how it ends
The most disturbing issue we’re going to face is not how the climate crisis is going to affect us, but the consequences of how we’re going to manage it.
Behind every war that describes our history is the tragic need of egotists to have power over people, and ownership of land and wealth (resources). It is military might along with its bedfellow, money, that secures those ambitions to extract resources, and assert influence. All the activities that we are encouraged to engage in as a society are there to make money to support that misguided quest for power; politics, investment, business, and consumerism, in tandem with education, entertainment, media, and advertising, are designed to generate funds and shape the attitudes of the populace to be compatible with the idea of securing resources for one’s own group to the detriment of another. And, of course, it is justified with that spurious belief in ‘might is right’. The ‘lucky’ half are given just enough of the spoils to serve as the foot-soldiers of the ruling elites, existing to satisfy their obscene need for greed, while the other half barely survive a life of misery. Anyone who suggests that the global system is more complex than that is just trying to distract us from the reality.
War is unnatural, and undoubtedly the worst thing we do; legalised murder for self interest. Yet instead of being ashamed of such an activity and moved to seek any other alternative, we are so brainwashed that we not only celebrate it, but commend those who actually engage in the ‘theatre’ of war.
This same conditioning extends to our understanding of democracy, that supposed bastion of liberty, a process we believe in for its fairness, when it’s really just another tool to make us compliant to the primitive and destructive agenda of this system.
Democracy is just voting for self interest – ‘what’s in it for me’. It thrives on popularism; reflecting that which appeals to the majority, without any need to assess the value or integrity of the limited opinions of that majority. It is a great scam, because the politicians say they are representing us, yet our limited views are only a result of the beliefs and indoctrination that society imposes upon us in the first place.
With self interest being the only concern of the individual and the system at large, and war being the default means of addressing problems, when it comes to the climate crisis, the prognosis is very frightening.
And this is now!
Two very real consequences of our overconsumption and the resulting climate change are scarcity of resources and mass migration. Taking the latter, with structures already in place, such as nationhood, border controls, visas, etc., and detrimental terms like illegal immigration and economic migrants, the privileged already view immigrants negatively. So when mass migration becomes a reality due to climate change, the rich – who caused the crisis in the first place – are not going to accommodate those refugees and displaced people with open arms, they’re going to demonise them with arms in hand. More extreme right-wing bigots will peddle nationalistic rhetoric to stoke up protectionist populist votes, describing those desperate and poor victims as the new enemy. It is the preserving of their privileged position that the wealthy nations will fight for, not to preserve the welfare of the people. And, as resources become scarcer, those rich nations will ultimately fight each other with the full might of their armoury, all with devastating effectiveness.
The climate crisis is not the greatest threat we face. The end of humanity is not going to be because of climate change, but because we will exterminate ourselves with weapons so destructive that what will be left will not resemble in any way the remarkable planet we now inhabit. It’s going to be a brutal and bloody end, and nobody is going to win.
That is the system we have. If we want change, we need to look outside this primitive, selfish, and misguided system, and start listening to information and reason. They are our only hope for survival. But change, by definition, will necessitate a reassessment of our values and understanding of what life looks like.
The obvious fact is that the ruling elite will do everything they can to maintain their privileges and power, exploiting us to sacrifice our lives and those of future generations to ensure their obscene short-term greed.
We all need to be ready to adapt to an alternative way of living if the human race is going to survive in a positive and peaceful way. Fortunately it’s not impossible, once we realise that we’ve all been manipulated into thinking of life in terms of self indulgence, over consumption, and a lack of regard for anyone else or the future. It’s not our fault that we’ve turned out as we have, and it’s not too late to take advantage of our full potential which will allow us to think and care for the future, and respond appropriately to the planet, without which we cannot survive. War and technology are not the answers.
May 2024