#global south

[kropotkindersurprise]

Michael Parenti on the extraction of wealth from the so-called Third World by Western Capitalism. [video]

[probablyasocialecologist]

[hope-for-the-planet]

From the article:

If you had asked us last year who was deploying renewables faster — the Global South or the Global North — we would have thought it safe to say the Global North. But a recent RMI report finds a different reality. When it comes to the share of electricity from solar and wind, the Global South is growing twice as fast as the Global North. And beyond every number, there is a story. From the recent Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit to the upcoming SEforAll Global Forum, global leaders are coming together to make pathbreaking progress on clean energy — and then getting to work on implementation. First, let us set the scene. The Global South — which we define as Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia — needs much more energy, and it needs it as fast and as cheaply as possible. The Global South uses five times less energy per person than the Global North. Yet, on aggregate, the region has already become a net importer of fossil fuels. Given low domestic reserves on average, the cost and risk of fossil fuel imports could rise to painful heights. In stark contrast, these countries are endowed with 70 percent of the world’s renewable energy potential. This renewable resource keeps getting cheaper and cheaper, outcompeting fossil fuels on price. When incentives are clear, markets move — and cleantech is moving.

[hihereami]

yeah

[sayruq]

In Oct, European leaders lined up to support Israel's war on Gaza. By that point, hundreds of Palestinians had been killed in airstrikes. There was a worry among some officials that by doing this, they will end up alienated from the global south

That fear has come to fruition as countries like Bolivia cut diplomatic ties, South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, Yemen has blockaded the Red Sea (is now regularly attacking American and British warships), Malaysia has banned all Israeli ships from its ports, etc.

Here's the latest example. The EU organised the Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum. It was a disaster for many reasons (7 European foreign ministers didn't bother to show up) but the important issue was Gaza

Simple put Israel, the EU and America will not escape accountability for what they've done to Gaza

[wachinyeya]

The Global South is deploying renewables twice as fast as the Global North, thanks to record levels of investment and decreasing costs of clean power. Last year, deployment of clean energy sources in the Global South outpaced fossil fuel-based electricity generation seven-fold, a huge shift from a decade ago when it was even.

-via fixthenews.com

[butterfly-95]

I think people need to realize that it was sheer luck that they have been born in developed countries with decent living conditions, away from the threat of war or civil conflicts. It is by pure coincidence at times that you end up being a citizen of a developed country, rather than one with an impoverished population experiencing man-made (because it is man-made in this day and age) famine, diseases that have been long eradicated or war (be it a civil conflict or due to selfish interests of developed nations who profit from these, at the cost of civilian lives). You could have been born into these conditions.

The point is: NO ONE should ever be made to witness the horrors of war, famine, poverty, disease or any other trauma inducing situation in which they have no free will or say about its outcome.

[favroitecrime]

[sudensk-the-stallionist]

I find it certainly very interesting how the USA was slowly seeking to "tie up the loose ends" ever since the end of the Cold War, country by country. And time and time again it showed how USAmerican alliances and geopolitical decisions are, mainly when referring to the Global South, extremely opportunistic. It is really interesting how what was seen as Islamist extremists (rightfully, although in USAmerican fashion the critique of this extremism was covered with a thick coat of Islamophobic paint) in ISIS were enemies of the USA by 2015, but then the same ISIS remnants became the main base of support from the entire USAmerican government and media in the recent Syrian Civil War continuation. Or how Saddam and even Assad (the father, not Bashar) were supported, in different levels, by the US government prior to it "tying up the loose ends" after the Soviet collapse; every single relationship between the US and a country in the Global South is marked to the bone with opportunism, and this can be seen with the extent to which the USAmerican government seeked to "tie up the loose ends" in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and still trying to do it to Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, and, to a lesser extent due to greater hardships in this task when compared to others, Russia-Belarus. It does, however, seem like the decaying prevalence of the USAmerican empire over the Global South as "multipolarity" grows is already paving the way for bigger threats to the continuation of the pro-US and pro-EU status quo. Although not all anti-USAmerican struggles in the world are particularly socialist, it is very clear that some new doors are being opened for socialism here. But we can only remain hopeful. If only we wouldn't need any more Afghanistans, Libyas and, apparently, now Syrias to pave this way. But alas, Global South liberation will come as the USA-EU axis decays, even if during this path we may have to handle both the continuation and expansion of massive attacks by the imperial core to our nations and the erratic attitude of nationalist "anti-imperialist" bourgeois attempts to co-opt the proletarian struggles for national liberation. I don't really do much seriousposting usually, mainly due to me just ending up getting very simplistic, idealistic and repetitive, but, yeah. Just a thought.

[whereserpentswalk]

I find it so strange that people from the global north will call countries oppressive or tyrannical and not have any sympathy for the people living in those countries due to that, and often actively consider them monstrous or subhuman due to their government oppressing them. Like, when people from the global north call other countries dictatorships, they're not doing it to paint the people living there as victims, which is very strange to me.

Take this as a reminder that living through oppression is something incredibly traumatic, and not a moral failing. I didn't think this would be something that I had to remind people of but apparently it is.

[fireheartwraith]

Hello everyone. Climate change and lack of infrastructure has cause severe floods in the south of brazil and thousands of people are displaced or missing. If you can help, please do, especially those who use dollar or euro. You don't know far your money can take us

This tweet has a video showing how absurdly fast the water rose. Image if this was your home, completely taken by water in under three minutes. Imagine if you had children, elderly, disabled people living here. What would you do in this situation? What can you even do?

Most of the state is now underwater, and the parts that aren't don’t have power or water. Getting prescription meds and other necessities like hygiene kits and food is difficult because capitalism sucks. The military police are protecting supermarkets because the people are hungry and taking the food. Mind you, the food will spoil anyway. But god forbid people don't go hungry.

And in the midst of this chaos, public transport still isn't free. People are charging to rescue folks. So people can only be rescued by helicopter because of the currents. There are people debating whether or not they should leave pets to die.

And the government has done basically nothing. It is the government's fault, everyone knows this. The money that was supposed to go to preventing something like this simply doesn't exist. The people organizing rescues are distributing resources are the people themselves. Influencers have been doing more to the cause than the government at this point.

Some people were bringing up Madonna because the flood hit the night of her show, and they were saying the money she received should have gone to the affected people. And so she donated 10 MILLION reais. It is utter madness. There are bodies floating in the water people have to wade through.

If you can do something to help, please do

Here's a link to donate to an ngo that is feeding the displaced people

Paypal: Fathiele14@gmail.com

Edit: Floods are also displacing people in the northeast, literally on the other side of the country. The situation is dire. Remember, you are closer to being a climate refugee than being a billionaire. If I find where you make international donations to help Maranhão I'll share it here

[alwaysinbetweeninsaneandinsecure]

Please help this family get to safety. The situation in Sudan worsens every day. Please give what you can & reblog this post!

[capacle]

A game that says 'Yes' more

Alright folks, here it is:

🌟Everspark🌟

This is my answer to the question:

'What if we stripped everything off of heroic fantasy TTPRGS and kept only the vibes?'

The story behind this game starts 30 years ago…

I remember my first RPG experience. The art, the setting, the idea of being a hero in a fantasy world that we discovered together—it all seemed magical.

But very soon the cracks started to show.

A disconnect between the promise and the experience delivered by the game.

It took me more than 30 published games to give this one a go, mostly due to self-consciousness ("Really? Another fantasy heartbreaker?")

But I had to do it.

I had to know—what if we could actually live the promise that those book covers sold?

What if we could offer new players the experience they think they will have with that one game, without the frustration of a ruleset that says 'no' all the time?

That’s how Everspark was born.

I want to provide those carefree, belly-laugh-filled, let’s-play-pretend moments of rolling dice, casting imaginary spells, and coming up with all sorts of shenanigans.

A great choice if you want to introduce the hobby to newcomers, or play with your kids (or parents!)

I want to reignite that original spark that first attracted us to these kinds of games and never left us—the Everspark, if you will.

You get to tell epic tales, celebrate nat-20s, lament nat-1s, and spend some quality time daydreaming about dragons.

The system is super simple: You roll a d20 and 'eyeball' the result to see if you get a critical, regular or mixed success (or failure).

Besides that, there's only a quirky little mechanic involving drawing stars on sticky notes that covers everything else you need.

You can play solo or in a group, with or without a GM.

There are 8,000 possible character combinations, and you can make one in 20 seconds.

The game is very welcoming to foreign material, like settings, adventures, monsters, weapons, spells, and more!

All the art is by the amazing Ray Olli (and during the campaign, you can have your own custom character illustrated by him!)

Look at that:

And, if nothing else has convinced you so far, you can play as a Capoeira Capybara:

Everspark is funding now, and I'd appreciate your support and enthusiasm!

Please share it with anyone that wants to try a rules-light, vibes-full heroic fantasy tabletop game!

Make an indie designer happy today! 😊

[sayruq]

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs:

The United States stands completely isolated globally for supporting Israel in this massacre... The world looks at the US aghast. The US stands alone with Israel... This is the worst foreign policy imaginable.

[cognitivejustice]

Agroecology is far more than a set of sustainable agricultural practices

Agroecology puts peasants and indigenous voices at the center. It seeks to preserve biocultural diversity and strengthen resilience while challenging existing power structures in the food system.

The ever-busy schedule at the Bio-Gardening Innovations (Biogi), a hands-on farmer training centre in Elununi, Vihiga County is a clear testament of how smallholder farmers are eager to learn about techniques that can help them remain productive despite the changing climatic conditions.

According to Ferdinand Wafula, the founder and coordinator of the training centre, farmers from Vihiga, and as far as Kakamega and Nandi counties, have been streaming in every week to learn about regenerating seeds so as to maintain unique traits and adaptability to local climates, health and fertility of soil through the use of ecological farming practices, and to mingle with other farmers from different parts of the region.

“We support smallholder farmers in transitioning to ecological farming systems by employing principles of agroecology, and we teach them about designing permaculture units that are both productive and sustainable, integrating crops and vegetative cover to create resilient ecosystems,” said Wafula.

Agroecology, an approach that blends ecological science with traditional farming knowledge, is emerging as a sustainable solution to the multiple challenges faced by agriculture today—rising input costs, soil degradation, water scarcity, and growing climate risks. By reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, promoting crop diversity, and prioritising soil health, agroecology offers a way forward that benefits both farmers and the environment.

“Agroecology is not just about growing food; it’s about rethinking the entire food system,”

[hussyknee]