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It won't be a reality if you keep calling it solarpunk, I can promise you that. Give it a different name but use the same ideas. Words matter to people and solarpunk is considered to be both an art movement and genre of fiction. If you want to be taken seriously and if you want buy-in from those who aren't already sold on the idea, it needs to be called something else. Seriously, a single brainstorming session with eco-conscious communities around the world should present better alternatives.
@@yoggothemadgod6196 , If it's the atompunk aesthetic, then yes. But ideologically, they are opposed. Solarpunk is all about DIY, decentralisation, and integration with natural systems. Atompunk promotes centralisation of energy production, power, and "man's mastery over nature by splitting the atom". Steampunk, whose participants quote "love the machine, hate the factory" and stand for personal empowerment, DIY technology, and aesthetic (historical & natural inspired) beauty, integrates with solarpunk far better in my opinion.
Capitalism & colonialism deprioritised human animals to various degrees, but also non human animals have been subjegated. Perhaps rather than a humancentric future, a naturecentric future is better? Where we are part of nature, neither above or at the centre of it?
being depressed and having no hope for a positive post-climate change future is completely understandable but we also have to understand that the first step to mitigating climate change is knowing that it's a future thats possible and worth fighting the status quo (not each other) regardless of the odds stacked against us PS: and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I'd rather fail and die knowing I gave it all that I could than live the rest of my life knowing I could've done more
In fact in many ways we should be looking at the past, at “tradition” we should be looking at traditional farming and building practices to see how these can be recreated to better serve people and out environment. Using things like thatch or wattle and daub to create more sustainable building materials for smaller homes, encouraging people to live in larger groups so that household tasks and community support can be more equally distributed. Learning and sharing traditional crafts so that less needs to be bought from any kind of company and things like clothes and housewares last longer. This also goes for what kind of work is valued, things like teaching, parenting, creative tasks, cooking, cleaning, childcare, elder care, medical care etc. could be equally distributed and actually supported and valued.
No idea if it is correct but I have read that every human on this planet could have a 1970s Switzerland lifestyle sustainably. That doesn‘t sound bad at all to me!
@@PhilfreezeCH I pretty sure that's right but never heard the comparison before 🤭 however the people with money and power don't want equality. we have the biggest wealth gap in history. in America the wealthy had a higher tax percentage in 1970 and they still hide billions. America could easily take care of homelessness and immigration(from hidden income), without going in debt.
@@kjm2870 yep, expecting every single person to be “self sufficient” and economically productive their entire lives is ridiculous, and is unprecedented in human history. In, say feudal times in Europe, which many consider more economically oppressive than today, you would not be expected to say have a new baby or care for an elderly relative without communal and or church support. The Luteral Psalter for example, exalts the ploughman who tills the fields of his neighbors and will till the land of a peasant too poor to pay.
Future construction and building engineer: always been my dream ever since I was taught that concrete and cuboid shaped buildings don't have to be the only option.. and I definitely wish to take part of making solar-punk become our reality..
Your older videos used to be about finding problems in our society. They helped me cement this idea that we are f*cked in general as a species. But tbh I love your recent videos that are focused on finding solutions. Accepting climate doom is not an option I can live with. This solarpunk movement gives a lot of hope. Thank you for helping me deal with my ecoanxiety.
I think one can be a rational optimist. Are you familiar with the podcast Breaking Down: Collapse? It talks about the science and also other issues such as political, and financial that involve collapse. All in all, we can find hope in videos like these; it is good for mental health. It's important not be blinded by our hopes when the data blatantly says otherwise.
Not necessarily. We are entirely capable of respecting the needs of the collective while living an otherwise independent life. It seems clear that consciousness and the ability to make free and independent choices provides us with an evolutionary advantage, and is why we're here at all today. Individual pursuit of that which happens to interest and appeal to us is really what it means to be human after all, and not another ant in the ant colony.
@@ynthrepic You can live an independent life while having socialist/collective structures though? This is the equivalent of saying democracy is mob rule.
@@testest12344 it is, in a sense. But that's what we have communication and cooperation for. We need to convince each other of our beliefs and values and then when we put things to a vote, we won't expect any surprises. The vote is really a way of figuring out who is on what page and why. Of course, communication is hard and we can't expect everyone to know everything, so it's not that simple. But this is all to say individuality is not incompatible with socialism. But your choices will be more constrained depending on how your choices affect others, as they really should be. Not like now under capitalism, when if you're rich enough, the rules don't apply to you.
@@testest12344 co-owning a method/place of production does not preclude a persons freedom. If anything, it helps provide it. Sharing out the wealth and power more evenly is better for all of us. Even the so called 'rich'. They just don't know it yet :)
I literally did my thesis on this entire approach, yet am just learning the term solarpunk. Where can I find more? Is there a community to share ideas?
Being a "punk" since the days of Bad Religion and Bad Brains, you peeked my interest with the idea of "solar punk". This is something very special. Thank you. 😊
Blimps have one oproblem: helium. Not only is it finite, it's rare. Unless we have fusion reactors to produce it they won't work. Hydrogen powered airplanes that use hydrogen we get from electrolysis via renewables and fusion would be a far more realistic means of air travel.
Isn't there also a huge risk of a blimp exploding or catching fire? Isn't that why they were never really wildly adopted? I know that was a problem when they first were invented, or have they fixed that issue?
@@chosenpawn9368 The infamous Hindenburg disaster was a blimp full of Hydrogen, which is flammable. Helium is the fix they came up with. It is not flammable, but it is finite. We may run out of it in 30 years.
Actually, they have a second problem: wind. 20th century airships fell out of use, and out of the sky, because it was so hard to keep them safe in a storm. It would be better now that we have weather radar, but it's very much like oceam ships: either get in an enclosed hangar, or get away before the storm comes.
Hydrogen is the gas to use for blimps. Gasoline’s flammability didn’t stop people from driving cars did it? Hydrogen is far safer than you’ve been led to assume. I’ve worked with it before.
There's some really fascinating stuff here, but it begs the question of funding. By decentralising away from government control, these infrastructures can't be funded by taxpayers. Do the co-ops sell the goods and services they provide, and if so, to whom? That would suggest there is still a market per se, even if it isn't one in the capitalist model. Any ideas on how the question of funding can be resolved?
I think peer to peer trading is less of an issue than finding spaces that are free, accessible and will remain in the public domain. Pretty much every space around me is owned by someone who is not going to give access. Even as shops and houses remain empty, squatting would only work as a short-term and non-legal way of pressing abandoned property into use.
I agree. I wish I could believe that my hobby of plants and gardening would be valuable but my vegetable budget is a very small percentage of my overall expenses. Even if all food was free I would still have most of my expenses, health care, taxes, housing and transportation. I don’t want to grow rice in my backyard because it is extremely inefficient to decentralize that efficient system. I want to know what would be decentralized in order to make things better. In what way is centralized production making my life worse where decentralization would be a solution? Seems like the inefficiency would cause a rise in the cost and energy consumption.
In decentralized, socialized economies, many argue that money shouldn't exist. Communities would form co-ops, make decisions based on direct democracy and, especially as automation technology continues to improve, work will be seen as a civil service. Work helps your community, so you still gain from work. Housing, food, and healthcare would be free, and taxes wouldn't exist either since money wouldn't. Different communities with different resources would trade for the betterment of both communities, or donate surpluses to each other. Large projects like this are taken on by co-ops or groups of co-ops simply because it helps people.
This is brilliant. This is the kind of positive, hopeful future-dream we all need. Like futurism in the early 20th century, even if the world doesn't become quite like this, it gives us something to aspire to. Absolutely amazing.
A goal worth achieving, even if we can't reach what we imagine perfectly we could still get close enough to be happy with it, and give ourselves plenty of time to work out the details
This made me fall back in love with solarpunk I discovered solarpunk about 3 years ago (it's where I got my username) and absolutely loved it Over the last few years though, I got very busy with other things (finishing highschool, first year of college, covid, mental health) and kind of forgot about it, to the point where I thought of changing my username But this made me remember why I loved the movement so much back then and how attainable it actually is It reminded me of my stepdads neighborhood, where they have a community center with a makerspace, organised by the community, and a big community garden with classes on how to grow your own food and with beehives and regular markets to sell home crafts and how all that is both super solarpunk and something I want to be involved in more and super attainable, because they did that! I love solarpunk
This is exactly why so many people love Star Trek, the hopeful vision of the future. Fission and fusion are far superior as energy technologies unfortunately so many people have irrational fears surrounding nuclear.
Solarpunk is a lot of what Startrek *Wanted* to be, with the limitations of it's time and expectations. Both are optimistic, and certainly brighter futures, Solarpunk just has the benefits of a few more years of experience, new developments, and new understandings of our nature and history. I loved Startrek as a kid, but as an adult, Solarpunk is becoming my creative inspiration and motivation
@@UNSCPILOT The writers of the show definitely knew there science. The main source of energy in the show is fusion & with fusion you can transform matter into different elements, hence replicator technology. I love everything about solar punk except the name, it implies a utopia can be built off of solar alone. Unless you're building a dyson sphere there's no way to power an entire advanced civilization with solar. Another thing people overlook is that the sun is a natural fusion engine.
@@trunoholdaway2114 agreed, and Fission isn't some evil monster either, we don't need to build 60~80s era breeder reactors anymore, we have modern Fission reactor designs that can even use old Nuclear waste and weapons Grade material as fuel. So instead of trying to shove Nuclear in a deep dark hole and wait for it to go away, the best option is to build better modern reactors, especially smaller modular reactors that are way safer and can be expanded as necessary. Solar, wind, and Hydroelectric are all great, except where you can't build them or the weather weakens their efficiency, having clean modern Nuclear power as a baseline will make a fantastic foundation to keep things working, especially if you overbuild it for hyper-reliability and don't cut corners in the name of "profit" And if we get Fusion soon? Holy smokes that opens the door to some mad stuff, orbital rings, launch loops, massive O'Neil Cylinder habitats even out at the far edges of the solar system and equally massive "Gardener ships" (basically a self sufficient O'Neil Habitat with massive fusion engines) to spread life to other stars if we can't find it and make sure that life isn't just stuck on Earth with all the risk history has already shown us, and we'd probably try to terraform Venus and Mars to be Earth like and/or try to make life that's better adapted to whatever stable environment we can give them, especially if we van learn from whatever (possibly limited) life that might already be there. Solarpunk doesn't need to be just about living responsibility and happily on Earth, it can include using our technology for the good of spreading life everywhere else we can too, or discover and help any other life we can find
I love ideas like this and think this is a better outcome for humanity. I do wonder however when talking about airships, how do these communities develop the infrastructure to build a large airship. Who develops the blueprints. If the community has all those skilled individuals in it, where do they get educated, or how do we address the disparity between communities with differing education? How do they safety test and meet standards for emissions and reliability? If air travel is free, presumably more people will use it, then how do we manage air traffic without a government organization like the FAA? I think dismissing the importance of specialized multinational organizations (such as a blimp manufacturer) or government agencies to make sure some people's blimps aren't diesel-powered or armed is irresponsible. Another example is solar energy in general. I don't think a collective farming community has the technological know-how or infrastructure to develop solar panels. Even if they did, they would have to live in an area with the minerals and resources to produce solar panels in the first place (otherwise, they would need it shipped from a community that specializes in that). That means mining equipment, safety standards, so on and so forth. Socialism is clearly a better ethical alternative to capitalism, but that does not mean we need to dismiss the existence of specialized industries unless we want to forgo many modern conveniences. Maybe we have to do that to avoid a climate collapse, but I would work on a way to market that instead of treating it like a given. Edit: I almost forgot about semiconductors and processors. The current capital, personnel, and logistical investments necessary to build a fabrication plant are immense. That could be community or worker-owned, but it would be impossible to manage that industry without some sort of governing agency setting standards and documentation guidelines for electronics, let alone OSHA guidelines.
Generally anarchists subscribe to the idea of having federations of communities. The decisions are made locally for locals issues but when it’s an issue that involves the coordination of different communities then the decision in resolved federally.
I don't think there will be a hughe problem in countries like the US, Japan, China or France that have a long tradition of plan building and engineering.
3:38 an ecological society would never, ever, EVER bother with a flying bus. so wasteful, under any system capable of producing it. Eco is light rail systems: steel on steel, overhead cabling, usable under current solar tech, sustainable with a few upscalings and upgrades.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but many, and perhaps most of these ideas have an unstated dependence upon a functioning global economy. After all, no maker space produces its own refined raw materials, much less things like solar cells, or integrated circuits, or the sophisticated composites for high-tech aircraft. So, when your initial batch of solar panels kick the bucket they will be irreplaceable. Simple devolution of the economy to local workers might be enough to maintain tenth century technology, but to do more will require a continental, and perhaps global trade network and manufacturing base. The reason these things exist is not simply because rich people are greedy, but because they are the cheapest way to produce modern goods. Mind you, I have no sympathy for the billionaires either, and many of them probably deserve to be hung from the nearest lamppost. However, if you want to keep your modern goodies, then you will have to figure out how to build and maintain billion-dollar fabrication plants, which will require huge social, political, and economic networks, even if they are run on a not-for-profit basis. Just saying.
well, assuming that 3D printing will continue to evolve, which probably will at some point you'd only need to supply raw materials into a very portable universal assemble unit, anywhere on earth granted, you'd still need supply chains to continue, in other to access said materials, and the unit itself but once you achieve that point you wouldn't need mass production on anything production in general could be local and on demand
@@matheussanthiago9685 Again, I am very sympathetic to these ideas, but 3D printers cannot print more 3D printers, much less from materials readily found in the local environment, nor are they ever likely to do anything like that. Bacteria can do that, plants can do that, and even human beings can do that, but no non-biological system can do that, unless you count the entire world economy as a single organism, and even that has many biological components, including most notably us, which brings us back to my original point. The modern, high-tech economy is an all-or-nothing proposition, and if too much of it breaks then you will lose it all. So, if you want reliable, self-contained local economies, you need to study biology, not electronics or software design. Moreover, as someone who has done all of these things, the biology is probably more interesting in any case. Mother Nature is still way ahead of us in terms of sheer technical virtuosity. Finally, your 3D printer will depend upon something called "coltan", so I suggest that you check out the relevant Wikipedia article, which will immediately reference the Second Congo War in which five million people died, largely because of the struggle over minerals in the Eastern Congo. So, here is a case of local communities being wiped off the map, so that armed thugs could take their local resources. Figure out how to prevent that, and you will have solved the biggest problem in all of human history. Again, just saying. I remain hopeful, but not exactly confident.
This kind of decentralized socialism works through networks of local communities helping each other supliment their needs and overtake larger projects. Decentralization doesn't mean a lack of organization, and it's not like all the labor and workers that actually create all this disappear. These co-ops would be focused on helping each other rather than how corporations compete with each other for money. In fact, money would probably be abolished. Co-ops come to decisions democratically and based on societal need rather than be dictated by decisions made by small oligarchic boards and billionaire CEOs based on what gets them the most yachts at the end of the year.
Im starting to think this is just another empty solution. A new anti-capitalist and resource sharing perfect world scenario would be great, but how can we ignore so many problems with this model. How will humanity ever shift its wealth imbalance, let alone at the will of the very wealthy. How will free small slow and sparse passenger air ships ever seem like a step forward from the fast paced travel of today. Will everyone on earth agree to this model? Just because it is 'better than doing nothing and letting capitalism destroy the world' does not mean it is helping, to promote a false idea of a future that is very unattainable and treat it as anything more than a fun art style, just seems like a sort of greenwashing. To dismantle capitalism, we need to create a system that can provide for all of humanity, including its crime, long lasting historical influence, oppression, and opposing beliefs across the world. What happens to the people of a developing African nation if the world moves to a solar punk model? What group administers the change to this model? If some western nation begin to develop this model, will other nations simply continue using fossil fuels? Where exactly are people going to get all the materials and intellec to build airships without factories producing them? Without pre existing, carbon emitting systems to recycle or scrap existing, now completely useless and wasteful, pre-solar vehicles and buildings. If humanity became so advanced these solarpunk dreams become a reality, we wont just stop progressing. If a new innovation is discovered, will it simply be automatically distributed to the world by the sheer drive of humans to be good? Not-for-profit worldwide collaborators working together for free to give new things to the public for free? Who is telling farmers what food to grow? how much? and why they should even grow enough for everybody? Picture the beginning of the solar punk revolution, industrial farmland is divided up (somehow without starting a war will the corporate owners) and given to farmers to grow humanities food, what do they use to even do it? Maybe im being to crazy about details, but it seems like it would be impossible( knowing human nature) to ever pull off a safe transition out of late stage capitalism. Try telling a billionaire family living in a oribital space hotel, to give away everything that gives them power and ability to escape the climate crisis and resulting world situation as a whole
I love your videos and production style, but climate change gives me a lot of anxiety so i cant bring myself to watch most of them. This one was very refreshing and I appreciate it, many people have never heard of solarpunk and this is a perfect introduction covering the many many depths of information that it includes. It's always nice to see content focusing on solutions rather than the problems. thank you for this!!
It's very a beautiful ideal and I love the philosophy and the aesthetic of it. However they are a lot of blind spots in it and I think a more organized and centralized society can still be relevant is some areas, of course outside of the capitalism realm. It all looks so green and lush, like it's set in a subtropical/tropical/mediterranean climate and it doesn't answer everything from what I see. I live in Quebec, a canadian province where it snows and freezes 5 months of the year. I'm very close to nature and hike many times a week, but the nature is only green in summer. Here we have the luck of having a State owned electric company that also has the monopoly on electric production. We enjoy all the comforts of the American way of life, but for very cheap electricity. We heat our homes with electricity, air condition them with electricity, ovens are electric, and luckily we can ban gasoline and diesel vehicles in the near future and rely entirely on electric cars, trucks, trains and buses. But, you didn't hear the best part, 100% of our electricity is green energy and we have so much of it that we sell it to the US. 96% from hydroelectric dams and 4% from wind and solar energy. It provides for 8,5 million people and we sell extra to the US. We closed our only nuclear power plant in 2013, closed our only oil power plant in the early 2000's and now it's all clean and green. Here winters are a big part of our identity and of our challenges. We're growing more than enough food to sustain ourselves, but a lot of fresh fruits and veggies have to be imported from Florida and California in the winter. Yet there are more and more greenhouses that now grow strawberries and tomatoes in winter. They consume a lot of energy, but it's all electric. So for me, a social-democracy/socialist society that isn't all decentralized seems to be ideal for a society that needs organization on a large scale.
Great stuff, the only negative thing is closing your only nuclear plant, as nuclear energy is absolutely necessary for a green future on a world wide basis!
@@weggis10 Well, 96% of our electricity comes from hydroelectric dams, so closing the nuclear power plant doesn't bother me, it was too expensive for what it brought to the grid. On the other hand I agree with you that it should be developed a lot more to replace coal and gas power plants in the rest of the world.
According to the American presidential candidate and environmental lawyer, Robert Kennedy Jr, nuclear power is not only incredibly expensive the risk to benefit ratio is staggering.
@@enatp6448 If you want to have a proper opinion on nuclear energy go read the data provided by UNSCEAR it’s a United Nations committee like the IPCC but for the effects of nuclear energy. I wouldn’t base my opinion on the words of a politician.
@@francisrobindaine-duchesne6095 I think the fact that he is an Environmental Lawyer and has had to do research in order to defend cases in court is quite credible
100 times more nuclear reactors , what could possibly go wrong unless your a believer in the legendary but never seen safe reactor and its waste products relying on a stable civilisation for thousands of years ...who would really bet on that ?
I feel like the actual solution is to work smarter, not harder. If you live in a place that can't be reasonably sustained, then you probably shouldn't live there. Sure, you can pop up nuclear reactors, or people can condense around sources of renewable energy, like rivers for hydroelectric dams. Communities also need to spread out more evenly and become self sufficient. Consumerism and hyperconsumption has created lifestyles that are ridiculously complicated and wasteful. People need to readjust to simpler lives with less technology and consumption.
@@lucasgruber8509 That would mean people has to reduce their standards of living... that is not happening lol. People are already protesting windmills, can't imagine what they would do if this happened.
@@Thelango99 I think there will be a snapping point when people will no longer have a choice in that respect. Unfortunately, that will be far too late and irrevocable damage will have been done to the current populations/ecosystems of Earth. It will be a simpler and more sustainable way of life, though. I imagine supermarkets for food wi be gone, and communities will have to grow their own food. The United States can accomplish amazing things. When you look at how much food was produced during World War 2 and the amount of women that stepped up to work in the factories, it truly is amazing. It just needs requires the country to be on the same page. I know, it sounds ridiculous. But when things reach their worst possible point, I think the government will be able to organize the population and create sustainable communities. Things like that are honestly pretty fluid among party lines. After all, nobody wants to die. Can you imagine our overweight population actually living out a mad max scenario?
I hadn’t thought about airships before. Definitely an interesting idea with a lot of possibilities. I’ve thought a lot about slow travel like sleeper trains and coaches, but this seems like the missing piece.
And the veiws from a nice, gently cruising Airship are probably wonderful, given you way more time to soak it in and even get some fresh air (without dangerous decompression)
The ad from chobani is a reason why i am sceptical of solarpunk, the function of advertisement is to promote capitalist consumption. According to Fisher, capitalist realism has so captured public thought that the idea of anti-capitalism no longer acts as the antithesis to capitalism. Instead, it is deployed as a means for reinforcing capitalism. This is done through media which aims to provide a safe means of consuming anti-capitalist ideas without actually challenging the system. Punk is the same, products critical with capitalism selled by capitalism because they don't see anti-capitalism as a danger, the moment when a viable movement is detected all liberalism is dropped and the state use the monopoly of violence to jail activists accused of eco-terrorism.
The cooption of radical ideas shouldnt make us hesitant of them, but makes it ever the more important to make sure these ideas actually materialise in our actions and practice. The goal of liberal cooption is to distort anti-capitalist ideas into solely that, just ideas (and some aesthetics thrown in), this is where it was very successful with punk. I think here Our Changing Climate and Saint Andrewism are trying to ground solarpunk into real solutions, although not the final answers, for this very reason.
Interesting. Though, solarpunk just seems like Peramaculture (originally permanent agriculture which quickly shifted to permanent culture) with a sun theme.
Two things: 1. I agree with a lot of what the goals are but that name is utterly ridiculous. You need as much buy-in as possible for something like this and you're making it exponentially more difficult by making it sound like a fictional genre of entertainment. I can't believe it even needs to be said. Don't try to be edgy, be realistic and pragmatic. 2. There was nothing in this video that even remotely mentions concrete steps to initiating the dismantling of systems that will then allow for this idea to be established in a bigger way than what we've seen so far. A video about an idea without the relevant plan that will move forward is just more pie in the sky stuff that needs to go away. We need action, not "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF THINGS WERE LIKE THIS?" nonsense. Again, be pragmatic.
Now how do we make this reality? We live in a world where people can't even wear a mask to protect a stranger. Until most big corps give up control/go down, this will never happen, or it will be an expensive lifestyle despite it not costing whoever has the money and privilege and rights to sell it. That goes for the ships and boats and everything, no? I want this world so freaking badly, but no one else around me does, because content. Besides, most people will lose their jobs for this society to come about, it's not gonna happen. I live in Canada and the Green party is the closest government party I can think of that holds these ideals, and they rarely even win a single seat. If everyone doesn't do it, it won't work, and unfortunately, we are running out of time.
Of all the gas stove alternatives you've missed the most practical and efficient: induction stove. Also, does a bright solarpunk future include plentiful and easily available electricity? Could be worth a follow up video. And if that's the case, where are the solar panels in the solarpunk imagery?
Yep. Also it's not exactly practical to heat food outside and having to rely on weather to make food. Besides, such system would only works in sunny areas.
love this, many people think we can either have technology or nature why can't we have both ?. technology that flows with nature ? sounds like how its supposed to be.
if that could lead even one person to read up on the principles of solarpunk, then it's a necessary evil. that would also be a radical change from the franchise or Blade Runner-copycat visions of the future pop culture is currently stuffing us with. as Rob Hopkins wrote, we won't get out of today's crises without using our imagination again.
I think we should also embrace nuclear energy. While it isn't a permanent solution, if carefully mennaged on anarchist and communist principles, it can be a great transition fuel while we shut down fosile fule facilities. Later these facilities could also be replaced by hydropower and renewables (tho all this is for nothing if we don't abolish capitalism as well)
As usual, thank you OCC! This is the first I have heard of 'Solarpunk', let alone its emergence as a movement. But I will say three words: I LOVE it! (and hope to hear more about in the coming months/years) I will definitely be checking it out and keeping up on its advance.
Question to the community regarding sorer punk airships: in this future how would we deal with essential products produced internationally; what if someone in Hawaii needs insulin produced in Australia?
I'm currently in the process of writing an urban fantasy story with strong solarpunk undertones. However, one of the leading advocates for environmentalism comes from an unexpected background: a mobster-turned-CEO (aka an actual supervillain) who views sustainability as an investment, and uses cutthroat business practices to ensure that corporations such as the oil industry are overthrown to make way for renewables such as bioplastics and clean energy. I'm sure he's going to be a very controversial character given that he is the antithesis to what the solarpunk movement truly stands for, but I thought that it was too interesting a character concept to give up.
This video makes me dubitatif. You claim a future based on seemingly detail, solar oven, Zeppelin... All this without patronizing white post colonialism... This sounds great but I really still don't know how we would get there, neither do I understand why multinationals will not this time again "steel the idea" while sabotaging all independent attempts to develop these technologies.... In conclusion : good vision. But very utopian...
love the airships. I like the concept of a more eco friendly future although not as in the pictures and none of the relevant solutions were named in the video. Anyways its a good “feel-good” video👍
Airships are very impractical. They are too fragile, any bird can destroy the airship. Not to mention wear and tear, turbulence, ect... This is just a dream.
@OCC Based on this presentation, the line between solar punk and ecomodernism (ua-cam.com/video/wL9z4n7PIBk/v-deo.html) looks faint, and of a cosmetic nature. The imagery presented in this video shares elements with ecomodernism (advanced technology, hypermodern urban environments with towering structures), but depicted with uplifting colours and styles. For example: who sources the materials for that technology, such as airships, and where? Who designs and builds advanced computing resources needed to safely fly and navigate those airships? And what is the path to get 7 billion people to harmoniously share their resources and the fruits of their work? For that to happen we first need universal safety and prosperity, or the peoples will continue warring for resources. Could you make a video explaining how solar punk is different from ecomodernism, and a path to realise it would look like?
Ok… I know this is an inspiring fictional future… but the idea of blimps being built by off grid untrained do it yourselfers is not really jiving with me. If they are full of ex-boing engineers OK. But I don’t see why we have to reinvent the wheel on safe aircraft construction just to have it decentralized. Surely a concept of non profit companies doesn’t ruin tge vision. Even the word company… really always meant a bunch of people coming together to do something. And it was not always make tons of money by all means nessesary
People are seeing the collapse of the current economy, but we see an opportunity to accelerate the solarpunk vision for our future and our descendants.
The word 'free' is being used quiet a bit in this video. For example, 'free airship travel'. Nothing is free, you still need to pay the people that maintain these airships and fly them. If not the customers then it'll be through taxes. It may be considerably cheaper than today's air travel but it still won't be free.
This video - and the St Andrewism one about solarpunk which I saw a couple months ago - brought me to tears. Thank you for helping me feel hopeful about the future again! This is a beautiful vision, merging care for the planet with radical care for human beings
While I love and support your work it doesn't go far enough for me in one area. You mention worker coops, etc. I think we need to start thinking of 'human workers' as an abusive concept, the same as slavery. I think we can get to a better endpoint while achieving the same goals through automation. Products/services would of course have to be free and technology benefits the people, not a few powerful elites, but I envision a world where people are free from obligatory work to survive and our "contribution" to society is entirely our choice, voluntary, and unrequired. Only then will humanity finally be free from slavery. I am super curious as to your thoughts on this perspective. Keep making great videos!!!
But if there's no technological background to support you and render the "contribution to society" a choice for you, then somebody has to sustain you with their work; and, since it's fairer than a person has the choice to support you or not rather than being a choice for you to contribute to society or not, the most expectable thing is that the overwhelmingly majority of people will opt out to sustain you (maybe your relatives will, mainly your parents; but even that's complicated if you're a functional adult totally able to contribute and sustain yourself; if you don't do it that would be exploitative of others).
Electric ovens plus solar plus passiv housing standard is already the standard in Germany… it’s not solar punk it’s just what it is. And the government is responsible for it. No anarchy needed …
Excellent video as always! A human and eco-centric future is inevitable in the long term most likely after a collapse of the global economy in the short term.
@@suryanarayan2032 definitely a lot of work needs to be done. What I meant is we as a species will evolve to develop human and eco centric because that is the only future which will work in the long term (perhaps decades from now)
There is a big problem with anarchism or community owned (for the lack of a better word: businesses) with no oversight. It is that humans will human, once we have something it doesn't take long for us to want more. A thriving and active 'business' will be able to out compete or buy out other ones that would be starting out or 'businesses' that aren't as thriving. This would lead that business to start operating across communities if it wants to be wealthier or be more powerful (even if capitalism isnt the system, material wealth and goods would still be needed and in demand, an economic structure even if its trade based would still be needed) this would bring about monopolies and companies with no one to control them. Maybe they wouldn't be polluting and destroying the planet as companies do now but they would have massive amounts of power and wealth and would thus be able to do things analogous to lobbying and even become controlling forces in communities that are dependant on their services or goods. Say the blimp makers don't won't something, they can completely stop the production of blimps. Or if your carpenters of plumbers don't won't something they can stop production as well. Anarchy is a terrible system when it comes to collective freedom, the strong will out compete the weak and nothing can be done about unless you are stronger. Governments even on community levels would be entirely nessasary and ways of letting them have power (while being democratic) is very much nessasary so that all people can be equal.
Sounds cool and really love the aesthetics, but i'm curious how for example R&D would work in such a vision. For example those highly specialised fields that require special environments and precision equipment (medicine, microelectronics, chip manufacturing, etc). How would small and decentralised communities be able to build, operate and afford such things?
It depends if the society is build fully on anarchist principles or if there's still a state. If there isn't a state it could be done by a federation of communities (a bottom-up version of a state that doesn't coercive power but is more a collaborative effort between regions), and otherwise it could be funded by the state, like many R&D projects are now. The lack of (or reduced) profit motive would make components either cheaper because you pay similar to production cost, or it would be more expensive because producers and distributors would earn a fair sum, not sure.
I just discovered solarpunk a couple months ago and it's been inspiring me so much! It's awesome to see this video and know the movement/change is spreading. I truly believe that humanity is capable of creating a solarpunk world, we all just have to take little steps towards truth and justice in our day to day lives.
Somebody needs to make some kind of movie or media using the Solarpunk ideas to make a twist of the Post-apocalyptic genera, like imagine a series in wich the apocalypse and the colapse of civilisation didn't suposed the end of mankind but rather the freeing of our species from capitalism and opresive goverments in some kind of rebirth
There is a documentary series called Engineering the Future on Curiosity Stream that I can highly recommend, it goes into sustainable technologies in great detail, and it's also entertaining.
💡 What gives you hope for the future?
👍 Consider commenting and liking the video!!! It really helps this video beat the pesky algorithm!
🔗 Check out Saint Andrewism's new Solarpunk video here: ua-cam.com/video/u-JvyfZVkIM/v-deo.html
Almost nothing. Kurzgesagt’ new climate change video gives me hope.
I’m an electrician, and embrace solar. Sign me up
a lot of my hope needs marijuana to get me out of my head and into my heart. also UA-camrs like you 🤙
I genuinely believe that people born after 2000, however they are labeled, will be the next Greatest Generation. Young people are so bright.
You should look into Murray Bookchin!
A future with a human face and dirt behind its ears😉 T'was fantastic working with you!🌻✊🏽 Let's make solarpunk a reality.
is the saint andrewism named after St.Andrew or just a random name u came up with?
It won't be a reality if you keep calling it solarpunk, I can promise you that. Give it a different name but use the same ideas. Words matter to people and solarpunk is considered to be both an art movement and genre of fiction. If you want to be taken seriously and if you want buy-in from those who aren't already sold on the idea, it needs to be called something else. Seriously, a single brainstorming session with eco-conscious communities around the world should present better alternatives.
Could the solarpunk be integrated with the atompunk?
@@yoggothemadgod6196 , If it's the atompunk aesthetic, then yes. But ideologically, they are opposed. Solarpunk is all about DIY, decentralisation, and integration with natural systems. Atompunk promotes centralisation of energy production, power, and "man's mastery over nature by splitting the atom".
Steampunk, whose participants quote "love the machine, hate the factory" and stand for personal empowerment, DIY technology, and aesthetic (historical & natural inspired) beauty, integrates with solarpunk far better in my opinion.
Capitalism & colonialism deprioritised human animals to various degrees, but also non human animals have been subjegated. Perhaps rather than a humancentric future, a naturecentric future is better? Where we are part of nature, neither above or at the centre of it?
being depressed and having no hope for a positive post-climate change future is completely understandable but we also have to understand that the first step to mitigating climate change is knowing that it's a future thats possible and worth fighting the status quo (not each other) regardless of the odds stacked against us
PS: and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I'd rather fail and die knowing I gave it all that I could than live the rest of my life knowing I could've done more
yes
I very much agree! Have you seen the newest Kurzgesagt about climate change?
Giving up has no solutions, hope put into action can create solutions.
@Omorfiá nice😁👍
@@GayestWinston yes I friggin love their content!
I like this, but the hardest part is it requires us to change culturally, literally needing us to change what “traditionalism” means moving forward.
In fact in many ways we should be looking at the past, at “tradition” we should be looking at traditional farming and building practices to see how these can be recreated to better serve people and out environment. Using things like thatch or wattle and daub to create more sustainable building materials for smaller homes, encouraging people to live in larger groups so that household tasks and community support can be more equally distributed. Learning and sharing traditional crafts so that less needs to be bought from any kind of company and things like clothes and housewares last longer. This also goes for what kind of work is valued, things like teaching, parenting, creative tasks, cooking, cleaning, childcare, elder care, medical care etc. could be equally distributed and actually supported and valued.
No idea if it is correct but I have read that every human on this planet could have a 1970s Switzerland lifestyle sustainably.
That doesn‘t sound bad at all to me!
@@PhilfreezeCH I pretty sure that's right but never heard the comparison before 🤭
however the people with money and power don't want equality. we have the biggest wealth gap in history. in America the wealthy had a higher tax percentage in 1970 and they still hide billions. America could easily take care of homelessness and immigration(from hidden income), without going in debt.
Expecting people to be financially stable for years is like letting drivers do what ever they want on road Eventually everything breaks apart.
@@kjm2870 yep, expecting every single person to be “self sufficient” and economically productive their entire lives is ridiculous, and is unprecedented in human history. In, say feudal times in Europe, which many consider more economically oppressive than today, you would not be expected to say have a new baby or care for an elderly relative without communal and or church support. The Luteral Psalter for example, exalts the ploughman who tills the fields of his neighbors and will till the land of a peasant too poor to pay.
As a future landscape architect: This is my goal!
Future building architect: my goal as well!!
Future electrical engineer with this future as my hope as well
Go!
Future construction and building engineer: always been my dream ever since I was taught that concrete and cuboid shaped buildings don't have to be the only option.. and I definitely wish to take part of making solar-punk become our reality..
Future aerospace engineer: This is my one and only aspiration! Let's make it happen!
Your older videos used to be about finding problems in our society. They helped me cement this idea that we are f*cked in general as a species.
But tbh I love your recent videos that are focused on finding solutions. Accepting climate doom is not an option I can live with. This solarpunk movement gives a lot of hope. Thank you for helping me deal with my ecoanxiety.
I think one can be a rational optimist. Are you familiar with the podcast Breaking Down: Collapse? It talks about the science and also other issues such as political, and financial that involve collapse. All in all, we can find hope in videos like these; it is good for mental health. It's important not be blinded by our hopes when the data blatantly says otherwise.
I’ve never heard of solarpunk. This is exciting!
Hipsterism
@@altonsafe Hardly
@@altonsafe who cares tho
for some reason y’all took it a bad way? just another name for it. enjoy!
@@altonsafe Hipsterism doesn't have the best of reputations given that it's considered a commodification of rebellion.
Solarpunk has to break current liberal humanism for it to do what it portrays it does. Social humanism is needed alongside this
Not necessarily. We are entirely capable of respecting the needs of the collective while living an otherwise independent life. It seems clear that consciousness and the ability to make free and independent choices provides us with an evolutionary advantage, and is why we're here at all today. Individual pursuit of that which happens to interest and appeal to us is really what it means to be human after all, and not another ant in the ant colony.
Yes. Plus an emphasis on the class struggle needed to get there
@@ynthrepic You can live an independent life while having socialist/collective structures though? This is the equivalent of saying democracy is mob rule.
@@testest12344 it is, in a sense. But that's what we have communication and cooperation for. We need to convince each other of our beliefs and values and then when we put things to a vote, we won't expect any surprises. The vote is really a way of figuring out who is on what page and why. Of course, communication is hard and we can't expect everyone to know everything, so it's not that simple. But this is all to say individuality is not incompatible with socialism. But your choices will be more constrained depending on how your choices affect others, as they really should be. Not like now under capitalism, when if you're rich enough, the rules don't apply to you.
@@testest12344 co-owning a method/place of production does not preclude a persons freedom. If anything, it helps provide it. Sharing out the wealth and power more evenly is better for all of us. Even the so called 'rich'. They just don't know it yet :)
Yes solarpunk getting some sunlight, let's make it a reality.
I see what you did there
I literally did my thesis on this entire approach, yet am just learning the term solarpunk. Where can I find more? Is there a community to share ideas?
🌅
@@danmoriarty6901 Reddit and Facebook have good communities. I would link them but my previous comment was removed.
@@veganrican606 just name them, we'll search them ourselves
Oh this is the video I needed! Is there any instagram accounts that talk about solarpunk stuff I can follow?
Same
There is a subreddit (r/solarpunk).
Same here!
@@SpencerScottR checked it out, it’s great
In Saint Andrewism's video he suggests some accounts...
This is perhaps the most beautiful vision of the future that I have ever seen. Thanks for bringing it all together and sharing this message!
Being a "punk" since the days of Bad Religion and Bad Brains, you peeked my interest with the idea of "solar punk". This is something very special. Thank you. 😊
*BR!*
Person of culture... Obviously. 👍🏽
*piqued :)
Solarpunk be like "You achieved the good ending"
Blimps have one oproblem: helium.
Not only is it finite, it's rare.
Unless we have fusion reactors to produce it they won't work.
Hydrogen powered airplanes that use hydrogen we get from electrolysis via renewables and fusion would be a far more realistic means of air travel.
Isn't there also a huge risk of a blimp exploding or catching fire? Isn't that why they were never really wildly adopted? I know that was a problem when they first were invented, or have they fixed that issue?
@@chosenpawn9368 The infamous Hindenburg disaster was a blimp full of Hydrogen, which is flammable. Helium is the fix they came up with. It is not flammable, but it is finite. We may run out of it in 30 years.
Actually, they have a second problem: wind. 20th century airships fell out of use, and out of the sky, because it was so hard to keep them safe in a storm. It would be better now that we have weather radar, but it's very much like oceam ships: either get in an enclosed hangar, or get away before the storm comes.
Hydrogen is the gas to use for blimps. Gasoline’s flammability didn’t stop people from driving cars did it? Hydrogen is far safer than you’ve been led to assume. I’ve worked with it before.
With our unstable climate system (thanks to capitalism), the use of blimps are pretty limited.
There's some really fascinating stuff here, but it begs the question of funding. By decentralising away from government control, these infrastructures can't be funded by taxpayers. Do the co-ops sell the goods and services they provide, and if so, to whom? That would suggest there is still a market per se, even if it isn't one in the capitalist model.
Any ideas on how the question of funding can be resolved?
Maybe it's more like bartering. You share what you have more with other co-ops, and they inturn share with you what you need.
I think peer to peer trading is less of an issue than finding spaces that are free, accessible and will remain in the public domain. Pretty much every space around me is owned by someone who is not going to give access. Even as shops and houses remain empty, squatting would only work as a short-term and non-legal way of pressing abandoned property into use.
I agree. I wish I could believe that my hobby of plants and gardening would be valuable but my vegetable budget is a very small percentage of my overall expenses. Even if all food was free I would still have most of my expenses, health care, taxes, housing and transportation.
I don’t want to grow rice in my backyard because it is extremely inefficient to decentralize that efficient system. I want to know what would be decentralized in order to make things better. In what way is centralized production making my life worse where decentralization would be a solution? Seems like the inefficiency would cause a rise in the cost and energy consumption.
With Dogecoins
In decentralized, socialized economies, many argue that money shouldn't exist.
Communities would form co-ops, make decisions based on direct democracy and, especially as automation technology continues to improve, work will be seen as a civil service. Work helps your community, so you still gain from work.
Housing, food, and healthcare would be free, and taxes wouldn't exist either since money wouldn't. Different communities with different resources would trade for the betterment of both communities, or donate surpluses to each other.
Large projects like this are taken on by co-ops or groups of co-ops simply because it helps people.
I've been telling people about Solarpunk since 2014. I am absolutely in love with it.
Out of all the futures that have been discussed lately, Solarpunk is one of few that give me REAL hope!
This is brilliant. This is the kind of positive, hopeful future-dream we all need. Like futurism in the early 20th century, even if the world doesn't become quite like this, it gives us something to aspire to. Absolutely amazing.
A goal worth achieving, even if we can't reach what we imagine perfectly we could still get close enough to be happy with it, and give ourselves plenty of time to work out the details
This made me fall back in love with solarpunk
I discovered solarpunk about 3 years ago (it's where I got my username) and absolutely loved it
Over the last few years though, I got very busy with other things (finishing highschool, first year of college, covid, mental health) and kind of forgot about it, to the point where I thought of changing my username
But this made me remember why I loved the movement so much back then and how attainable it actually is
It reminded me of my stepdads neighborhood, where they have a community center with a makerspace, organised by the community, and a big community garden with classes on how to grow your own food and with beehives and regular markets to sell home crafts and how all that is both super solarpunk and something I want to be involved in more and super attainable, because they did that!
I love solarpunk
It's so cool to see a collab with saint andrewism. He's one of my faves
This is exactly why so many people love Star Trek, the hopeful vision of the future. Fission and fusion are far superior as energy technologies unfortunately so many people have irrational fears surrounding nuclear.
Solarpunk is a lot of what Startrek *Wanted* to be, with the limitations of it's time and expectations.
Both are optimistic, and certainly brighter futures, Solarpunk just has the benefits of a few more years of experience, new developments, and new understandings of our nature and history.
I loved Startrek as a kid, but as an adult, Solarpunk is becoming my creative inspiration and motivation
@@UNSCPILOT The writers of the show definitely knew there science. The main source of energy in the show is fusion & with fusion you can transform matter into different elements, hence replicator technology.
I love everything about solar punk except the name, it implies a utopia can be built off of solar alone. Unless you're building a dyson sphere there's no way to power an entire advanced civilization with solar. Another thing people overlook is that the sun is a natural fusion engine.
@@trunoholdaway2114 agreed, and Fission isn't some evil monster either, we don't need to build 60~80s era breeder reactors anymore, we have modern Fission reactor designs that can even use old Nuclear waste and weapons Grade material as fuel.
So instead of trying to shove Nuclear in a deep dark hole and wait for it to go away, the best option is to build better modern reactors, especially smaller modular reactors that are way safer and can be expanded as necessary.
Solar, wind, and Hydroelectric are all great, except where you can't build them or the weather weakens their efficiency, having clean modern Nuclear power as a baseline will make a fantastic foundation to keep things working, especially if you overbuild it for hyper-reliability and don't cut corners in the name of "profit"
And if we get Fusion soon? Holy smokes that opens the door to some mad stuff, orbital rings, launch loops, massive O'Neil Cylinder habitats even out at the far edges of the solar system and equally massive "Gardener ships" (basically a self sufficient O'Neil Habitat with massive fusion engines) to spread life to other stars if we can't find it and make sure that life isn't just stuck on Earth with all the risk history has already shown us, and we'd probably try to terraform Venus and Mars to be Earth like and/or try to make life that's better adapted to whatever stable environment we can give them, especially if we van learn from whatever (possibly limited) life that might already be there.
Solarpunk doesn't need to be just about living responsibility and happily on Earth, it can include using our technology for the good of spreading life everywhere else we can too, or discover and help any other life we can find
More people need to see this comment
Imagine having magic glowing rocks that convey nearly limitless energy and then… just not using the technology you’ve ALREADY DEVELOPED
I love ideas like this and think this is a better outcome for humanity.
I do wonder however when talking about airships, how do these communities develop the infrastructure to build a large airship. Who develops the blueprints. If the community has all those skilled individuals in it, where do they get educated, or how do we address the disparity between communities with differing education? How do they safety test and meet standards for emissions and reliability? If air travel is free, presumably more people will use it, then how do we manage air traffic without a government organization like the FAA?
I think dismissing the importance of specialized multinational organizations (such as a blimp manufacturer) or government agencies to make sure some people's blimps aren't diesel-powered or armed is irresponsible.
Another example is solar energy in general. I don't think a collective farming community has the technological know-how or infrastructure to develop solar panels. Even if they did, they would have to live in an area with the minerals and resources to produce solar panels in the first place (otherwise, they would need it shipped from a community that specializes in that). That means mining equipment, safety standards, so on and so forth.
Socialism is clearly a better ethical alternative to capitalism, but that does not mean we need to dismiss the existence of specialized industries unless we want to forgo many modern conveniences. Maybe we have to do that to avoid a climate collapse, but I would work on a way to market that instead of treating it like a given.
Edit: I almost forgot about semiconductors and processors. The current capital, personnel, and logistical investments necessary to build a fabrication plant are immense. That could be community or worker-owned, but it would be impossible to manage that industry without some sort of governing agency setting standards and documentation guidelines for electronics, let alone OSHA guidelines.
Generally anarchists subscribe to the idea of having federations of communities. The decisions are made locally for locals issues but when it’s an issue that involves the coordination of different communities then the decision in resolved federally.
I don't think there will be a hughe problem in countries like the US, Japan, China or France that have a long tradition of plan building and engineering.
3:38 an ecological society would never, ever, EVER bother with a flying bus. so wasteful, under any system capable of producing it. Eco is light rail systems: steel on steel, overhead cabling, usable under current solar tech, sustainable with a few upscalings and upgrades.
Rail is better for quick and not wasteful logistics, but airships may be less wasteful (no need to set down rail) albeit slower
Wow I am very relaxed after watching this video.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but many, and perhaps most of these ideas have an unstated dependence upon a functioning global economy. After all, no maker space produces its own refined raw materials, much less things like solar cells, or integrated circuits, or the sophisticated composites for high-tech aircraft. So, when your initial batch of solar panels kick the bucket they will be irreplaceable. Simple devolution of the economy to local workers might be enough to maintain tenth century technology, but to do more will require a continental, and perhaps global trade network and manufacturing base. The reason these things exist is not simply because rich people are greedy, but because they are the cheapest way to produce modern goods. Mind you, I have no sympathy for the billionaires either, and many of them probably deserve to be hung from the nearest lamppost. However, if you want to keep your modern goodies, then you will have to figure out how to build and maintain billion-dollar fabrication plants, which will require huge social, political, and economic networks, even if they are run on a not-for-profit basis. Just saying.
well, assuming that 3D printing will continue to evolve, which probably will
at some point you'd only need to supply raw materials into a very portable universal assemble unit, anywhere on earth
granted, you'd still need supply chains to continue, in other to access said materials, and the unit itself
but once you achieve that point
you wouldn't need mass production on anything
production in general could be local and on demand
Your point is valid.
@@matheussanthiago9685 Again, I am very sympathetic to these ideas, but 3D printers cannot print more 3D printers, much less from materials readily found in the local environment, nor are they ever likely to do anything like that. Bacteria can do that, plants can do that, and even human beings can do that, but no non-biological system can do that, unless you count the entire world economy as a single organism, and even that has many biological components, including most notably us, which brings us back to my original point. The modern, high-tech economy is an all-or-nothing proposition, and if too much of it breaks then you will lose it all. So, if you want reliable, self-contained local economies, you need to study biology, not electronics or software design. Moreover, as someone who has done all of these things, the biology is probably more interesting in any case. Mother Nature is still way ahead of us in terms of sheer technical virtuosity. Finally, your 3D printer will depend upon something called "coltan", so I suggest that you check out the relevant Wikipedia article, which will immediately reference the Second Congo War in which five million people died, largely because of the struggle over minerals in the Eastern Congo. So, here is a case of local communities being wiped off the map, so that armed thugs could take their local resources. Figure out how to prevent that, and you will have solved the biggest problem in all of human history. Again, just saying. I remain hopeful, but not exactly confident.
This kind of decentralized socialism works through networks of local communities helping each other supliment their needs and overtake larger projects. Decentralization doesn't mean a lack of organization, and it's not like all the labor and workers that actually create all this disappear.
These co-ops would be focused on helping each other rather than how corporations compete with each other for money. In fact, money would probably be abolished.
Co-ops come to decisions democratically and based on societal need rather than be dictated by decisions made by small oligarchic boards and billionaire CEOs based on what gets them the most yachts at the end of the year.
based and hope-pilled
Im starting to think this is just another empty solution. A new anti-capitalist and resource sharing perfect world scenario would be great, but how can we ignore so many problems with this model. How will humanity ever shift its wealth imbalance, let alone at the will of the very wealthy. How will free small slow and sparse passenger air ships ever seem like a step forward from the fast paced travel of today. Will everyone on earth agree to this model? Just because it is 'better than doing nothing and letting capitalism destroy the world' does not mean it is helping, to promote a false idea of a future that is very unattainable and treat it as anything more than a fun art style, just seems like a sort of greenwashing. To dismantle capitalism, we need to create a system that can provide for all of humanity, including its crime, long lasting historical influence, oppression, and opposing beliefs across the world. What happens to the people of a developing African nation if the world moves to a solar punk model? What group administers the change to this model? If some western nation begin to develop this model, will other nations simply continue using fossil fuels? Where exactly are people going to get all the materials and intellec to build airships without factories producing them? Without pre existing, carbon emitting systems to recycle or scrap existing, now completely useless and wasteful, pre-solar vehicles and buildings. If humanity became so advanced these solarpunk dreams become a reality, we wont just stop progressing. If a new innovation is discovered, will it simply be automatically distributed to the world by the sheer drive of humans to be good? Not-for-profit worldwide collaborators working together for free to give new things to the public for free? Who is telling farmers what food to grow? how much? and why they should even grow enough for everybody? Picture the beginning of the solar punk revolution, industrial farmland is divided up (somehow without starting a war will the corporate owners) and given to farmers to grow humanities food, what do they use to even do it? Maybe im being to crazy about details, but it seems like it would be impossible( knowing human nature) to ever pull off a safe transition out of late stage capitalism. Try telling a billionaire family living in a oribital space hotel, to give away everything that gives them power and ability to escape the climate crisis and resulting world situation as a whole
Before this world can come to fruition you have to imagine it first an second you have to believe it
I love that solarpunk is becoming more popular :D
I love your videos and production style, but climate change gives me a lot of anxiety so i cant bring myself to watch most of them. This one was very refreshing and I appreciate it, many people have never heard of solarpunk and this is a perfect introduction covering the many many depths of information that it includes. It's always nice to see content focusing on solutions rather than the problems. thank you for this!!
It's very a beautiful ideal and I love the philosophy and the aesthetic of it. However they are a lot of blind spots in it and I think a more organized and centralized society can still be relevant is some areas, of course outside of the capitalism realm. It all looks so green and lush, like it's set in a subtropical/tropical/mediterranean climate and it doesn't answer everything from what I see.
I live in Quebec, a canadian province where it snows and freezes 5 months of the year. I'm very close to nature and hike many times a week, but the nature is only green in summer. Here we have the luck of having a State owned electric company that also has the monopoly on electric production. We enjoy all the comforts of the American way of life, but for very cheap electricity. We heat our homes with electricity, air condition them with electricity, ovens are electric, and luckily we can ban gasoline and diesel vehicles in the near future and rely entirely on electric cars, trucks, trains and buses. But, you didn't hear the best part, 100% of our electricity is green energy and we have so much of it that we sell it to the US. 96% from hydroelectric dams and 4% from wind and solar energy. It provides for 8,5 million people and we sell extra to the US. We closed our only nuclear power plant in 2013, closed our only oil power plant in the early 2000's and now it's all clean and green. Here winters are a big part of our identity and of our challenges. We're growing more than enough food to sustain ourselves, but a lot of fresh fruits and veggies have to be imported from Florida and California in the winter. Yet there are more and more greenhouses that now grow strawberries and tomatoes in winter. They consume a lot of energy, but it's all electric. So for me, a social-democracy/socialist society that isn't all decentralized seems to be ideal for a society that needs organization on a large scale.
Great stuff, the only negative thing is closing your only nuclear plant, as nuclear energy is absolutely necessary for a green future on a world wide basis!
@@weggis10 Well, 96% of our electricity comes from hydroelectric dams, so closing the nuclear power plant doesn't bother me, it was too expensive for what it brought to the grid. On the other hand I agree with you that it should be developed a lot more to replace coal and gas power plants in the rest of the world.
According to the American presidential candidate and environmental lawyer, Robert Kennedy Jr, nuclear power is not only incredibly expensive the risk to benefit ratio is staggering.
@@enatp6448 If you want to have a proper opinion on nuclear energy go read the data provided by UNSCEAR it’s a United Nations committee like the IPCC but for the effects of nuclear energy. I wouldn’t base my opinion on the words of a politician.
@@francisrobindaine-duchesne6095 I think the fact that he is an Environmental Lawyer and has had to do research in order to defend cases in court is quite credible
This would be fairly difficult to implement in the far north where the sun is FAR weaker. Fission would be a good solution though.
100 times more nuclear reactors , what could possibly go wrong unless your a believer in the legendary but never seen safe reactor and its waste products relying on a stable civilisation for thousands of years ...who would really bet on that ?
I feel like the actual solution is to work smarter, not harder. If you live in a place that can't be reasonably sustained, then you probably shouldn't live there. Sure, you can pop up nuclear reactors, or people can condense around sources of renewable energy, like rivers for hydroelectric dams. Communities also need to spread out more evenly and become self sufficient. Consumerism and hyperconsumption has created lifestyles that are ridiculously complicated and wasteful. People need to readjust to simpler lives with less technology and consumption.
@@MyKharli Our entire country could be powered by like three to four reactors...
@@lucasgruber8509 That would mean people has to reduce their standards of living... that is not happening lol. People are already protesting windmills, can't imagine what they would do if this happened.
@@Thelango99 I think there will be a snapping point when people will no longer have a choice in that respect. Unfortunately, that will be far too late and irrevocable damage will have been done to the current populations/ecosystems of Earth. It will be a simpler and more sustainable way of life, though. I imagine supermarkets for food wi be gone, and communities will have to grow their own food. The United States can accomplish amazing things. When you look at how much food was produced during World War 2 and the amount of women that stepped up to work in the factories, it truly is amazing. It just needs requires the country to be on the same page. I know, it sounds ridiculous. But when things reach their worst possible point, I think the government will be able to organize the population and create sustainable communities. Things like that are honestly pretty fluid among party lines. After all, nobody wants to die. Can you imagine our overweight population actually living out a mad max scenario?
Saint Andrewism has amazing content and this collaboration has been amazing.
This is beautiful!! I know what rabbithole I'm diving down now. I gotta know more!
I hadn’t thought about airships before. Definitely an interesting idea with a lot of possibilities.
I’ve thought a lot about slow travel like sleeper trains and coaches, but this seems like the missing piece.
And the veiws from a nice, gently cruising Airship are probably wonderful, given you way more time to soak it in and even get some fresh air (without dangerous decompression)
And also, very impractical.
Considering any single bird can destroy your airship.
It is too fragile.
@@Abedchess Lot of windy places in the world. Blimps will never be practical in those areas.
I found Saint Andrewism's channel a couple months ago. His solarpunk video really inspired me and gave me hope for a better and comfortable future
The ad from chobani is a reason why i am sceptical of solarpunk, the function of advertisement is to promote capitalist consumption.
According to Fisher, capitalist realism has so captured public thought that the idea of anti-capitalism no longer acts as the antithesis to capitalism. Instead, it is deployed as a means for reinforcing capitalism. This is done through media which aims to provide a safe means of consuming anti-capitalist ideas without actually challenging the system.
Punk is the same, products critical with capitalism selled by capitalism because they don't see anti-capitalism as a danger, the moment when a viable movement is detected all liberalism is dropped and the state use the monopoly of violence to jail activists accused of eco-terrorism.
ya man youre 100% correct. It was nice of you to explain that for folks who might otherwise be more trusting than you should be online.
The cooption of radical ideas shouldnt make us hesitant of them, but makes it ever the more important to make sure these ideas actually materialise in our actions and practice. The goal of liberal cooption is to distort anti-capitalist ideas into solely that, just ideas (and some aesthetics thrown in), this is where it was very successful with punk. I think here Our Changing Climate and Saint Andrewism are trying to ground solarpunk into real solutions, although not the final answers, for this very reason.
Interesting. Though, solarpunk just seems like Peramaculture (originally permanent agriculture which quickly shifted to permanent culture) with a sun theme.
You do realize Helium isn't renewable, right? For those free airships
If you have nuclear fusion power then helium is a byproduct.
Two things:
1. I agree with a lot of what the goals are but that name is utterly ridiculous. You need as much buy-in as possible for something like this and you're making it exponentially more difficult by making it sound like a fictional genre of entertainment. I can't believe it even needs to be said. Don't try to be edgy, be realistic and pragmatic.
2. There was nothing in this video that even remotely mentions concrete steps to initiating the dismantling of systems that will then allow for this idea to be established in a bigger way than what we've seen so far. A video about an idea without the relevant plan that will move forward is just more pie in the sky stuff that needs to go away. We need action, not "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF THINGS WERE LIKE THIS?" nonsense. Again, be pragmatic.
Now how do we make this reality? We live in a world where people can't even wear a mask to protect a stranger. Until most big corps give up control/go down, this will never happen, or it will be an expensive lifestyle despite it not costing whoever has the money and privilege and rights to sell it. That goes for the ships and boats and everything, no? I want this world so freaking badly, but no one else around me does, because content. Besides, most people will lose their jobs for this society to come about, it's not gonna happen. I live in Canada and the Green party is the closest government party I can think of that holds these ideals, and they rarely even win a single seat. If everyone doesn't do it, it won't work, and unfortunately, we are running out of time.
Of all the gas stove alternatives you've missed the most practical and efficient: induction stove.
Also, does a bright solarpunk future include plentiful and easily available electricity? Could be worth a follow up video. And if that's the case, where are the solar panels in the solarpunk imagery?
Yep. Also it's not exactly practical to heat food outside and having to rely on weather to make food. Besides, such system would only works in sunny areas.
I love this bit of hope packaged up in a easily digestible video! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
love this, many people think we can either have technology or nature why can't we have both ?. technology that flows with nature ? sounds like how its supposed to be.
A world that is "... lush, beautiful, and caring..." Count me in.
Watching videos like this gets me excited and motivated!
Solarpunk is waiting to be commodified by capital and terrible Hollywood and Netflix shows n films.
if that could lead even one person to read up on the principles of solarpunk, then it's a necessary evil. that would also be a radical change from the franchise or Blade Runner-copycat visions of the future pop culture is currently stuffing us with. as Rob Hopkins wrote, we won't get out of today's crises without using our imagination again.
I... really want to be an airship pilot... makes me happy just thinking about it
I think we should also embrace nuclear energy. While it isn't a permanent solution, if carefully mennaged on anarchist and communist principles, it can be a great transition fuel while we shut down fosile fule facilities. Later these facilities could also be replaced by hydropower and renewables (tho all this is for nothing if we don't abolish capitalism as well)
As usual, thank you OCC! This is the first I have heard of 'Solarpunk', let alone its emergence as a movement. But I will say three words: I LOVE it! (and hope to hear more about in the coming months/years)
I will definitely be checking it out and keeping up on its advance.
i’ve been studying to hopefully become a biotech/botanical scientist, i wanna work towards a future that looks like this
Solarpunk art just makes me happy
Question to the community regarding sorer punk airships: in this future how would we deal with essential products produced internationally; what if someone in Hawaii needs insulin produced in Australia?
Did anybody else watch this and get excited?
I'm currently in the process of writing an urban fantasy story with strong solarpunk undertones. However, one of the leading advocates for environmentalism comes from an unexpected background: a mobster-turned-CEO (aka an actual supervillain) who views sustainability as an investment, and uses cutthroat business practices to ensure that corporations such as the oil industry are overthrown to make way for renewables such as bioplastics and clean energy. I'm sure he's going to be a very controversial character given that he is the antithesis to what the solarpunk movement truly stands for, but I thought that it was too interesting a character concept to give up.
This video makes me dubitatif. You claim a future based on seemingly detail, solar oven, Zeppelin... All this without patronizing white post colonialism... This sounds great but I really still don't know how we would get there, neither do I understand why multinationals will not this time again "steel the idea" while sabotaging all independent attempts to develop these technologies....
In conclusion : good vision. But very utopian...
go watch saint andrewism if you want more anti white supremacy ideas, he is a green anarchist from trinidad and tobogo.
I love it. Put out that positivity y'all!
love the airships. I like the concept of a more eco friendly future although not as in the pictures and none of the relevant solutions were named in the video. Anyways its a good “feel-good” video👍
Airships are very impractical.
They are too fragile, any bird can destroy the airship.
Not to mention wear and tear, turbulence, ect...
This is just a dream.
I really hope this video blows up. Is there anything we can do as individuals right now to get the ball rolling?
Solar oven is romantic idea. I dont live in single house with backyard so also many poor/middle class live in urban area.
Solarpunk is the most beautiful word and idea
Black Panther is solarpunk
*Afro-punk/Afrofuturist. Different genre, but definitely some crossover in terms of politics
@@JamesRoyceDawson for me, monarchy is dictatorship
@@curious5887 yeah Black Panther isn’t a great example there. Most other Afrofuturist stuff isn’t monarchist
@@JamesRoyceDawson well atleast he show that anime like animation which make a better example than Black Panther
This is genuinely exciting because we can do it today. Even a little garden can be a window into a solarpunk world.
one of the animations is literally an ad for orange juice.
What is that anime with the solarpunk theme and black characters??? At 2:30 and 3:40??
This is sooooo naive that its even sad, depressing... it proves that we are very far from understand wich are our real problems.
This is really cool. But I want nuclear as the major source of electricity. It’s much more space efficient and can run 24/7.
This video and this new concept that i knew nothing about almost brought me to tears by how much hope it brought me
@OCC Based on this presentation, the line between solar punk and ecomodernism (ua-cam.com/video/wL9z4n7PIBk/v-deo.html) looks faint, and of a cosmetic nature. The imagery presented in this video shares elements with ecomodernism (advanced technology, hypermodern urban environments with towering structures), but depicted with uplifting colours and styles. For example: who sources the materials for that technology, such as airships, and where? Who designs and builds advanced computing resources needed to safely fly and navigate those airships? And what is the path to get 7 billion people to harmoniously share their resources and the fruits of their work? For that to happen we first need universal safety and prosperity, or the peoples will continue warring for resources. Could you make a video explaining how solar punk is different from ecomodernism, and a path to realise it would look like?
The solarpunk world seems like a paradise.❤️
Ok… I know this is an inspiring fictional future… but the idea of blimps being built by off grid untrained do it yourselfers is not really jiving with me. If they are full of ex-boing engineers OK. But I don’t see why we have to reinvent the wheel on safe aircraft construction just to have it decentralized. Surely a concept of non profit companies doesn’t ruin tge vision. Even the word company… really always meant a bunch of people coming together to do something. And it was not always make tons of money by all means nessesary
I would love a future like this, let's make it happen.
the opposite is happening , CO2 and other GH gases are accelerating .
@@MyKharli Unfortunately that is the case.
People are seeing the collapse of the current economy, but we see an opportunity to accelerate the solarpunk vision for our future and our descendants.
The word 'free' is being used quiet a bit in this video. For example, 'free airship travel'. Nothing is free, you still need to pay the people that maintain these airships and fly them. If not the customers then it'll be through taxes. It may be considerably cheaper than today's air travel but it still won't be free.
What on earth was that bit about Crosby Menzies and White Saviourism about? Why is offering solar cookers to people a bad thing?????
Our Changing Climate what do you think about space exploration and space colonization
Solar punk! I love that term!
I mean the entire point of Cyberpunk and Dieselpunk is to critique and undermine capitalism.
OMG I’m hooked! Found the vision that I was looking for. Thanks for making me more hopeful!
This is such a good video
I love St Andrewism and loved his video on Solarpunk, so I am so happy to see this.
Wow! Thanks again for showing us that there is always hope! Amazing video! Smash capitalism now! ❤
this video: Capitalism bad >:|
Great video and such an interesting concept! It's so nice to see positive innovative ideas like these :)
This video - and the St Andrewism one about solarpunk which I saw a couple months ago - brought me to tears. Thank you for helping me feel hopeful about the future again! This is a beautiful vision, merging care for the planet with radical care for human beings
"A world with worker cooperatives, tool shares and common resources"
Me: Wait.... that's communist!
But without the central government who manages everything.
While I love and support your work it doesn't go far enough for me in one area. You mention worker coops, etc. I think we need to start thinking of 'human workers' as an abusive concept, the same as slavery. I think we can get to a better endpoint while achieving the same goals through automation. Products/services would of course have to be free and technology benefits the people, not a few powerful elites, but I envision a world where people are free from obligatory work to survive and our "contribution" to society is entirely our choice, voluntary, and unrequired. Only then will humanity finally be free from slavery. I am super curious as to your thoughts on this perspective. Keep making great videos!!!
based
But if there's no technological background to support you and render the "contribution to society" a choice for you, then somebody has to sustain you with their work; and, since it's fairer than a person has the choice to support you or not rather than being a choice for you to contribute to society or not, the most expectable thing is that the overwhelmingly majority of people will opt out to sustain you (maybe your relatives will, mainly your parents; but even that's complicated if you're a functional adult totally able to contribute and sustain yourself; if you don't do it that would be exploitative of others).
@Pro Veritate if we automate work, then no one has to support another.
Electric ovens plus solar plus passiv housing standard is already the standard in Germany… it’s not solar punk it’s just what it is. And the government is responsible for it. No anarchy needed …
Excellent video as always! A human and eco-centric future is inevitable in the long term most likely after a collapse of the global economy in the short term.
Not inevitable, a lot of work needs to be done, but it isn't impossible. Come what may, capitalism cannot be a part of it
@@suryanarayan2032 definitely a lot of work needs to be done. What I meant is we as a species will evolve to develop human and eco centric because that is the only future which will work in the long term (perhaps decades from now)
There is a big problem with anarchism or community owned (for the lack of a better word: businesses) with no oversight. It is that humans will human, once we have something it doesn't take long for us to want more. A thriving and active 'business' will be able to out compete or buy out other ones that would be starting out or 'businesses' that aren't as thriving. This would lead that business to start operating across communities if it wants to be wealthier or be more powerful (even if capitalism isnt the system, material wealth and goods would still be needed and in demand, an economic structure even if its trade based would still be needed) this would bring about monopolies and companies with no one to control them. Maybe they wouldn't be polluting and destroying the planet as companies do now but they would have massive amounts of power and wealth and would thus be able to do things analogous to lobbying and even become controlling forces in communities that are dependant on their services or goods. Say the blimp makers don't won't something, they can completely stop the production of blimps. Or if your carpenters of plumbers don't won't something they can stop production as well. Anarchy is a terrible system when it comes to collective freedom, the strong will out compete the weak and nothing can be done about unless you are stronger. Governments even on community levels would be entirely nessasary and ways of letting them have power (while being democratic) is very much nessasary so that all people can be equal.
Savonius wind turbine may be worth looking into.
Sounds cool and really love the aesthetics, but i'm curious how for example R&D would work in such a vision. For example those highly specialised fields that require special environments and precision equipment (medicine, microelectronics, chip manufacturing, etc). How would small and decentralised communities be able to build, operate and afford such things?
It depends if the society is build fully on anarchist principles or if there's still a state. If there isn't a state it could be done by a federation of communities (a bottom-up version of a state that doesn't coercive power but is more a collaborative effort between regions), and otherwise it could be funded by the state, like many R&D projects are now. The lack of (or reduced) profit motive would make components either cheaper because you pay similar to production cost, or it would be more expensive because producers and distributors would earn a fair sum, not sure.
Solarpunk is my jam!
I can say without a doubt that Solarpunk has always been my aesthetic. Thank you for giving me a word for it.
Sounded absolutely brilliant until you said I couldn’t use my gas stove.
I just discovered solarpunk a couple months ago and it's been inspiring me so much! It's awesome to see this video and know the movement/change is spreading. I truly believe that humanity is capable of creating a solarpunk world, we all just have to take little steps towards truth and justice in our day to day lives.
Somebody needs to make some kind of movie or media using the Solarpunk ideas to make a twist of the Post-apocalyptic genera, like imagine a series in wich the apocalypse and the colapse of civilisation didn't suposed the end of mankind but rather the freeing of our species from capitalism and opresive goverments in some kind of rebirth
I’m paying good money for that
I'm so excited you've covered a topic I've loved for so long!
There is a documentary series called Engineering the Future on Curiosity Stream that I can highly recommend, it goes into sustainable technologies in great detail, and it's also entertaining.
Hey OCC, could be possible an Atompunk future?? A video about nuclear energy would be interesting
THANK YOU SO MUCH! THIS IS SO HELPFUL! I’M GONNA SEND THIS TO EVERYONE I CAN!
Amazing crossover, psyched to see Andrew!
Zeplins made by local people is a terable idea
We gonna have Hindenburg incident for 31 d /12 m