Inspiration Isn’t Enough to Turn the Corner on Climate Failure and Fantasies.
Are we ready to have “The Talk” with our families?
Listen to a reading of this article
In just 2 days this post on LinkedIn had nearly 70,000 views. People seem inspired by this brave young woman, Alizée.
So what? Didn't Greta inspire us too? And yet, look at where we are? Well on the path towards a horrific climate collapse.
Will this time be any different?
Are We Ready To Reject Failure?
Are we ready to reject the failed approaches of the past that serve only the corporate elite and billionaires?
Are we ready to reject the fairytale that we can somehow maintain the same wasteful and destructive lifestyles as long as we power it with renewables? Let’s be perfectly clear - this is a fantasy that could take decades or longer, (time that we don’t have), and it isn’t without its own environmentally devastating consequences. The raw materials needed for this ill-conceived endeavour will cause devastating ecosystem-destroying deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water toxification. Trading one harm for another harm is not a solution. (remember paper or plastic?)
Are we ready to reject the mainstream propaganda that seduces us into believing the baseless myth that capitalism (the source of our predicament) can magically usher in a new green era of wealth and prosperity, while cynical billionaires build escape bunkers for what’s to come?
Are we ready to reject the countless feel good capitalist stories that distract us from the heavy lifting? Stories like how electric vehicles, being sold to a tiny fraction of the 1%, sold into a vast sea of CO2 spewing vehicles, will somehow meaningfully improve our planet’s ecosystems. This is little more than capitalism celebrating itself.
Are we ready to reject, once and for all, the promise that free market capitalism provides the best path we have to avoid living on a planet with rapidly failing ecosystems? This is a factually baseless promise that lives in the minds of the corporate elite and billionaires, and it is perhaps the “Most Dangerous Piece of Fiction Ever Created.”
Are We Ready For “The Talk”?
Are we ready to let go of the fantasies and accept the mistakes of the past? Are we ready to come to terms with the fact that our current approach is a terrible gamble at the one chance we have to heal the Earth's ecosystems - without which, even if we can survive, it will be a brutal and frightening existence. The incredible Umair Haque has spelled it out in many of his recent articles.
Are we ready to step up? Are we ready to make tough choices? Are we ready to sit down with our families and have “The Talk” about how the fight for our climate will mean drastic changes to how we live, BUT, at least we’ll be doing everything we can to protect our future, AND, it just might turn out to be a better life?
Are we ready to accept that we only have 2 choices left and neither of them involves relying on the predatory investment industry with its magical ESG, or greenwashing corporations, both of which, have no track record of reigning in carbon emissions in any meaningful way or reversing any of our many faltering ecosystems?
At this point, after everything we’ve seen, and after all the broken promises from government and business, it should be perfectly clear that our climate emergency will need to be solved by “the people”.
Will we let Alizée’s bravery at Roland Garros just be another blip on our screen, OR, will we rise up and unite to protect the planet? Will we finally see what’s at stake and join the fight? Will we finally say, “No More Half Measures” and go all-in!
Or will we let this last chance slip away?
No! We can’t! It’s unthinkable!
As a good friend of mine says…enough is enough…
MAYDAY!!
Thanks for reading!
Brad
June 2022
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Thanks Brad - keep challenging us and helping us with different perspectives - that's the only way out of the brain washed box that most of society is in.