My brother pointed out to me that in last week’s episode of his podcast, Ezra Klein namechecked solarpunk in a blink-and-you-miss it mention:
“One common argument I heard on the left - Lina Khan made this point actually in our pages - was that this proved our whole paradigm of AI development was wrong. That we were seeing that we did not need all this compute, we did not need these giant companies, that this was showing a way towards a decentralized, almost solarpunk version of AI development, and in a sense the American system and imagination had been captured by, like, these three big companies.”
The context isn’t as interesting as the quote. He was talking about different approaches to developing strong AI. It’s only interesting because he used the term “solarpunk” in such a casual manner in a discussion that wasn’t about solarpunk or even fiction. It reveals that it’s in his vocabulary, and that he’s ingesting this in his media diet. For those who don’t know Klein, he’s a very popular writer and journalist whose politics roughly resemble a quieter version of Elizabeth Warren’s.
After hearing this, the thought occurred to me that what I’m witnessing is an idea spreading from a fringe group into a mainstream concept. Eventually, if it gets big enough with mainstream progressive liberals like Klein, I bet it’ll one day get discovered and made into a boogieman on the right.
I wonder how long that will take? When is the first time I’ll hear a clip of like, I dunno, Ben Shapiro shouting, ‘Have you heard about this new thing they call SOLARPUNK??? It’s crazy! It’s like… imagine a cyberpunk dystopia: but they want THAT with like, vines and TRANS PEOPLE everywhere! Some ruthless Soviet dictatorship but without even the cool cars or wonderful corporate innovation! It’s just TRAINS and GARDENS instead! Ulgh!! [eyes bugging out for the thumbnail image]’
That might be interesting. I think that this idea has a viral quality, so perhaps I can look forward to that in 2025 or 2026. What do you folks think?
@andrewrgross A friend recently declared they were no longer interested in dystopian fiction, and asked for utopian novel recommendations.
Apocalyptic fiction is interesting when we are trying to grasp the dangers of the future, but once we are in it, our minds flip. We now want a vision to work towards a better world.
At least that is my hope, we stop worrying and start doing.
I think so too. I am seeing a similar effect in a lot of places.
AOC is also namedropping Solarpunk. I think it is quite well known as a term with younger left-leaning people, but it rarely goes beyond a “green new deal” kind of understanding. But it isn’t really bad if people get to know about it that way.
I remember that. It was during a Q&A session in the fall of 2023.
I think we’re seeing an idea – or set of ideas or facet of an idea – spreading as a meme in the classical sense. For those unaware, Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” to describe a transmissible unit of culture: an idea that takes root and gets received, repeated, imitated, and spread.
Solarpunk is a big bucket (a genre of fiction, aesthetic, style of personal fashion, lifestyle, philosophy, etc.) but I think it really is a meme spreading quickly. Fundamentally, it’s a collection of beliefs that we can live in a radically different, less commodified world of respect for nature and community. And I think people are desperate to discover that such a concept exists and has a descriptor.
What’s also interesting, for those who don’t follow him, is that Ezra Klein self describes as an obsessively self-aware overthinker. He is meticulous in the construction of his thoughts and in the precision of his language. I would go so far as to say that he probably realized with full awareness that his use of that word was likely going to introduce thousands of people to a new word, and/or unconsciously inform people who’d heard the word that it was a respectable term to use in political discussion. I think that bodes well for the direction of our culture as a whole.
I hope so. Although I’m not sure whether it is solarpunk or some other term under which the ideas will be popularized (eg. degrowth, eco-socialism, minor paradise, doughnut economy, ecological civilization). But I find it likely that solarpunk will be packaged together with communism, as communism, by the right. And demonized.
Hey, don’t threaten me with a good time ;)
I think that would honestly be great. One of the biggest problems I’ve seen with Democratic messaging in the last 5 years is that they repeat terms and insist that we should champion them - such as democracy - or revile them - such as authoritarianism - without recognizing an obligation to communicate what those words mean to our everyday lives. I want christian nationalists to be put in that situation:
‘You don’t understand! Solarpunk is communism!!!’
‘Well… I heard they want to give everyone food and shelter and education and healthcare for free. And build parks.’
‘Okay, yeah, but didn’t you hear me? It’s COMMUNISM!!’
‘Wait… is that what communism is? Giving me food and shelter for free?’
‘No! I mean, supposedly! But it isn’t! Look, you need to stop saying that you’d like food and shelter to be free and just agree to fear this word because I told you to! Just stop thinking fondly about living outside of capitalism! I mean it!’
I think you’re reading into it too much.
People have called things cyberpunk or referred to the term for decades, it still never took off as this big mainstream concept that everyone knows about. A bit of name recognition doesn’t mean much.
The genre name might not be common knowledge (and I’m not sure that’s the case) but cyberpunk aesthetics and themes and plot points have infiltrated so much of modern science fiction that cyberpunk communities frequently have trouble drawing a line around genre works vs mainstream scifi. And this is after companies and brand marketing “picked it too early” and made it a joke in the 90s. It just sort of kept going quietly, looked more and more prescient, and in the end, it had suffused through so many imaginations and works that it kind of was the mainstream.
I’m not sure the same thing will happen with solarpunk but given the way cyberpunk seems to have acclimatized us to our current distopia, I sort of hope solarpunk can do something similar. Maybe wear the rough edges and propaganda fears off building a society that actually looks out for its people and the habitats they live in.
To second what @JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net just said, to say that cyberpunk didn’t take off as a mainstream concept is bewildering when the richest man on the planet and and emergent fascist leader overtly applies cyberpunk concepts to his entire program of world domination.
It’s like saying that the social media or school shooters never really took off as mainstream concepts. Like… I don’t know how it can get much bigger than this, dawg.
