For an Ecological Tourism!

unfortunately (?) there is no such button!

"It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly,
and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly." - Epikouros

(a progressive work in progress - comments & suggestions welcome!)

1. Introduction

Before the Climate Crisis became a household word and a politician's boogie for all evils, all countries used to - many still do - treat the Environment as an externality, a dumping ground. Equally, nearly all countries used to - and many still do - treat Tourism & Hospitality as a low-maintenance, labour-intensive industry that magically provides ample jobs and revenue and keeps growing, like a type of benevolent tumour, by itself. Environment & Tourism Ministries alike were nearly always ranked last in seniority, if they ever existed at all, headed by people who had little professional & academic knowledge or experience. Universities too did not, and many famous ones still do not, consider Tourism as a serious topic or a separate sector worth studying, while Hospitality was confined to a technical-level education (perfect the art of smiling while working yourself to death). At a time when countries are fast setting up Climate Change Ministries, there is also a growing realization that Tourism & Hospitality (and Leisure) are not a joke or an afterthought, but, thanks no less to the huge number of people working directly or indirectly in this multi-sector, a protagonist in what goes by the name of "Just Transition", the quest for a better, fairer, happier, greener, global socio-economic system. This quest, that we hope and staunchly prefer that is constructive and peaceful, certainly includes and involves the quest for a better, progressive, ecological and democratic tourism model. By "democratic", in this text, we will be referring to the original direct Democracy, one which was not about holding (often divisive and polarised) elections every four years so as to choose someone to, supposedly, represent you. Real democracy involves you and every other citizen representing yourselves directly and participating in governance, i.e. the direct involvement of the people (the Demos) in taking decisions and exercising power (Kratos), power of and for the people). Equally important are processes that encourage genuine consensus building while respecting the views, interests and sensitivities of minorities - Democracy not Democraship!

The ongoing, combined, quintuple crisis (polycrisis), economic/systemic, social, environmental/climate, humanitarian/refugee, pandemic/public health, and now, again, the New Cold War, the spectre of nuclear MADness (Mutually Assured Destruction) and the butchery of innocent civilians in Gaza, the Ukraine and many other less geopolitically-interesting places that corporate media do not cover, is probably of no recent historical precedent in terms of endangering our presence, let alone our well-being, on this planet. While technological and medical progress has allowed the human population to grow, despite hundreds of treaties and fanfare, progress is agonizingly slow in terms of reducing inequality, poverty and improving conservation, social justice and human rights. On the contrary, in recent years, there is a rapidly growing Wealth and Health Inequality: some 3 billion people own nothing, 1% owns 45% of personal wealth, while the 0,01%, for the first time in history, own so much, about 11% of global wealth. Unsurprisingly, the 1% are also responsible for twice the amount of emissions as the poorest 50%! The world's richest and most powerful people, the Billionaire-Oligarchs of all countries have increased their wealth from 1% to 3% in the last 30 years. At the other end, according to the World Health Organization, one in three people still do not have access to safe drinking water! And we have all witnessed how poor countries were largely excluded from the supply of Covid-19 vaccines, while the oligarchs got vastly richer during the pandemic! The 99% now have to worry both about the end of the world and about the end of the month!

"Even a whole society, a nation, or even all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not the owners of the globe. They are only its possessors, its usufructuaries, and, like boni patres familias, they must hand it down to succeeding generations in an improved condition." - Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. III, Part IV, Chapter 46

If, and it is a big if, we consider human civilization as a path of progress in all fronts, and not just in Technology, then it follows that progress is possible, but it takes a lot of time. Although it usually starts with one or a few persons, it has to involve the many! Thus there is a need for persistence and collaboration, and optimism: as they say, if we are not failing often, it just means we are not really trying! Just think of the long line of failures, trials, errors and successes that took us from trees to caves to mega-cities and, possibly, if our inner ape (or Elon) does not mess this up, to the stars. On the other hand, if this is "as good as it gets", if human civilization does not represent real "progress" across some real or imaginary axis, just a constant, largely meaningless and often negative, change of circumstances on the surface of a lonely planet it still makes sense to prevent these circumstances from getting worse for us, as individuals and as societies.

Our modern "problems" and "solutions" go all the way back to the dawn of the Anthropocene, to the first agricultural societies where accumulation, surplus, debt, money, markets and human-made pollution first emerged and have since been inextricably linked to the basis of human civilization. We, however, cannot go back to an agrarian civilization or even further back. It is not realistic for 8 billion people to retreat back to the countryside, the forests and to a nomadic-mode of survival - nor should they, in the first place, as cities can be the most eco-friendly environments, saving space and resources. Doom and gloom and guilt, about the current state of Tourism, the Climate, the Environment and the World does not lead anywhere unless it is accompanied with constructive, concrete, individual and collective action. The key culprits and beneficiaries of the current state of affairs have names and addresses and loopholes (e.g. tax havens) that prevent a level playing field (= equal rights, obligations & opportunities for all) with practical, clear, progressive laws. Our collective technological achievements if properly utilized/managed/divided could already guarantee the well-being of everyone on the planet. The pandemic clearly indicated that "There Is An Alternative" (in fact there are many alternatives) to the dated, neoliberal recipes of the 1980s, but what is less clear is to what extent and in what respects the alternative is 'better'. 

"Countries should not be judged by the words written in their constitutions but by their annual budgets" - Noam Chomsky

National budgets of powers big and small, still favour militarization and environmental destruction, among others. This is no accident of course, as the military-industrial-extractive complex has a chokehold on many governments and political parties of powerful countries, let alone weaker ones. We need to somehow loosen this chokehold, it can be done peacefully and legally, and divert these trillions to peaceful, environmental and healthy activities and social services for all.

Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin"All things are for all. Here is an immense stock of tools and implements; here are all those iron slaves which we call machines, which saw and plane, spin and weave for us, unmaking and remaking, working up raw matter to produce the marvels of our time. But nobody has the right to seize a single one of these machines and say, "This is mine; if you want to use it you must pay me a tax on each of your products," any more than the feudal lord of medieval times had the right to say to the peasant, "This hill, this meadow belong to me, and you must pay me a tax on every sheaf of corn you reap, on every rick you build." All is for all! If the man and the woman bear their fair share of work, they have a right to their fair share of all that is produced by all, and that share is enough to secure them well-being. No more of such vague formulas as "The Right to work," or "To each the whole result of his labour." What we proclaim is THE RIGHT TO WELL-BEING: WELL-BEING FOR ALL!"

Pyotr Kropotkin - The Conquest of Bread, 1892

In the 21st century, especially if the onerous prophecies of climate scientists are accurate, but even if they are not, we need to find answers to questions of paramount importance, including how and who produces, distributes and stores money, energy and food, and, in the light of the Coronavirus crisis, how quality health, education and housing can be accessible for all. But a democratic, progressive tourism, travel and leisure are just as important in an automated economy where we should not have to work as many hours in order to make a decent living. In a way, we have to reverse-engineer the pillars of the current system. Work must be redefined, re-organised and fairly remunerated. Even if not always visible, there are already huge cracks in the status quo - the great transition to a low-carbon, fairer and happier world, is already underway.

2. Has "Capitalism", after so many failed attempts to replace it, faded away by itself?

"Capitalism" is a convenient boogie. If in doubt, you can blame it for all evils and most will pretend to understand the connection. Orthodox Marxists aside, all questions relating to Capitalism, including if it even exists, or ever existed, depend on the way one defines it, and thus are tautological. According to some left-wing economists, including Yanis Varoufakis, we need not worry about "fixing" Capitalism as it is already on its way out (or may have even "silently passed away without anyone noticing"!), as Feudalism once was, we rather need to focus on creating a new system. This sounds as wishful thinking for the majority on the left however. Capitalism certainly still exists as a shorthand for the 'globally prevailing socioeconomic system and geopolitical balance" or "world order", which of course is constantly evolving and is different than 200 years ago. As Engels however implied in his seminal "Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State" the roots of Capitalism go all the way back to the rise of Patriarchy. Socialist Feminists today argue, credibly, that they are the two sides of the same coin. This would imply that we have can get/have gotten rid of Capitalism only to the extent that we have gotten rid of Patriarchy, or even of money itself. On the other hand, Capitalism being so infamously flexible, perhaps a Feminist, or Feminist-friendly, Capitalism has emerged or will emerge. (Side note: In fact Engels in 'Origins of the Family' outlined the stages of family evolution and the extension of the incest taboo to cover cousins but did not explain why such a taboo did not emerge in Muslim-majority countries, where today about 20-30% of marriages are between first cousins. Perhaps the further extension of the incest taboo in Western Europe create a socioeconomic incentive that ultimately lead to modern Capitalism? If we assume that first cousin marriage is a way to keep inheritance in the family and have strong kinship ties in the society and this is contrary to capital accumulation). 

Capitalism as a term goes back to the 13th century although as a practice its origins can be traced to the first agrarian societies and the accumulation of capital. The term 'capitalism' was chosen by Louis Blanc and later by Marx and Engels (M&E) to describe and explain the then emerging economic system. M&E are towering figures in the history of political philosophy, respected by friends and foes alike, due to their scientific analysis of human progress until the 19th century. But first and foremost they were theorists of (19th c) Capitalism rather than Socialism and they did not provide a roadmap for the transition to, or a hypothesis of how the alternative, Communist, society they envisioned, or even the transitionary stage of Socialism, would really work. According to many scholars, as he grew older Marx became less statist, dogmatic and euro-centric, moved closer to libertarian communism, appreciated the role of local conditions and the existence of many paths forward, to the extent that in his final years Marx was not an orthodox Marxist (or indeed a Marxist-Leninist!). Thanks to the works of John Bellamy Foster, Paul Burkett, Michael Löwy, Kohei Saito and others, we are now aware that Marx gradually and increasingly appreciated the importance of Ecology and he can be rightly considered a key precursor of EcoSocialism. For a libertarian socialist like Chomsky, Marxism is an "organized religion" but again this not very informative as all coherent, comprehensible and eventually successful theories, must be organised. If there is a dogma or tautology in Marxism, then that can only be that Humanity may scientifically and ethically progress towards an altruistic direction to the level required by a future Communist society. There is ample evidence to back the proposition that Humanity does progress scientifically, but scant evidence it has made any progress in the direction of altruism / mutual aid during the past 10,000 years, the visible results being endless poverty, violence and wars. Marx unfortunately did not write anything specific about Tourism, as Raul Bianchi points out, probably because mass tourism did not exist in his day.

"Under socialism much of “primitive” democracy will inevitably be revived, since, for the first time in the history of civilized society the mass of population will rise to taking an independent part, not only in voting and elections, but also in the everyday administration of the state. Under socialism all will govern in turn and will soon become accustomed to no one governing." 
Vladimir Lenin, The State and Revolution

The monumental - in terms of both historicity, complexity and errors - task was undertaken, theoretically and literally, in Czarist Russia, a backward, sprawling, empire that M&E never considered as a suitable candidate, and rightly so with the benefit of hindsight, by the great revolutionary and thinker, Lenin. The work quoted above, "The State and Revolution" is considered as one of the most important works of this great mind and prolific writer as it was written just before the year of the Great October Revolution, probably as a result of arguments with other Bolshevik luminaries such as Bukharin of whether the state should wither rapidly or not after the revolution. Most importantly it shows the many, preferable, direct democratic, alternatives to what became known as Stalinism, and what could have been had Lenin lived to be 100 years old.

Unfortunately, Lenin died too early, at just 53, leaving the helm of the great experiment at the hands of someone he had explicitly and repeatedly warned others against, Stalin, the bad boy from the Caucasus... Had Lenin remained longer in the equation could the USSR have attained "genuine Communism" (rather than autocratic state capitalism) and still exist today or would it have chosen the same path and also tainted Socialism as a notion? What if Gorbachev, who probably wanted to democratize Soviet socialism and build world detente, had appeared earlier, was less naive or just luckier? Unfortunately, there can be no definite answers - there are no 'ifs' in History. But the vast majority of socialists and marxists, and everyone else, would not like to see the (600,000?) executions, misery, terror and personality cult of the Stalin era ever repeated in the name of 'Socialism' or under any other name. Human Rights, Personal (not Corporate) Freedoms and Democracy, in a recognisable form, are non-negotiable on the way to a better society and are not to be sacrificed for any lofty goal, for the simple reason that there is no higher goal than Human Rights, All Human Rights for All. Socialism without Ecology, Liberty, Genuine, Direct Democracy, without Worker's (as opposed to State) control is just another form of Barbarism, as many including Bakunin had forewarned 50 years earlier:

"We are convinced that liberty without socialism is privilege and injustice; and that socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality"
Mikhail Bakunin, Federalism, Socialism, Anti-Theologism, 1867

Lenin had a great mind and leadership abilities but on the one hand he did not have the luxury of operating in a theoretical vacuum as a philosopher - he had to fight real enemies and solve real problems - and on the other Russia at the time was totally unsuitable for the great experiment, according to the very theory that was to be applied. Chomsky among others believe he was an opportunist who represented a right-wing deviation from the mainstream Marxism/Socialism of the era which was close to Libertarian Socialism. It is certain that Lenin picked and chose, tweaked and implemented incomplete Marxian revolutionary theories written with western-industrialized countries in mind, in order to adapt them to the pre-revolutionary Russian reality, and then, after the Revolution, there were many experiments and 180 degree policy reversals from 'war communism' to 'state capitalism' (New Economic Policy of 1921) with conflicting and confusing results. Chomsky has criticized him for deliberately destroying workers councils and reintroducing the Czarist system of control and oppression and then opportunistically justifying these acts internally along the lines that Russia was unsuitable for socialism according to orthodox Marxist theory! Aren't revolutions messy and unpredictable! Kropotkin chose to return to the young USSR and observe the events in real time and up close as he recognised the historical significance of the "October Revolution" (essentially a coup according to Chomsky). He initially hoped that "even if it does not achieve everything that it would like to, it will nevertheless enlighten the path of the civilised countries for at least a century". After observing the violence, in-fighting, sectarianism and terror of the civil war, he became disillusioned and observed in his "Letter to the Workers of Western Europe", perhaps harshly, that "unhappily, this effort has been made in Russia under a strongly centralized party dictatorship. This effort was made in the same way as the extremely centralized and Jacobin endeavor of Babeuf. I owe it to you to say frankly that, according to my view, this effort to build a communist republic on the basis of a strongly centralized state communism under the iron law of party dictatorship is bound to end in failure. We are learning to know in Russia how not to introduce communism, even with a people tired of the old regime and opposing no active resistance to the experiments of the new rulers." Kropotkin wrote to Lenin in 1920 urging him to change course and allow for decentralised institutions. There was no observed result, but it is telling that during Kropotkin's funeral procession in 1921, with special permission from Lenin, Anarchists were allowed to carry anti-Bolshevik banners, for the very last time.... Lenin's elder brother, Alexander, was of course an Anarchist, who had been hanged for allegedly participating in an attempt to assassinate the Tsar. Libertarian Socialists such as Bakunin had also long warned that a revolutionary vested with absolute power, like Stalin, could only become a new Tsar. In his last letter to the central committee, an incapacitated Lenin famously warned against Stalin, but it was too late! Stalin allegedly repaid him by poisoning Lenin's widow, the revolutionary Nadezhda Krupskaya, on her birthday in 1939. Byzantines, bow down!

Murray Bookchin, 1990"Power to the people' can only be put into practice when the power exercised by social elites is dissolved into the people. Each individual can then take control of his daily life. If 'Power to the people' means nothing more than power to the 'leaders' of the people, then the people remain an undifferentiated, manipulatable mass, as powerless after the revolution as they were before. In the last analysis, the people can never have power until they disappear as a 'people.” ... Revolutionary liberation must be a self-liberation that reaches social dimensions, not "mass liberation" or "class liberation" behind which lurks the rule of an elite, a hierarchy and a state."
Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism (1986)

M&E theory was further applied and twisted in other unsuitable places, sometimes as a pretext, leading to surreal results including the Buddhist stratocracy of Burma and the hereditary dictatorship of North Korea. Democratic centralism may have some benefits in getting things done faster, but inadvertently leads to the extreme concentration of power, top-down policy-making and authoritarianism. A mixture of democratic decentralism and democratic centralism is perhaps more appropriate, depending on specific policies and geography, and progress in communication & voting technology now allows many more permutations and combinations. Democracy is not always guaranteed by a multi-party state, especially when most of these parties have the same basic policies and filter out the popular will, and other parties are banned. Democracy, rather, is facilitated by having no dominant political parties, and the people can decide directly, without intermediaries, on a wide range of issues. Again, this may lead to horrible results that oppress minorities. So (Direct) Democracy is just a tool not the goal. The goal is the triptych Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Lose one of the three and the triptych collapses.

Cornelius Castoriadis, and other libertarian socialists, argued that the Soviet Union, and similar states, had - or ended up having - little to do with Socialism and that they quickly degenerated into bureaucratic and nepotistic stratocracies (from Gk. stratos = army), tolerated but unloved by the people, which may explain their peaceful and sudden demise when the time came. Interestingly enough, It could be argued that elements of that stratocracy, stripped of ideological pretexts, survive to this day and to some extent this explains the current situation in the Ukraine, on both sides of the conflict. Even if true, no one can dispute that progress was made in many economic sectors of actually-existing-socialism countries, or that they did not exert pressure on the capitalist West so that it also introduced progressive reforms to keep up. Capitalism, the West and their combination, Imperialism, also has an admirably long record of military, economic and social atrocities, including innumerable invasions and crimes against Humanity and a talent of attributing these to other causes. The slave trade and the atrocities, bordering on genocide, of European colonial powers (e.g. Belgian Congo, French Madagascar, French Algeria, French Indochina, German Africa) still haunt these countries but, very sadly and worryingly, not in some European countries where in the past decade neo-Nazis and assorted racists-fascists have reemerged from History's sewers.

An irony is that M&E by accurately observing and interpreting with the intention of changing the prevailing system, succeeded (via Lenin) in changing it, similarly to the Observer effect in quantum mechanics, while progressive changes were also introduced due to pressures from socialist countries and worker struggles in the West. To such extent, that the authorities of the East German dystopia were "forced" to build the infamous Wall (1961) - a monument of self-defeat - and then shoot all those that tried to escape the 'socialist' 'paradise'. Similarly, Soviet Union authorities were "forced" to crush the Hungarian Uprising (1956) and the Prague Spring (1968).  Beyond Stalin's horrors, key reasons for the failure of the Soviet experiment include the absence of free elections,  free speech, a free press, a free market, an independent judiciary, consumer good variety & quality, and, last but not least, the freedom to travel abroad! The collective West convincingly appeared (also through successful propaganda - Chomsky's "manufacturing consent") to offer all of these to all (certainly not in reality) which gave Gorbachev some ideas but it or he was too late. 

The prevailing socioeconomic system of the 21st century is not exactly Capitalism, but rather post-Capitalism. It is a much evolved, improved and distant relative of the semi-barbaric, authentic Capitalism of the 19th century thanks to many things including worker's struggles, the fear of revolution, common sense and perhaps an inherent flexibility to adopt what works and abandon what does not. It has therefore adopted, adapted and coopted many progressive ideas, a noted offspring being the Nordic social-democratic model. Green New Deal politics as understood by the right-wing are another recent example of fusion and offer some controversial solutions like payments for ecosystem services, carbon offsetting, blue bonds and other financial instruments, some more useful and effective than others. Offsetting for one, is sold as a consolation option yet it is conceptually surreal: imagine offsetting human rights by abusing some tourism workers/communities in Thailand and treating others extra nicely in Cambodia... On the other hand something somewhere is better than nothing nowhere.

Ideologies aside, pressured by the chance of a catastrophic Climate Crisis (if the science is correct and all this is not some giant conspiracy as some mad climate deniers claim), we need to act quickly. As the Climate Crisis is a direct result of the prevailing socieconomic system, it is clear that acting quickly also involves, irrespective of ideology, replacing/reforming/improving the current system without the old one dropping on the heads of the poorest - hence a Just Transition. One of the problems is that very few people know precisely how the current system works and among them only a tiny minority of them really care about improving it. So there is bound to be damage and suffering, as always, during the transition period, and our main concern should be to avoid a third world war in the process, especially with the way geopolitical tensions and peripheral wars are going.

If Marx was alive today, he would probably call "proletariat" the quasi slave-labour in 'developing' countries producing cheap consumer goods for the West and their compatriots who have braved seas and deserts to make it to Europe and the US so as to get a menial job. Otherwise, in the Global North, the pyramid now has many more little steps and we are moving to a service-based, virtual, gig economy, with new strata such as the 'precariat' rising, with permanent unemployment and under-employment, a growing luben/criminal/narco-mafia strata, and new, semi-apolitical, identity movements like the Me Too, LGBT+ and Black Lives Matter. There is an near-infinite number of fragmented, neo-classes. In turn this means that old, 19th century analytical tools cannot really interpret the current situation, and that the agents of progress will probably be the citizen and the worker/employee and the precarian, rather than the proletarian or the lumpenproletarian. As with volcanoes however, you never know if and when the next eruption will take place but it is a safe bet that something will trigger it sooner or later. Progress is not a given, there are also periods of regression. We must be aware of and resist two dangerous trends, in both East and West: Authoritarianism and Surveillance Capitalism - "Ninety Eighty Four" and "Brave New World" combined! Orwell, influenced by the examples of his era (and - highly ironically - a State informant himself) thought the State would exclusively and directly do all the surveillance! Wrong, it seems everything can be "privatized" and sub-contracted these days, from water in our homes to prisons! Our behaviour, as citizens and "consumers", is increasingly being monitored by both the state and corporations, apparently for our own sake, convenience, safety, health and so on! Also apparently, the vast majority (the people who elect/support governments) have passively accepted this monitoring as a trade off for digital/virtual freebies that make their life a little less miserable - witness, for example, how many are posting every minutiae of their lives and baring (pun intended) their personal details online, voluntarily parting with their most inner secrets to the great joy of marketeers of all sorts!

By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward."
- Mikhail Bakunin

A perfectly just, egalitarian and free society is most probably impossible, yet perfection does not really matter: the goal serves as the horizon, to keep us walking towards it rather than staying still and let regressive forces push us back to the dark ages. It's an endless tug of war where "if you do not strive for the impossible, you will end up accepting the unthinkable!". Even if "actually-existing-but-supposedly-decaying-Capitalism" or "the prevailing globalised socioeconomic system", it does not really matter what we call it, once more manages to survive, given that it has solid backing from the military-industrial-financial complex, we could use a progressive, democratic leadership at all levels implementing short, medium and long-term policies in all spheres but, above all, active citizens that help each other will - baring any cosmic disaster or climatic collapse - most probably succeed in gradually humanising and ultimately replacing the current system with something better, Utopian rather than Dystopian. Mutual Aid, as explained by Peter Kropotkin, has been and remains a key driver of evolution and progress, even if all else fails, during turbulent and chaotic times such as the ones we are experiencing and far worse ones in the million years of human history. It is also under the radar of oppressive mechanisms.

"The mutual-aid tendency in man has so remote an origin, and is so deeply interwoven with all the past evolution of the human race, that is has been maintained by mankind up to the present time, notwithstanding all vicissitudes of history.”
- Pyotr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution

By realising that 'revolutionary government' is a contradiction in terms, and proposing a decentralised and just economic system based on Mutual Aid and voluntary cooperation, Kropotkin, also a prominent Geographer and Naturalist can be considered a precursor of Ecosocialism.

3. A progressive path towards a better global system

In the 21st century we therefore need synthesis and practical, progressive, innovative, consensual, non-violent, solutions rather than being fixated on what exactly will take place "After" - I am of course referring to the endless quarrels, narcissism of small differences and divisions of the Left. In one sense we are never living in the "after", we always live in the "now". If we could agree on the basics, essentially implementing fully, all three goals of the French Revolution - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité - we could always amicably quarrel "after"! Why not go back to the roots of first-epoch Socialism, back to basics: democracy, worker-control, and a genuine community where everyone helps each other. Be we also need to include Ecology, for obvious reasons, as well as a Free Market, as that seems inextricably connected with what we call Human Civilization.

Progressive Ecological forces democratically coming to power in key countries is one, quite remote, possibility at this moment, if we do not retreat into another Cold War, or worse, WW3. But in an inclusive & progressive framework - combining the best of all relevant theories and practices and what works locally - we do not necessarily have to "come into power" over a country, or over some others, but we could emancipate and empower ourselves and our communities for starters. Each one of us can effect some meaningful changes in a peaceful manner within the current system and even with oppressive/regressive political forces in power: if each one of us becomes the change we want to see in the world, as Gandhi famously said, in the form of a daily, personal, peaceful, revolution. By doing things differently, by encouraging economic democracy in the workplace, by supporting eco-friendly businesses and cooperatives and choosing their products and services, by supporting progressive ecological initiatives in every region and walk of life. A free-er, fairer and happier society for more people is within our reach during the coming centuries, if this huge concentration of power or wealth is gradually but steadily eroded at the grassroots by a more democratic ownership of the means of production, including of course the Tourism means of production, and a fairer distribution of income and wealth between and within countries and classes.

"It is impossible to live pleasantly without living prudently and honourably and justly, and it is impossible to live prudently and honourably and justly without living pleasantly"

Epicurus (341-270 BCE)

Essentially, we need to keep, improve, deepen and expand Democracy, which, like the Market (or Agora in Ancient Greece, a place for both trade and politics - agorazein (buy), agorevein (speak)), predates both Industrialism and Capitalism, and build a fairer economic system, replacing Corporate Autocracy with Economic Democracy. Large companies that operate & decide in a truly democratic and transparent fashion, pay their taxes, and design products and services that harm as little as possible would be acceptable if this was ever possible, but the average exploitative hierarchical multinational is clearly not. To avoid dictatorship, especially a permanent one, of any kind, checks and balances must be maintained at all levels, with a free speech culture online and offline, a genuinely free and independent press that monitors & checks authority, devolved, democratic social media not controlled by the state or the deep state/billionaire techno-feudalists, genuinely free markets, democratically-run businesses, a social welfare system, equal, quality work and leisure opportunities for all, free and vibrant workers unions and professional associations, direct democratic decision-making processes, a genuine respect for all types of minorities, and, particularly relevant for Tourism & Hospitality, a genuinely welcoming culture towards foreigners, known in ancient Greece as Xenia. The close association of Hospitality with Asylum (both forms of Mobility) was already understood and celebrated in Homer's Odyssey. There are already inspiring examples bridging the Refugee-Tourist divide, such as Athens' Welcommon Hostel, led by Nikos Chrysogelos, former Green MEP and a historic figure of the Greek Green movement.

As we cannot really rely on enforcement of civilised practices by the police, a new type of Ethics is needed, where excessive private property and excessive consumption are not only discouraged by law/taxes, but they are also unethical/frowned upon by society, in the same way that Theft already is and always has been. To paraphrase Proudhon: Excessive Consumption is Theft! In turn sharing and mutual aid must be encouraged and be ethically rewarded.

[But let's take a break here, since the very subjective matter of "Ethics" was brought up. Human progress is a marathon, a never-ending contest. The regressive forces, the status quo, "the bad guys", call them how you like, always play dirty. (If you have not seen or heard this, invest in a doctor, there is something wrong with your sensory abilities). So why should "the good" play nicely? The means to the end or the means are the end? One more hard question. What about turning the tables and using the system to fight the system, legally, to the last iota. Sustainable/green/climate change finance comes to mind. Does money smell worse if it is directly sourced from a dodgy exotic source, or a defense or oil company before being laundered and/or greenwashed? Is there a corrosive effect when dancing with the mainstream and for which side? Once more, it depends, it remains to be seen, this is a contest! A propos, revolutionaries traditionally used Swiss banks while Switzerland was a revolutionary haven long before it became a tax haven.... End of break.]

So, the right to Inherit excessive property and other valuable assets and the time value of "money" needs rethinking, as well as the central role and excessive power of Banks in the production and investment of money. It is highly doubtful that crypto-currency, rather than transparent-currency is the solution to a more democratic and devolved production of money. Why turn money into a commodity produced and traded by modern techno-pirates at great environmental cost, too? Is crypto-currency a genuine alternative that undermines the power of Banks, or rather an alternative for Banks (and Capital) so as to avoid regulations that undermine their power? To prevent the rise of a priviledged/nomenclature/bureaucratic class the means of production should not be centralized and owned by the state (or by big, state-backed, private corporations), but they should be as devolved as possible - technology makes this ever easier - and owned by all and no-one specifically. It is difficult to imagine how exactly this could work, but perhaps it could take the form of a devolved "3D printing" type system and a high-tech urban agriculture where each household/neighborhood/city would produce everything they need by themselves. At the same time direct democratic political structures and laws could deliberately prevent a nomenclature from emerging. They would be mere "Coordinators" with no executive or property privileges and serve for a limited time. Every citizen would have the opportunity and perhaps the obligation to serve as a Coordinator for their neighbourhood/municipality/region. Murray Bookchin's Social Ecology and Communalism frameworks synthesized and expanded on these themes and examined historical examples, while they have also inspired the Zapatistas in Mexico and Rojava in Syria.

Very interestingly, M&E had also worried about and pondered on how the rise of a bureaucratic class could be avoided, as accurately predicted by Bakunin among others: their proposals included recall at any time, equal pay of officials and workers and temporary rotation of all through 'bureaucratic' positions. These measures proved impractical if they were ever seriously applied in the early Soviet Union. Based on historical experience and current observations a one-party state is not compatible with freedom for all. It is also hard to imagine any form of state, planning to auto-destruct or "wither away" (as Lenin over-optimistically theorized in The State and Revolution). Even if it did, wouldn't it be taken over by another state (colonialism), private corporations (neoliberalism) or criminal gangs (narco-state)? In an ironic way this nearly happened after the withering-away of the Soviet Union. Therefore, unless we achieve an affluent paradise on earth it will be impossible to get rid of all forms of state power or of the monopoly of organised violence that the state represents.

"No theory, no ready-made system, no book that has ever been written will save the world. I cleave to no system. I am a true seeker."
- Mikhail Bakunin

The key to true societal Progress, the type of progress that eludes us, is probably a combination of various frameworks. The key cannot be found unless the theories are put to the test, many times and in different places. The key may not always be the same, or we may need a set of keys. As no one holds the absolute truth or magic recipe, it would be useful if we could see more dialogue, rather than sectarianism and the narcissism of small differences, to understand what really transpired in the 20th century, the good, the bad and the ugly, and what is feasible and relevant today, in the 21st century and beyond. 

First and foremost we must note, something that corporate dominated mass media consistently hush and downplay: the great tradition of cooperatives and employee owned companies and their resilience. In the UK, despite decades of neoliberal policies, employee-owned companies still produce around 4% of GDP.  In the United States, the "Capitalist" heartland, there are over 10 million active workers in employee owned enterprises of various types, of which there are over "300 democratic workplaces" with 7,000 workers and over USD 400m in annual revenues. The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives lists over 450 businesses in its directory. The International Cooperative Alliance established in 1895, tries to unite and represent 3 million cooperatives with "1 billion members" worldwide.

At the level of communities and municipalities, there have been many experimental models over the century, surviving ones include Las Gaviotas in Colombia, Marinaleda in Spain (official website), Findhorn in Scotland, along with many other ecovillages, intentional communities and small co-housing initiatives, around the world. Some of these host visitors as a source of income, and use 'sociocratic' and 'holacratic' models. More political examples of successful communes include the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico, El Panal in Caracas, Venezuela and lately Rojava-AANES in north east Syria. In particular, and despite setbacks, Venezuela's Bolivarian process which bases socialism on the commune as its basic cell, is bearing fruit. At the corporate level, Mondragon Corporation, itself a network of 80 separate cooperatives in various sectors, is a famous, large-scale and successful example of workplace democracy, but there also many more smaller, struggling recuperated factories such as Indorca in Venezuela and BIOME in Greece, the latter producing competitively-priced ecological cleaning products. At the macro, international level, the Global Greens, an international federation of over 100 green political parties, is steadily becoming more influential thanks to electoral successes, the emerging Progressive International brings much needed networking, discussion and coordination between various internationalist, progressive, socialist, and ecological organizations, while the Athens-based "Initiative" is a network of 30 mostly European old-style Communist and Worker's parties.

The European Union is or at least was a promising quasi-progressive experiment despite the fact that neoliberals and conservatives usually dominated policy-making and now ultra-right misanthropes and xenophobes have risen once more in many EU countries. The EU had succeeded in preventing war on the continent since 1945 with the notable and sad exception of what was Yugoslavia, itself a noble multiethnic-federal-self-managed-market-socialism model which managed to work relatively well for some 40 years, and now Ukraine... Peace is a prerequisite for building anything while it was the first World War that postponed imminent revolutions in Western Europe. Whenever the ruling class of any country is with its back against the wall, it plays the nationalist card, and sadly, it usually works probably due to the hominid insecurities hidden deeply in our DNA. On the other hand,  a few weeks before the EU 2024 Parliament elections, "Europe" sounds powerless, indifferent and divided, with nationalism and xenophobia once more rising. In other parts of the world it is also despised and hated, for the past (still unpaid) crimes of Colonialism, and its ongoing crimes including neocolonial conduct by European businesses, pushbacks and incarceration of asylum seekers by European governments, and arms exports by the European military-industrial-banking complex so that people on other continents can get more effectively killed and so on. Worse, progressive forces in Europe including the Center-Left, the Left and the Greens are increasingly co-opted by the establishment and have swallowed their tongue on many issues. Their slogans like the "just transition", or "tax the rich" etc are too timid and cannot inspire or unite the opposition to the polycrisis and those who created it. Overall, the EU project may have run out of steam.

The Chinese model, combining Deng Xiao Ping's opening-up philosophy with a renewed emphasis on Socialism and Marxism under Xi Jinping and an increasing appreciation of the paramount importance of environmental sustainability (and rapid progress in sectors such as renewable energy and EVs), is a philosophically innovative and economically successful model that does justice to a great civilization, has brought hundreds of millions out of poverty and ignorance and turned a formerly weakened, colonized country, that the imperialists tried to hook on opium, into a proud and peaceful super-power. If poverty is "the worst form of violence", this is no mean feat. Deng's reasonable hypothesis was that it is easier to divide affluence than poverty. And, witnessing the sudden demise of the Soviet Union, he did not opt for a multi-party system. Xi probably saw that the system was becoming imbalanced with a new economically powerful, and sometimes corrupt, oligarchy that could soon try to gain political power and remove all policies associated with the socialist project. Even before the pandemic, China shared many similarities and problems with the 'Western' model, including environmental pressures and growing inequality, authoritarianism and surveillance. During the pandemic it appears that the zero-Covid policy created additional hardships yet the end result was successful. For outsiders living in "multi-party parliamentary democracies" with heated party politics the level of state micromanagement of public opinion may appear baffling and indicate a lack of confidence. But if one understands the wisdom of building and improving a successful, direct democratic rather than multi-party, socialist model that is compatible with local characteristics, culture and traditions should be weary of the cheap anti-Chinese propaganda, fear and calls for trade protectionism, peddled by some big western media. One could be optimistic, given the long history and achievements of the Chinese people, that, if anyone can do it, it is them: to fully attain the ever elusive combination of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité one day, and peacefully assist the rest of the world in this direction, as they are already doing. As one of the oldest and largest civilizations, the Chinese traditionally are not in a rush. Famously the late premier Zhou Enlai replied "it is too early to say" when asked about the importance of the Parisian May of 1968 (misquoted ever since, that he was referring to the Parisian July of 1789). It is also encouraging to note that unlike nearly all other major powers, China so far does not have a habit of bombing, invading or staging coups in other countries, but tends to assist them with their infrastructure in a win-win model without intervening in their politics, replacing the role of the IMF in recent decades, and any progressive person would hope it  continues in this constructive and peaceful path while also expanding direct democracy inside.

The United States model is (or at least was) undoubtedly a strong and successful one, in every sense, economic, technological, cultural, scientific, military - you name it - with a solid, well-planned foundation on individual liberties, separation of powers, democratic (and direct democratic) electoral processes, federalism, and a long tradition of communalism, voluntarism and worker movements. However it is also characterized by huge inequalities, racism and an incomprehensible, to non-Americans, level of violence and gun culture, and is in effect a two-party system powered by a deep and gigantic military-industrial-financial-state complex behind it. In a way it resembles Ancient Athens in its glory days, more or less democratic inside (to a degree racist and sexist, again not unlike Ancient Athens), but authoritarian over other states. We are seeing encouraging signs of a progressive shift there too in recent years, with the emergence of progressives like Bernie Sanders, the US Greens, and various socialist parties and movements.

The Swiss Direct Democratic and Federalist tradition which empowers citizens through the ability to call federal referenda as well as the public assembly system (Landsgemeinde) still surviving in two cantons, is also inspiring and evidently successful. The model of The United Nations is perhaps Humanity's greatest idea, but one could not call it an achievement yet, as it lacks real power and a clear mandate.

4. Ecology, Mobility & Tourism

Marx or Engels unfortunately did not write anything specific about Tourism, as Raul Bianchi has pointed out, probably because what we now recognise as mass tourism did not exist. If one is to look more closely however, Thomas Cook did start his services for temperance (pro-alcohol-abstinence) tourists using railways in 1841, the same year Marx completed his university dissertation on the differences between Democritus and Epicurus! And railways were of course also instrumental for the rapid global spread and growth of Capitalism.

Among tourism destinations, Kerala, with it's freely-elected, self-styled Marxist governance, it's peaceful coexistence of various religions, its emphasis on responsible tourism and its relatively high quality of living, is perhaps as close to paradise one can get, and an inspiring model of what progressive tourism can be. In most destinations however, it is evident that the Hospitality industry, by becoming a huge global industry, has moved far away from the meaningful, genuine, peer-to-peer, home-based hospitality of ancient times. An increasingly corporate-dominated hospitality and tourism sector gives the impression that there is something inherently imperialist, hierarchical and socially conservative about this industry. Racism and social racism are unfortunately evident in our sector, with the hardest, low-paid jobs given to immigrants, sometimes without papers, and ethnic minorities while exclusive "all-inclusive" resorts, well, exclude those they think they must. Couch-surfing, and to an extent, host-owned and run short-term-rentals, and community or cooperatively-owned/worker-run hotels and guesthouses, are attempts, sometimes romantic and impractical, other times quickly co-opted, to revive the ancient spirit. For some reason, which needs to be thoroughly investigated private rather than communal ownership is the rule in Tourism and Hospitality: although there are some municipal tourism enterprises, there are few tourism cooperatives, and fewer worker-owned (and recuperated) tourism businesses like Argentina's famous Hotel Bauen, a recent victim of the pandemic. The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives out of 451 member companies, lists just two in Tourism and Hospitality, Echo Adventure Cooperative in Groveland, California and Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Oregon. What precisely may be inhibiting the creation, survival and expansion of more worker-owned tourism companies? Does it have to do with lack of trust about the division of revenue and the provision of work and capital, or different needs and priorities of each partner within the broader capitalist framework? Does co-ownership undermine the hierarchy needed to reach a competitive quality standard? Does it undermine productivity and profits? Or is it undermined, in subtle and non-subtle ways, by the cunning system it aims to undermine? For example, by limiting cooperative access to adequate loans, subsidies, grants and business advice?

"To speak of ‘limits to growth’ under a capitalistic market economy is as meaningless as to speak of limits of warfare under a warrior society. The moral pieties, that are voiced today by many well-meaning environmentalists, are as naive as the moral pieties of multinationals are manipulative. Capitalism can no more be ‘persuaded’ to limit growth than a human being can be ‘persuaded’ to stop breathing. Attempts to ‘green’ capitalism, to make it ‘ecological’, are doomed by the very nature of the system as a system of endless growth."
Murray Bookchin, Remaking Society (1990)

On the demand side, we need to find practical ways, such as a great expansion of social tourism programmes (their usefulness was highlighted by the pandemic), within the current socio-economic constraints and tourism infrastructure, to offer genuine, quality, affordable hospitality to as many people as possible, not just to an enlightened, affluent elite, and at the same time offer quality, well-paid jobs to all tourism workers. This contradiction - a tourism affordable for all with well-paid tourism workers - would probably be solved if middlemen, monopolies, big bosses and exploiters of all sorts that dominate the tourism ecosystem, and who prevent tourism workers from enjoying the full product of their labour are gradually taken out of the equation and workers choose worker-owned tourism businesses for their holidays. It is a similar exploitative mechanism to the one that has children working over 70 hours per week in Bangladesh sweatshops to produce competitively priced sweaters sold in posh European districts at a huge profit margin. We must break the exploitative supply chain! How difficult is to book directly and visit a community-or worker-owned Ecolodge these days? It is far easier than 30 years ago. If only we could also reach it through public, eco-friendly transport and not be discriminated against through high prices, but, say, chosen according to what we could offer the local community in exchange for their hospitality! There are clearly dilemmas caused by the inherent contradictions of the current system, however we should dare dream of a distant future, a genuine Hospitality, based on mutually-beneficial, moneyless exchanges, and even better, try to set up such examples!

To paraphrase Marx's famous quote on philosophers: many academic and other experts have interpreted Tourism and how it has evolved "....the point, however, is to change it". Can it be changed? Yes. Can it be changed independently of other sectors, within the context of (and before the general replacement of) the dominant socio-economic system? Certainly! One hotel, tour, visit, destination at a time! Scientific knowledge and Technology are our allies. We, tourism professionals, employees and self-employed, should not be afraid of green technology and the new green means of production but at the same time we need to ensure that they will not be centrally controlled by powerful oligopolies, but as locally as possible by the people/workers/citizens/society, as well as to reduce their environmental impacts (yes, they do have such). For example, we should effectively encourage public and worker-owned electric aviation, trains and buses, rather than just protesting about air transport emissions, or, undemocratically, advocate less travel and staycations for the masses, or exclude them through pricing. We should improve and expand tourism planning, management and marketing so that Tourism benefits the many, rather than simply blasting Overtourism. We do not deny that overvisitation exists in specific locations, however it is usually the side-effect of poor management, marketing and infrastructure, and just one of many adverse effects of the current socioeconomic system - certainly not the worst! We need, on the one hand, to constantly identify and oppose fake solutions and ecocidal and anti-social aspects and actors of the global system, and on the other hand, to recognize and encourage progressive trends and best practices. We support fair trade and welcome genuinely free markets, where the self-employed, small family companies, voluntary associations and cooperatives may prosper, but oppose "free" markets monopolized by hierarchical, opaque, tax-evading, mega-corporations and one-sided, neoliberal international agreements. Progress in Tourism involves moving towards a Tourism that is affordable for all and is mainly owned/controlled by its employees and the local community.

During a quintuple crisis we do not have the luxury of lurking in the margins for the perfect conditions or for the stars to align, compromises are inevitable and also useful - they are the essence of any real, Direct Democracy. In fact the pandemic may have brought progressive ecological ideas back in fashion, and hopefully they will remain fashionable when it ends (it is not a given, people forget easily!). Even a relatively ecological, equitable, democratic Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, can quickly create more quality, meaningful & pleasant jobs where no other options exist and, as importantly, open hearts and minds, increase mobility between nations and within societies, re-distribute wealth peacefully, effectively and equitably between and within countries without further harming the planet. This is why we do not advocate less travel or more expensive travel for the privileged few! At the same time we also have to see through and expose the massive corporate greenwash that is currently taking place in the Tourism sector on the occasion of the Climate Crisis, some hollow post-pandemic 'building-back-better' pronouncements and various toothless 'Tourism Declares'-style pledges undersigned by exploitative tourism corporations. Tourism Multinationals are hiding between these token, innocuous acts of 'voluntary' - 'self-regulating' environmental compliance while carrying on exploiting people and destinations as usual. If there were serious laws, full transparency, fair taxation and a level-playing field none of these giants on clay feet would survive!

A sad secret is that the majority of tourism-related ecolabels (from accommodations to beaches) are in effect "pay and display" exercises which involve using the right terminology and ticking some boxes, and this goes especially for lite, entry-level ecolabels. You rarely hear of ecolabels being removed after an allegation, investigation or spot-check. Ecolabels whose standards have been approved by a "trusted 3rd party" are in theory better but the "trusted" 3rd party never has the capacity or interest to check whether a specific ecolabel has been rightly awarded to a specific business. As long as there is a financial incentive to approve ecolabels and applicants the more and the bigger (the hotel and the label) the better. The whole thing operates like a giant pyramid scheme with huge conflicts of interest and opaque accounting, and will eventually collapse whether profits become too big or too little, as pyramid schemes always do.

We consider Mobility, Leisure, Travel and Tourism as basic Human Rights and thus advocate a better, Tourism for All, as an indispensable tool and element of the transition to a better World where "All belongs to All"! It's a dynamic process with an uncertain outcome. Tourism can play a unique role in all of the above processes as it is a truly globalized industry. Genuine Ecolodges, eco-communities, worker and community-owned tourism initiatives and other progressive tourism infrastructure and services are laboratories for a new, fairer and happier World.

We take issue with the elitism of those who oppose "mass tourism" and go ballistic over Overtourism for the wrong reasons. Why deny the right to affordable, care-free holidays to the 99% in the name of vague notions, usually some conservative 'responsibility' or guilt? In most cases, their real worry is not to be disturbed by the Hoi Polloi, in the same way that their colonial forebears created vast game reserves bereft of people, a land-grabbing process that still goes on in the name of conservation but is also about real estate, authoritarianism and geopolitics. Overtourism reminds one of pseudo "overpopulation" theories.

EcoSocialists and Progressive Greens, as opposed to eco-fascist populationists and other pseudo-environmentalists, are not just concerned with the plight of Wildlife but also, and primarily, with the plight of Humans. They are not only concerned with obstacles to the migration of birds, but with the drownings of migrants in the Mediterranean. They do not only worry about if a resort is using solar electricity, but about whether it is stealing water, displacing communities, and treating employees as wage slaves. We realize the tremendous power and potential of the Tourism & Hospitality sectors to peacefully improve livelihoods around the world.

While the mainstreaming of Sustainable Tourism is welcome, we need to keep moving forward as some, otherwise ecocidal, corporations are eager to greenwash their exploitative, oligopolistic ways. Likeways, repressive regimes that persecute and murder journalists, dissidents, minorities, the indigenous - anyone they do not really like for any reason - sometimes are keen to develop pseudo-sustainable tourism, usually in a pharaonic manner. For most tourism multinationals Sustainable Tourism is more about generating and capturing new tourism markets, channels and revenue streams, rather than changing the existing ones. As the status quo first infiltrates and then hijacks our terms, structures, networks and initiatives, should we create new ones or stand our ground? Or both?

Beyond terminology, we certainly need a Tourism which includes the "System Change" part of the motto "System Change not Climate Change. That prioritizes individual and collective political action to combat inequality and injustice, protect human rights and labour rights, and promote direct, genuine and economic democracy, within the tourism and hospitality sectors but also in the host communities, destinations and the society as a whole, in collaboration with the broad global progressive movement for a genuine (ecological/direct/workplace/economic) Democracy.

And we should NEVER again sacrifice freedoms, individual or collective to any "great leader" or "distant goal". A non-violent path of system change based on direct democratic dialogue and consensus is the civilized and effective way, even if it appears very slow to the impatient or the super-radicals (beware, in many cases they are agent provocateurs). The sense of freedom, including the freedom to travel, relocate, live as you wish and where you wish, is as important as freedom itself. Unlike neoliberals, who really care only about the 'freedom' of megacorporations to exploit (destroy) everything and everyone, true libertarians care for all the freedoms of all the people - "All is for All! ". And we never forget that one's freedom stops where the other's freedom starts - I am not "free" to demand you to work on Sundays, so that I can do my shopping on my day off. I am not "free" to enter your home, or sacred ground without asking, so as to take a selfie. I am not "free" to exploit you in any way or form.

“The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th of June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?”

- Bertolt Brecht, 1953

So, who would and should be the agent of ecological & democratic change/progress in Tourism? We do not believe that a typical corporation fits this role (and this why we never accepted impersonal 'companies' as "Members" of the Ecoclub Community, but only real people, practitioners and academics. No self-respecting progressive network can have private companies and especially large corporations as members, only the ones defending the status quo, as many 'sustainable' initiatives actually do). We believe that the agents of change in Tourism should be the tourism workers/employees/professionals, the self-employed, and their independent unions, associations and networks! The support and participation of citizens, members of host communities, travellers and progressive tourism academia is also paramount. Change cannot be entrusted to impersonal corporations, their foundations and think-tanks, the conservative industry associations and investors that are using the Climate Crisis as a vehicle to greenwash and socialwash their interests. The last thing all these want, is a real system change, and as they also dominate States and mainstream political parties, thus these cannot do our work either. We have to build and test the alternative progressive structures ourselves, from below, in every sector of the society and the economy. Then one day, all oppressive and exploitative mechanisms and structures, public and private, instantly and peacefully would wither and our new, genuine democratic structures already in place, emerge. It sounds unlikely, yet there have been sudden velvet revolutions in the past, so who knows?

5. Questions & Doubts

As mentioned in the preamble, anyone who follows a theory without 'doubts, questions and objections' is not really enlightened and has not studied the theory's underlying assumptions or the results of the theory's (or past related theories) applications and experiments. A theory that cannot be proven, or one with results that are negative or inconclusive, remains a theory, it is nowhere near 'scientific' status.

We will be placing here questions and gradually incorporate their answers into new sections of this document. If you would like to suggest a question, or an answer, please contact us 

- Is business inherently hierarchic? Why are there so few worker-owned businesses in Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure? Even in, seemingly easy, small coffee shops.

- Can workers realistically rotate in all posts? What about differences in skills and knowledge? How do we address these issues?

- (How) can a Democratic (Worker-owned) economic structure or model survive under a general socioeconomic system that is neither democratic or ecological?

- Is money the ultimate problem? Can we ever go back to /attain a 'genuine/pure' Hospitality which is free of charge? Or at least a 'pay what you can', or 'a barter' (in exchange for services/goods) Hospitality?

- Are Home exchange models really progressive and inclusive? Can they be scaled up or are they reserved for a tiny enlightened western(ized) elite? 

- Is there something demeaning/servile about Hospitality and Leisure as a service? For example, if you are hosted in a friend's house you are expected to assist with some chores. You are equally expected to do some of the chores in short term rentals, self-service restaurants, and coop cafes/restaurants.

- Is a certified 'sustainable' corporately-socially-responsible multinational-owned 6-star resort in an autocratic state preferable to a non-certified one, as the lesser evil?

- Should green certification of businesses be optional and private or do we need green laws? Are environmental, labour and community exploitation still an option?

- What does the phrase "People and Planet above Profits" actually mean? Are profits even ethical?

 

6. Beyond Sustainable Tourism, towards Ecological Tourism

Ten whole years after Murray Bookchin's seminal Our Synthetic Environment (1962), Barbara Ward (later Baroness Ward...) supposedly coined the term "Sustainable Development" which was "institutionalized" in 1987 through the Bruntland Report. The academic and political discourse has moved a long way (forward, or back if we remember Marx's, Kropotkin's and early socialists' ecological tendencies) since to Social Ecology, Ecosocialism and Degrowth Communism. Despite the existence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, progressives and greens nowadays focus on Climate Justice and a Fair Transition rather than "Sustainable Development" which now sounds pro-growth, old-fashioned, and "business as usual".

In contrast, in Tourism, there is apparently a time lag and we seem to be stuck in the "Sustainable Tourism" era for over two decades. Most use it to denote the sustainable development of Tourism, the unfettered forever economic growth, a way to circumvent annoying green regulations and zoning. As an umbrella term, it sounds apolitical (= conservative) and could be easily incorporated in private and public, corporate and bureaucratic, documents, policies, brands and brochures without any serious policy changes: they just added "Sustainable" before the word Tourism! Even the World Tourism Organization, now UN Tourism, now uses a "sustainable tourism" byline, and is of course "committed", like every good multinational, to the UN SDGs. 

Being aware of the narcissism of small differences (which is eating the flesh of the Left and Greens around the world) we must engage with tourism sustainability proponents, and especially the more progressive professionals, self-employed, family-businesses, and micro-entrepreneurs of the Sustainable Tourism world so as to encourage them to move/push further. In fact we should be ready to engage with the Devil personified if it advances our goals, if and when it gives us a chance to turn the tables. (We also need to become stronger, and this also involves operating under the financial constraints of the current system so trying to be "saints" or ascetics in the end weakens ourselves and not the system. It is a delicate balancing act however and one should be aware of the risks of being absorbed and coopted). Our main priority of course is supporting pioneering, genuinely green, worker-controlled and community-owned eco travel providers. More broadly, we must dare imagine, and build, gradually, from the bottom up - yet as quickly as possible - a better socioeconomic system in and through Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure.

Aspiring to all three, unattained, goals of the French Revolution, Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, with a skeptical stance about the role of political parties as opposed to direct democracy, with an affinity for green, democratic and socialist causes, movements and forces, our intent in our quest to pinpoint the key elements of a better tourism & hospitality, or a better way of doing business in general, is to use both Science, more specifically the Science of Ecology, and relevant political and philosophical theories and traditions including Political Ecology, Social Ecology, Ecosocialism, Direct Democracy, Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Libertarian Socialism, Municipalism, Mutualism, Communalism and other permutations and combinations of the same more or less basic concepts.

As "no theory, no ready-made system, no book that has ever been written will save the world (Bakunin)" we must "cleave to no system", remain "true seekers" and be inclusive, choosing the best bits from each theory and tradition and in proportions adapted for local circumstances. And we must keep revising when these circumstances change, or the results of the theory are not as expected!

An Ecological Tourism Business should include most of the following key criteria in various degrees, depending on local circumstances:

• Political: It is owned, controlled and dominated by the employees, the self-employed, small-family businesses, cooperatives, municipal and public organizations. Offers fair wages and good working conditions. Respects Human Rights and Labour Rights. Democratic, Local, Decolonised, Worker Ownership & Economic Democracy. Workers/employees participate in organizational decision-making and have the right to join and form unions. Takes place with the full consent and participation of the local community in decision-making. 
   
• Environmental: Minimises its environmental impact, respects animal rights. It is based on renewable energy, recycling, upcycling, reusing, the circular economy. It supports a conservation model that fully respects the rights of indigenous people.
   
• Economic: Workers/employees receive living wages, enjoy good working conditions and receive full health & insurance coverage. Maximizes benefits to the local community. Equitable. Aims & helps eliminate poverty & injustice. Meets real local needs & aspirations. Inclusive, Accessible, Affordable, Non-discriminatory. Economically Democratic.
   
• Educational: Increases knowledge and intercultural understanding. Supports and participates in scientific research, cultural activities and heritage preservation. 

Workers' control, Workers' self-management, Employee-ownership, full community participation and direct democratic decision-making are in our view key ingredients for a new business model. When possible, decision-making has to be inclusive, direct democratic, with each worker and community member (citizen) having one vote in the company assembly/council or the public assembly/council, and an equal share of proceeds (or an equal vote on how proceeds, after wages and costs, are allocated). This is of course, more practical when all community members are tourism workers and vice versa, if there is a single community tourism provider and if all community members take turns as tourism workers, rotating in various positions. 'Face to face' democracy is more challenging if the community is large and economically diversified. In every case, it is important to avoid chasms between what tourism workers and other community members/citizens want. If direct participation of all workers-citizens is not possible at all times for key decisions, then there should at least be joint committees. Hierarchy, both in the tourism provider and in the community should be as flat as possible, and consensus should be prioritized over close, divisive votes. On the other hand lack of hierarchy and focus on consensus should not be taken to extremes so as to stifle or sabotage initiatives and decision-making, so a mediation committee could help when there are major disagreements. This is of course just a generic framework, each community and tourism community provider should adapt it to its specific circumstances and needs. On the other hand we should keep in mind workers' control is no panacea. There are examples of worker controlled companies in the US supporting far right causes. A worker-controlled or employee-owned company which produces munitions as a subcontractor for the military-industrial-complex is as bad as any.

Daring to imagine Utopia: when and where all of the above characteristics are present, we could in theory get a lot closer to the original imaginary Genuine Hospitality that involved no give and take. Of course, we would not be able to fully attain a Genuine Hospitality or a Tourism for All unless all other sectors are also "for all", and probably unless there is no longer a need for monetary transactions, or at least for monetary transactions based on private profit, as opposed to time bank style transactions. For this to happen we would need a deep systemic change in all sectors, a full, broad societal transformation and a generalised affluence. This is hard to imagine in the current state the world is but also in the context  of Civilisation as we know it for the past 10,000 years. It may never fully happen everywhere, but it can partly happen somewhere!

Our original idea for Ecoclub.com in the late 1990s was to create an international network of ecotourism professionals and academics who shared at least some of the above thoughts and aspirations, along with an international network of genuine Ecolodges that met most of these criteria, and that could operate as beacons/oases/labs that help spread progress, "pleasantly, prudently, honourably and justly", at the grassroots. This system we thought could operate through mutual aid and cooperation, with no financial incentives and without us hiring people "to exploit their surplus value", or having to exploit students with unpaid internships as so many others unfortunately do in the digital, tourism and non-profit sectors. Our original idea has not proved very practical, and beyond our own mistakes and shortcomings, it has also become clear that the average tourism professional and small hotel owner is far more conservative than we thought, while the advent of far more powerful, corporate social media platforms has created a situation where our message is lost in an endless cacophony of mostly bad imitations. Then came the Pandemic....We have certainly not given up, we keep adapting, changing, fine-tuning and now focus on the whole economy and society, not just tourism and hospitality. We accept that even small progress is better than no progress. In short we have become more 'practical' in terms of gaining strength and momentum without forgetting our original idea. We also hope that someone reading these lines may get some ideas and take the button further.

And in any case, progress in AI aside, there can be no one-size-fits-all blueprint, only local best practices to be endlessly adapted and adopted. Rather than stating the problems (all time classic being "Human Nature") in despair and pessimism, we must persistently, methodically and optimistically search for the solutions, always with an open mind focusing on our fellow humans.

7. Conclusion, so far

Each problem has more than one solution and this leads to the optimistic conclusion that there are more solutions than problems. "Progress", if there is such a concept and it applies to what is known as "Human Civilization", can take many forms and shapes, depending on the particular circumstances of a 'destination'. We are not luddites, we are in favour of science, reason and technological advances. We are not know-it-alls, or peddlers of the absolute truth, we are in favour of progressive alliances. While imagining a better future, we support practical changes and initiatives TODAY, even if "imperfect", particularly those decided and undertaken by workers/employees themselves, in a direct democratic fashion. Equally, we oppose regressive changes TODAY, such as, for example, the unlimited expansion of working hours in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, or the appropriation/privatization of everything (water, health, education, energy, land, nature and others). We are staunchly in favour of Human Rights and Labour Rights and do not believe these can be sacrificed for any lofty goal or circumvented in the quest to solve the Climate Crisis. While we certainly have to replace/fix/tweak the current system we should not move towards any form of Dictatorship, Centralism or Authoritarianism, not even a "temporary" one "on behalf" of the working class - this being the onerous black hole at the very heart of Marxist dogma (Socialism and Communism of course are far more than Marx& Engels, they existed before and after what they wrote in the 19th century. Equally Communism is a lot more than Soviet policies, trials and errors of the 1920s and 1930s, while the Soviet Union achieved a lot in the post war period). Can a "temporary" dictator that holds absolute power ever be trusted with abdicating? There would have to be serious checks and balances in place, including strong workers councils, an independent press, judiciary, army and more. At the same time we need to realize that we ARE living in an invisible dictatorship, of capital, money, banks, deep states, mega-corporations and plutocrats (an industrial-military-financial complex) and they are not keen on abdicating either while even the uncoopted parts of Left seem to have run out of steam and fresh ideas. That dictatorship of money and capital we need to peacefully, constructively but emphatically erode, even a tiny dent a day matters! While genuine ecological & progressive political parties and policies are welcome, we also need more worker-controlled progressive ecological companies in Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure and every other sector as well as more progressive ecological municipalities (Bookchin's Municipalism). We also need genuine free markets with a level playing field not dominated by oligopolies and real checks and balances (independent judiciary, unions, press) that can really guarantee ALL the rights of ALL people, and certainly the basic ones: food, health, education, housing, security, leisure while respecting the environment. A situation similar to the one envisioned in Charlie Chaplin's Final Speech in the "Great Dictator"!  And we need solidarity, cooperation and detente between all countries, we have to peacefully share this planet in a way suitable for all. Poverty and Injustice are violence, absolute poverty and absolute injustice lead to absolute violence. It is a very easy equation that we have been trained to ignore.

We also need a new unifying vision/theory/action asap, before we are perpetually divided and confined in a perpetual quarantine of cheap virtual entertainment, joblessness, meager neoliberal coupons, violence, pandemics, never-ending wars and fear of one another. Until such a new vision/movement emerges who knows from where (with fresh terms - the old ones probably carry too much baggage and historical errors), two peaceful, practical ways forward are to focus (a) on electing progressive mayors that may experiment with new community-based institutions, infrastructure and instruments and (b) on democratizing workplaces, one by one. This includes supporting (buying from) such democratic (worker/employee-owned) businesses/social enterprises/cooperatives in every sector - we can not have a real democracy without an economic democracy. It goes without saying that we should also resist the privatization of (what's left of) the so-called welfare state (public health, education, housing, public utilities) and of the commons (parks, protected areas, beaches, forests, wild places etc). 

If we are lucky, our civilization may avoid collapse due to war, climate or pandemics yet this will probably be an Ultramarathon. There is no perfect system and, most probably, there will never be. But there are better systems, and worse systems, in relation to the wellbeing of the polloi. These systems do not fall from the sky, they are the end results of a constant, endless struggle, competition and cooperation. The full humanization of Humanity (if it is ever to arrive - it could be that some cosmic accident or human-induced blunder puts an abrupt end) could take another 10,000 years (since the first agrarian societies emerged) or even another 4 million years (since Australopithecus afarensis walked upright!). However, we should remember (Lao-Tzu) that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" and (Cavafis) that "when you set out for Ithaca ask that your way be long...". The simple truth is that, apart from inertia, nothing really prevents us from taking the important first step by helping each other today and every day, from "living prudently and honourably and justly" and thus "living pleasantly", every single day. As there is no evidence of supernatural beings, deities and extraterrestrials that could come to our 'rescue', the survival and future progress of our species is up to each one of us. 

Beyond absolute truths, dogma and ideology, it is our mind, our Logic, Humanity's most powerful tool, that brought us here. It is likely it can take us somewhere further and better.

Eco without Logic is just echo!

Ecoclub.com, as a latter-day, virtual Garden of Epicurus, aims to bring together all who broadly share the above ideas so that we can discuss and improve them and then apply them. It was established in 1999 in Athens, the cradle of Direct Democracy, albeit a fragile, short-lived and imperfect one that also used slaves and excluded women from decision-making) to unite and support eco professionals around the world. Our growing global community includes leading eco practitioners, employees, consultants, academics and students. Ecological and democratic tourism examples, such as Ecoclub Ecolodges and Ecoclub Recommended businesses, pop-up every day, so we collectively try to reinforce them, promote and propagate them.

Our Logo: The colour (teal) is one of a few colours named after an animal (a duck, the common teal, whose eyes are surrounded by this colour). The smiling sun symbolizes a pragmatic, positive, non-violent, non-sectarian, non-dogmatic, philosophical attitude to life which combines the Epicurean "LATHE VIOSAS" ("ΛΑΘΕ ΒΙΩΣΑΣ" = get through life without drawing unwarranted attention), "ATARAXIA" (ΑΤΑΡΑΞΙΑ = tranquillity) with MUTUAL AID, the will to assist each other, solve real problems, "to get up again and start over", rise up every day, in a peaceful, daily revolution in all our individual and collective dealings; it also symbolizes solar power - renewable energy in literal and figurative terms and light - the light of science, enlightenment. 

This is a working document, frequently edited, corrected, updated and expanded. It inadvertently includes contradictions, errors and omissions and is not meant to be a blueprint. We do not really believe that blueprints are either possible or beneficial on the road to a better future. Ideologies, including those claiming to be 'scientific' are just a form of post-religion. Anyone who blindly follows or "believes" an ideology without having serious questions, doubts and objections is no more enlightened than the one who blindly follows a religion. Caveat Lector!

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Ancient Greek Writing Tablet, Red figure Kylix by Eucharides, 480 BCE (U. of Pennsylvania Museum)Ecoclub Reading List (Books, Essays, Articles):

• Atomism - Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE)
• Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle (350 BCE)
• Principal Doctrines - Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
• Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius (c 3rd century CE)
• Life of Diogenes - Diogenes Laertius (c. 3rd century CE)
• Suda Lexicon (10th century CE)
• Discourse on the Method -  René Descartes (1637)
• The Spirit of Law - Montesquieu (1748)
• Histoire Naturelle - Comte de Buffon (1749)
• Discourse on Inequality - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1755)
• The Code of Nature - Anonymous (Étienne-Gabriel Morelly?) (1755) Excerpts in English
• The Social Contract - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762)
• Philosophical Dictionary - Voltaire (1764)
• Property in Land, Everyone's Right - Thomas Spence (1775)
• Projet de communauté philosophe - Victor d'Hupay (1777)
• Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen - l'Assemblée nationale (1789)
• Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch - Imannuel Kant (1795)
• What is Property? - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1840)
• The Differences between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature - Karl Marx (1841)
• The Principles of Communism - Friedrich Engels (1847)
• The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1848)
• The Immorality of the State - Mikhail Bakunin (c. 1870)
• God and the State - Mikhail Bakunin (1871)
• L'Internationale -  Eugène Pottier (1871)
• Stateless Socialism: Anarchism - Mikhail Bakunin (187?)
• The Right to be Lazy - Paul Lafargue (1883)
• How we live and how we might live - William Moris (1884)
• The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State - Frederick Engels (1884)
• The Conquest of Bread - Peter Kropotkin (1892)
• Why I am a Communist - William Morris (1894)
• Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution - Peter Kropotkin (1902)
• Ithaca - C.P. Cavafy (1911)
• In Memory of the Commune - V.I. Lenin (1911)
• The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Government: Letter to the Workers of Western Europe - Peter Kropotkin (1919)
• Letter to Lenin - Peter Kropotkin (1920)
• Letters to the Congress (Lenin's Last Testament) - V.I. Lenin (1923)
• The World Revolution - Herman Gorter (1923)
• What is Mutualism? - Clarence Lee Swartz (1927)
• Platform of the Joint Opposition - Leon Trotsky (1927)
• Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution - Group of International Communists (1930)
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1932)
• Humanist Manifesto I (1933)
• The Revolution Betrayed - What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going? - Leon Trotsky (1936)
• Charlie Chaplin's Final Speech in "The Great Dictator" (1940)
• Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Joseph Schumpeter (1942)
• The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
• The Animal Farm - George Orwell (1945)
• Sociocracy, Democracy as it might be - Kees Boeke (1945)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights - UN (1948)
• Why Socialism? - Albert Einstein (1949)
• Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (1949)
• European Convention on Human Rights (1950)
• The Rebel - Albert Camus (1951)
• The Origins of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt (1951)
• The Motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (1952)
• Harrison Bergeron - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1961)
• Our Synthetic Environment - Murray Bookchin (1962)
• Ecology and Revolutionary Thought - Murray Bookchin (1964)
• Socialism and man in Cuba - Che Guevara (1965)
• The Revolution of Everyday Life - Raoul Vaneigem (1967)
• Listen Marxist - Murray Bookchin (1969)
• Post-Scarcity Anarchism - Murray Bookchin (1970)
• Imagine - John Lennon (1971) - Lyrics - Video - Original Demo
• The dialectic of Growth - Ernest Mandel (1971)
• Self-management in the struggle for Socialism - Michalis "Pablo" Raptis (1972)
• Adhere to the Principle “To Each According To His Work” - Deng Xiaoping (1978)
  
• We Can Develop A Market Economy Under Socialism - Deng Xiaoping (1979)
• Ecology and the Critique of Modern Society - Herbert Marcuse (1979)
• The Rising Tide of Insignificancy - Cornelius Castoriadis (1979-1996)
• Socialism, democracy and self-management: political essays - Michalis "Pablo" Raptis (1980)
• The Magnificent Seven - The Clash (1981) - Lyrics - Video
• The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy - Murray Bookchin (1982)
• Critique of Economic Reason - Andre Gorz (1983)
• Socialism and Ecology - Raymond Williams (1983) 
• The Abolition of Work and Other Essays - Bob Black (1986)
• What is Social Ecology? - Murray Bookchin (1986)
• Social Ecology versus Deep Ecology - Murray Bookchin (1987)
• What was Leninism? - Noam Chomsky (1989)
• Green Political Thought - Andrew Dobson (1990)
• Towards Humane, Democratic Socialism - Platform of the CPSU Central Committee (1990)
• The Democratic Worker-Owned Firm - David Ellerman (1990)
• Violence and Human Nature - Howard Zinn (1990)
• Remaking Society - Murray Bookchin (1990)
• The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought - Cornel West (1991)
• Radical Ecology: The Search for a Livable World - Carolyn Merchant (1992)
• Montreal Declaration, Towards a Humanist, Social Vision on Tourism - ISTO (1996)
• The Politics of Social Ecology, Libertarian Municipalism - Murray Bookchin (1997)
• Direct Action Manual - Uncompromising Nonviolent Resistance in Defense of Mother Earth - Earth First! (1997)
• The Fourth World War has begun - Subcomandante Marcos (1997)
• Democracy as a Universal Value - Amartya Sen (1999)
• Global Code of Ethics for Tourism - UNWTO (1999)
• Of Hospitality - Jacques Derrida (2000)
• Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature - John Bellamy Foster (2000)
• A Manifesto of Emancipation: Marx’s “Marginal Notes to the Programme of the German Workers’ Party” - Paresh Chattopadhyay (2000)
• Global Greens Charter (2001)
• An Ecosocialist Manifesto - Joel Kovel and Michael Löwy (2001)
• 10 Key Values - Green Party US (2001)
• Change the World Without Taking Power - John Holloway (2002)
• Bali Principles of Climate Justice - International Climate Justice Network (2002)
• Our Word is our Weapon - Subcomandante Marcos (2002)
• The Communalist Project - Murray Bookchin (2002)
• Creating a Life Together, Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities - Diana Leafe Christian (2003)
• Humanism and Its Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto III - American Humanist Association (2003)
• European Left Manifesto - European Left Party (2004)
• Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandonia - Zapatista Army of National Liberation (2005)
• Economic Democracy: A Grand Strategy for World Peace and Prosperity - J.W.Smith (2006)
• Ecoclub Interview with Arq. Hector Ceballos Lascurain, the 'Architect of Ecotourism' (2006)
• Toward a Communalist Approach - Murray Bookchin (2006)
• Democracy Isn't 'Western' - Amartya Sen (2006)
• The Ecological Communism of William Morris - Peter Critchley (2006)
• Bookchin Breaks with Anarchism - Janet Biehl (2007)
• Studies in Mutualist Political Economy - Kevin Carson (2007)
• Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective - Kevin Carson (2008)
• Yezhov: The Rise of Stalin's "iron Fist"- J. Arch Getty & Oleg V. Naumov (2008)
• Insurgencia y turismo: reflexiones sobre el impacto del turista politizado en Chiapas - Gabriela Coronado (2008)
• The Fight for Indigenous Rights in the Andes Today - Hugo Blanco (2008)
• Violence - Slavoj Zizek (2008)
• For All The People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America - John Curl (2009)
• Ecoclub Interview with Brian Tokar - Antonis Petropoulos (2009)
• Ecoclub Interview with Kevin Carson - Antonis Petropoulos (2010)
• The Distortion of Hospitality, from Philoxenia to Philochrematia and back - Antonis Petropoulos (2010)
• From Resistance to Revolution - Manifesto for a Fifth International (2010)
• The Rise of the Green Left - Derek Wall (2010)
• Why Marx Was Right - Terry Eagleton (2011)
• Tourism, Capitalism and Marxist Political Economy - Raul Bianchi (2011)
• Libertarian Anticapitalism - Charles Johnson (2011)
• Too many people? Population, Immigration and the Environmental Crisis - Ian Angus & Simon Butler (2011) | Book Review by Antonis Petropoulos
• Human Happiness & the Environment - Speech by José Mujica at the RIO +20 Summit (2012)
• Ecoclub Interview with Freya Higgins-Desbiolles - Antonis Petropoulos (2012)
• The Cambridge Declaration on [Animal] Consciousness - Philip Low (2012)
• How Democracy Works in Nature - Jason G Goldman / BBC Future (2012)
• How Wealth Reduces Compassion - Daisy Grewal (2012)
• The Hotel Bauen’s challenge to cannibalizing capitalism - Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2012)
• Tourism as a Green Fix to the Capitalism Crisis - Macia Blazquez Salom (2013)
• Talking to My Daughter About the Economy - Yanis Varoufakis (2014)
• Hope for Humanity - Speech by José Mujica at UNASUR (2014) Text - Video
• Some thoughts on the question of Community-owned Tourism - Antonis Petropoulos (2014)
• Interview: José Mujica, The Philosopher President of Uruguay - Martin McQuillan (2015)
• Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - UN (2015)
• An Ecomodernist Manifesto - Various Authors (2015)
• What kind of creatures are we? - Noam Chomsky (2015)
• Marxism and Ecology: Common Fonts of a Great Transition - John Bellamy Foster (2015)
• The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy - Lester Brown (2015)
• Ecology or Catastrophe, The Life of Murray Bookchin - Janet Biehl (2015)
• Why Elections are Bad for Democracy - David Van Reybrouck (2016)
• How Animals Vote to Make Group Decisions - Jan Hoole (2017)
• Prosperity without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow - Tim Jackson (2017)
• Xenos: Jacques Derrida on Hospitality - Peter Benson (2017)
• Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature, and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy - Kohei Sato (2017)
• Ears have walls, Walls have ears - Antonis Petropoulos (2017)
• Tourism and Anarchism - Dennis Tolkach (2017)
• Guidance Notes on the Cooperative Principles - International Cooperative Alliance (2017)
• Declaration - Progressive International (2018)
• Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs - Andy Beckett (2018)
• Why Ecosocialism? For A Red-Green Future - Michael Löwy (2018)
• Hospitality, A Timeless Measure of Who We Are? - Elena Isayev (2018)
• Value isn't Everything - John Bellamy Foster & Paul Burkett (2018)
• Workplace Democracy Implies Economic Democracy - Nicholas Vrousalis (2019)
• Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics - UNWTO (2019)
• Ecosocialism and/or Degrowth? - Michael Löwy (2020)
• CPUSA Party Program - Communist Party USA (2020)
• Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World - Slavoj Žižek (2020)
• A Left that Dares to Speak Its Name - 34 Untimely Interventions - Slavoj Žižek (2020)
• Pandemics, transformations and tourism: be careful what you wish for - C. Michael Hall, Daniel Scott, Stefan Gössling (2020)
• The Legacy of Murray Bookchin - Brian Morris (2020)
• Socialising tourism for social and ecological justice after COVID-19 - Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2020)
• The “war over tourism”: challenges to sustainable tourism in the tourism academy after COVID-19 - Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2020)
• Ecoclub Interview with Bob Hale, Co-Convenor, Global Greens - Antonis Petropoulos (2020)
• Corona, climate, chronic emergency: War communism in the twenty-first century - Andreas Malm (2020)
• Democratic Communism: Cape of Good Hope to New Kerala - Siddik Rabiyath (2020)
• Why we need a Decolonial Ecology, a conversation with Malcom Ferdinand (2020)
• Degrowth: An environmental ideology with good intentions, bad politics - Collin Chambers (2021)
• Germany: Towards a Socio-Ecological Market Society - Reinhard Olschanski (2021)
• Utopia Inc - Alexa Clay (2021)
• Agroecology is the Solution to World Hunger - Raj Patel (2021)
• We need a shorter week to free us from the tyranny of Work - Kyle Lewis & Will Stronge (2021)
• The importance of revolutionary optimism - JT Chapman (2021)
• Twilight Capitalism, Karl Marx and the Decay of the Profit System - Murray Smith, Jonah Butovsky, Josh Watterton (2021) 
• Fight the Fire: Green New Deals and Global Climate Jobs - Jonathan Neale (2021)
• Kropotkin's Ecology - Brian Morris (2021)
• Democratic Management A practical guide for managers and others - The Democracy at Work Institute (2021)
• The Routledge Handbook of Ecosocialism - Brownhill et al. (2021) 
• A critique of Degrowth - David Schwartzman (2022)
• For an Ecosocialist Degrowth - Michael Löwy, Bengi Akbulut, Sabrina Fernandes, Giorgos Kallis (2022)
• A Plan to Save the Planet - Tricontinental, Institute for Social Research (2022)
• The idea of primitive communism, as seductive as wrong - Manvir Singh (2022)
• We can build a new Economic Order - Jeremy Corbyn (2022)
• If you learn solidarity, you learn to listen - Aleida Guevara (2022)
• Things that Can and Cannot Be Said: The Dismantling of the World as We Know It - Arundhati Roy (2022)
• Asking questions with the Zapatistas - Reflections from Greece on our Civilizational Impasse - Theodoros Karyotis, Ioanna-Maria Maravelidi, 
  Yavor Tarinski (2022)
• Karl Marx and Ecology: An Interview with Michael Löwy - Revue L’Anticapitaliste n°142 (2023)
• ‘Where Danger Lies…’: The Communal Alternative in Venezuela (2023)
• Planned Degrowth: Ecosocialism and Sustainable Human Development - John Bellamy Foster (2023)
• Marxian Ecology, Dialectics, and the Hierarchy of Needs - John Bellamy Foster, Dan Swain and Monika Wozniak (2023)
• Peter Kropotkin and Social Ecology: Between Biology and Revolution - Jelena H. Pantel, Selva Varengo, Federico Venturini (2023)
• The Double Objective of Democratic Ecosocialism - Jason Hickel (2023)
• The Birth of Dialectics in Ancient Greece - Sean Ledwith (2023)
• ‘Monthly Review’ and the Environment - John Bellamy Foster and Batuhan Sarican (2023)
• Technofeudalism-What Killed Capitalism - Yanis Varoufakis (2023)
• Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto - Kohei Saito (2024)
• Polycrisis and the Metamorphosis of Tourism Capitalism - Raul Bianchi and Claudio Milano (2024)
• Forget Eco-Modernism - Kai Heron (2024)