry. At the least, Russia could bring that awareness to the global stage—yet they don't. And that raises big questions.

China’s loop
The following quotes are to show an underreported side of China, and reflect their part in the eco-environ enclosed loop.

From The Rare Metals War: the dark side of clean energy and digital technologies (2018, translation 2020) by Guillaume Pitron:

“'The Chinese people have sacrificed their environment to supply the entire planet with rare earths,'” Vivian Wu, a recognised Chinese expert in rare metals, tells us. 'Ultimately, the price of developing our industry is just too high.'” (p.19)

“The environmental cost is exorbitant, inhumane, and outrageous. China is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (producing 28 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions in 2015)... Ten per cent of its ground water is unfit for consumption. Only five of the 500 biggest cities in China meet international standards for air quality, and there are 1.6 million deaths per year due to air pollution alone. (p.31)

I'll add to that, strange that there was no Covid-like emergency due to air pollution.

“...anti-pollution protests now number between 30,000 and 50,000 every year.” And, “There are close to 8,000 environmental non-profits working to harness, coordinate and unify the groundswell” combating the pollutions. (p.128)

And from Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives (2023) by Siddharth Kara:

“In 2021, China produced 75 percent of the world's refined cobalt. … the country's dominance over the rechargeable battery industry.”

And with regard to six companies, two in China, three in South Korea, one in Japan, “In 2021, these six companies produced 86 percent of the world's lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, with CATL (China) alone holding a one-third global share. Most of the cobalt in these batteries originated in the Congo.” (p.23)

“I asked why Congolese construction companies weren't doing the road work instead of the Chinese.

“'Chinese companies make a bid lower than anyone else to get the contract. They will pay their workers small wages to complete the project. The Chinese have no constraints on human rights, so other companies cannot compete with them.'

“Gilbert's comments were echoed by Asad Khan, CEO of Big Boss Congo:

“'...First, although they are private companies, they all receive funding from the government of China. Basically, this means they receive free money and have almost no cost of capital. You can not compete on this basis. … The Chinese mining contracts signed by the Kabila government are lopsided and benefit the DRC state and the population very little.’” (p.175)

Add to that the International Campaign for Tibet reports of Chinese destruction of Tibetan temples, forced boarding schools, and attempts to thwart respect for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. And that also raises big questions.

shareholders or sharing
If the perspectives of the Indigenous Peoples, including the Tibetans and Palestinians, as well as the common Chinese, Russian, etc. Peoples on the front lines are not included in all the global analyses and Multipolar advancements, then all the reshuffling will do little to encourage the well-being of the Earth Herself along with protection and healing of and access to the Waters, the source of life. Instead it'll be a Mulitpolar Ltd. eco-enviro enclosed loop with more corporate heads of state calling the shots, sadly, literally, with weaponry, and slave labor.

When you read or hear about Mulitpolar taking on the longtime Euro-USE empire, be wary of the Us vs. Them storyline because in the big picture, there's more to it, much more.

The eco-environ enclosed loop is like a dam that adversely affects the natural flow of water, which affects fish and other aquatic beings therein. It is in this context that I think the current Multipolar Ltd. shift needs greater attention and hearing from the voices of the myriad perspectives.

At the UN or any other high-powered board meeting, do they ever play a recording of the sound of a river flowing?