There have been seven epochs since the dinosaurs died out around 65m years ago. The last time we passed a geological boundary, entering the Holocene around 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, we were an insignificant species, just one of a couple of hominids struggling to survive in a world where so many of our cousins, like Homo erectus, had failed to make it.
Now our effect on the climate and our fellow species is having a global impact. "The fossil record will reveal a massive loss of plant and animal species, and also the scale of invasive species – how we've distributed animals and plants across the globe," [Dr Jan] Zalasiewicz [University of Leicester] says.
Human civilisation is now the dominant force on Earth. Civilisation is, unfortunately, practically out of control. Those who could bring it under control are excluded from all power. As a species we are facing three great crises, economic, military and ecological, which are systemic, linked and often reinforce each other. Socialism, as far as I'm concerned, is workers power through democratic control. If we want to see much more of the Anthropocene we need socialism, urgently. We are tumbling to Earth. Pull the chord!
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