Imagine
By Diana O’Dwyer
We invite readers to submit a short story imagining what a socialist future or revolutionary transformation may look like. We do this to spark ideas and debate, and to inspire readers to take the first steps towards this future by getting involved in the struggle for socialism. Submit yours to ecosocialistquarterly@gmail.com.
It’s 2087. 37 years since the final collapse into anarchy and barbarism of capitalism and 20 years since we started building global ecosocialism. Unfortunately, you are not alive to see it. You were one of the billions who died during the Decades of Disaster from 2040-2070 when catastrophic storms, droughts, wildfires and genocidal wars ravaged the Earth. It’s such a shame the revolution didn’t come sooner. So many lives and so much more of civilisation could have been saved. Those who survived had to scramble around in the ashes and wade through the floods, digging for remnants to help them build a new world.
The polar ice caps melted completely; the Gulf Stream collapsed. Most of Ireland has been flooded or frozen over, and much of Africa and Asia is uninhabitable due to extreme heat. Whole ecosystems have been destroyed. The remaining arable land is a fraction of what it once was. Failed geoengineering projects have left sections of the planet swathed in near-permanent darkness and devastated the ecology of the seas.
There is a zero-emission society now but it will be centuries before temperatures and sea levels stabilise. The climate is still terrifyingly unstable, nearly 4 degrees hotter than it used to be. Climate adaptation and nature restoration are the biggest fields of science. Everyone is desperate to live in harmony with nature but it’s almost impossible when everything is so out of balance.
The oil and gas companies kept drilling and drilling and making billions and billions until the Great Collapse in 2050 when money became worthless. It was formally abolished after the Chinese working class finally pulled the emergency brake in 2067 and triggered a global ecosocialist revolution. The capitalist class were merciless in attempting to defend their privileges. Millions were slaughtered using AI and killer robots. It was when they began to use nuclear weapons that the soldiers all revolted and took back control for humanity.
Most of your surviving family are now living in central Europe after northern and coastal areas were inundated and much of the Mediterranean turned to desert. Direct democracy means everyone has a real say over what happens in their lives but the options are constrained by immediate ecological limits. Rationing of food and power is a necessity as relatively stable supplies have been restored only recently. The upside is that everyone is a lot healthier. Food and renewable energy have been decommodified and are available free to all. There is no ultra processed food, everyone walks, wheels, cycles or gets public transport for longer journeys so outside of frequent wildfires there is little air pollution. The redirection of labour power into zero emission green jobs has created free healthcare for all - as well as universal free childcare and free public transport.
Education and work have been radically reoriented to help us to survive and prosper in a zero-emission world based on ecosocialism and direct democracy. We are making it up as we go along and that takes time. The standard working week has been reduced to 21 hours with another 7 officially allocated to political participation - although lots of people just take the extra free time. On top of this everyone gets 3 months’ holidays a year giving them enough time for slow travel or whatever else they want to do. It’s only now that people are beginning to overcome the trauma of the Decades of Disaster. Everyone lost loved ones, was displaced, experienced war and terrible state repression. But twenty years on from the Revolution, a new generation is coming up that has never experienced any of that and is growing up in a new, more hopeful world.