Those in politics who spend much of their time railing about the dangers associated with anthropogenic climate change will often assert that the public largely shares their concerns about catastrophic climate shifts. You rarely hear from those oft-cited members of the public who are supposedly alarmed by climate change alarmism. Reason Magazine’s Kmele Foster, co-host of Fox Business Network’s The Independents, revealed why that is when he took to the People’s Climate March in New York City this weekend armed with a camera and a microphone.

Unsurprisingly, the People’s March more resembled a throwback anti-capitalism protest than it did a climate rally. When Foster asked random protesters what they wanted to see done to address climate change, those who did not merely say they wanted to see a “coming together” and a general raising of “awareness” usually promoted familiar policies that would achieve the deindustrialization of the first world originally espoused by the Soviets and their allies.

One protester said his “movement” was preparing to mount a “resistance” and lead an “actual revolution” that would lead to a “whole new society.” … Sounds familiar. What kind of new society, Foster pressed. A “socialist” one, the protester replied.

One relatively older rally attendee – most of the protesters Foster spoke with were silver-haired – insisted that hydraulic fracturing, a process which was proven safe again at the conclusion of a study funded by National Science Foundation and Duke University study, should be criminalized.

“Capitalism destroys the planet,” one large banner promoted by representatives with RevCom.us read. “We need revolution. Nothing less!”

“We live in a grotesque era where we have everything we want right now,” one protester told Foster, graciously packaging her entire movement up in one self-hating nutshell.

There appear to be two strains of protesters who attended the People’s March. Some cling desperately to the ideals of Marx and who repeat rhetoric and slogans which have largely remained unchanged since the Rutherford B. Hayes administration. These folks ironically consider themselves “progressives.” The other strain of protester who spoke with Foster seemed lost, misplaced, left behind in a world which no longer made much sense.

It is a condition as old as time; the aimless in search of personal meaning complement the ranks of a movement which promises personal purpose. The revolution is over, but the tragically committed revolutionaries persist.

What Foster uncovered in New York City was what so many on the right have known for years, but the public rarely sees. The modern climate alarmism movement has been hijacked by the remnants of those who still adhere to the defunct tenets of revolutionary Marxism. It is no wonder, then, that so few climate change devotees in government and the media go out of their way to make sure you hear from their grassroots supporters.

This post has been updated since its original publication.