Review: ‘What’s Left’ by Malcolm Harris
TL/DR –
In his book “What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis,” political commentator Malcolm Harris proposes alternatives to the current global warming crisis, advocating for changes to the system on a global level. Harris outlines a three-part solution, consisting of market incentives, government control over utilities, and a communist revolution inspired by Indigenous land management and degrowth. Harris suggests that all three parts of his solution are needed and interdependent, and also acknowledges the need to confront the formidable force preventing their implementation.
“WHAT’S LEFT: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis,” by Malcolm Harris
Political commentator Malcolm Harris presents “What’s Left,” an urgent guide addressing the global warming crisis, offering alternative solutions beyond parochial barbarisms and petty domination. Harris, a passionate advocate for change, portrays a vivid picture of a societal system caught in a noxious social metabolism.
Harris asserts that we cannot merely consume more responsibly or recycle more diligently. Instead, there is a global need to reform the system, a necessity for a systemic transition given the planetary system’s nature.
Harris, known for his clarity on left-wing issues and his radical purity, examines social problems like labor exploitation and economic inequality in his books on the history of California and millennial generation angst. In “What’s Left,” he explores a wide range of policies aimed at combating environmental destruction, from market incentives to central economic planning.
The book’s proposed coalition comes in three parts. The first part focuses on marketcrafters who champion green initiatives, like subsidies for electric vehicles and solar panels. The second part elaborates on a plan where the government takes control over utilities, prompting a transition to hydro and solar power. The final part calls for a communist revolution, citing inspirations from Indigenous land management, migrant aid networks, and acts of property destruction, in the service of degrowth.
The book suggests that these three approaches support each other: “Public power needs the radical threat; communists need bail money; marketcraft needs an organized working-class constituency.”
“What’s Left” and “Abundance” both seek economic renovation by encouraging clean energy and transportation innovations, but the authors of “Abundance” are spurred on by China’s track record in infrastructure and manufacturing. They are pro-growth, with a focus on removing environmental red tape to encourage economic expansion.
However, both books face the harsh reality of our present situation – increasing global dangers and challenges. While Harris’s radical ideas may have thrived in a university seminar room in 2022, the current global unrest and political instability have significantly changed the landscape.
The world we live in no longer supports lightweight speculation about fighting environmental catastrophe. We must confront a reality that is increasingly dangerous and heading in a worse direction.
Harris’s “What’s Left” presents a distinct American vision of progressive politics, emerging between the Sunrise Movement of the 2018 midterms and Kamala Harris’s campaign theme of “joy” last year.
“What’s Left” stakes out the radical corner of a thoroughly disoriented political culture. In the aftermath of Trump’s presidency, we might need something more modest than what Harris suggests. America’s basic civil functions require profound reconstruction; that should be our humbler task.
“WHAT’S LEFT: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis” | By Malcolm Harris | Little, Brown | 310 pp. | $30
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