The current attempt to mobilize to revolution the “masses most exposed to sea level rise” and therefore with “nothing to lose” echoes the old promise of Marxist revolutions to free the oppressed masses from the “robbery” of surplus value by industry. The enormous human toll exacted throughout history by anti-profit movements illustrates the dangers of centralized control of property, production and profiteering. While no economic or political system can coerce virtue or productivity, a system that facilitates self-survival and discovery of personal potential can alleviate the misery of those trapped in the extremes of both poverty and excess.