The Mess, Delusion Folly and Hysteria

It should be obvious to most of us that we’re moving through an era of mass delusion, unbridled folly, and unrestrained hysteria, with the old facts and reason’s forgotten amidst the building #climatechaos of social and ecological breakdown. We are in this mess due to the embrace of the #dotcons, the spread of misinformation and the decline of rational discourse that has now reached alarming levels. Social media platforms, echo chambers, and the proliferation of fake news have created a fertile ground for delusion to thrive. Conspiracy theories abound, gaining traction despite being thoroughly debunked. From anti-vaccine movements to flat Earth theories, unscientific beliefs flourish in the absence of #KISS skepticism.

“We’re living in an age of mass delusion, unbridled folly, unrestrained hysteria. Facts & reason have slipped down the back of the sofa and been forgotten. Our descendants (should there be any) will look back on this time the way we look back on our ergot-infected ancestors who arrested chickens on suspicion of using dark magic and believed wombs could wander around women’s bodies.” https://kolektiva.social/deck/@Richard_Littler@mastodon.social

The rise of these delusions is not only a result of ignorance, rather the outcome of our embracing of #postmodern and #neoliberalism that has been pushed over us for the last 40 years. This has lead to distrust in institutions, polarization, and the commodification of attention, all contributing to an environment where sensationalism overshadows substance. The erosion of shared reality undermines the foundation of democratic society, making it difficult to address catastrophic challenges such as #climatechaos or basic things like public health crises, and social inequality.

History offers examples of mass hysteria and folly that parallel our current predicament. The ergot-induced hallucinations of the Middle Ages, led to bizarre and irrational behaviour, are strikingly similar to the modern phenomenon of mass delusion. During the Salem witch trials, fear and superstition overpowered reason, leading to the persecution of innocent people. Similarly, the belief in “wandering wombs” reflects how unscientific ideas can dominate medical understanding and treatment.

These historical episodes remind us that human societies are vulnerable to waves of irrationality. They illustrate how fear, ignorance, and social dynamics create paths where absurd beliefs take hold. Importantly, they also highlight paths that exacerbating or mitigating these delusions. In the past, religious and political leaders fueled hysteria for their gain, much like our #mainstreaming crew that exploit misinformation for power and profit.

The role of technology in amplifying delusion, our embraces of the #dotcons age has magnified the impact of mass delusion. Algorithms designed to maximize engagement prioritize sensational and polarizing content, creating echo chambers that reinforce #mainstreaming mess, to amplify misinformation. The speed and reach of social media allow falsehoods to spread rapidly, outpacing efforts to debunk them. This environment fosters a culture where emotional appeals and confirmation bias trump evidence and any attempt at rationality.

The consequences of mass delusion are far-reaching and catastrophic. In the realm of public health, vaccine misinformation has led to the resurgence of preventable diseases. Climate change denial hampers efforts to address one of the most pressing existential threats facing humanity. Political polarization, fueled by misinformation, erodes trust in basic democracy and undermines our hard won social stability.

On a more personal level, individuals caught in the web of delusion suffer from cognitive dissonance, living in a reality disconnected from the social facts. This not only affects their decision-making, but also strains relationships and fosters an environment of suspicion and hostility. The cumulative effect is a mess where fear and mistrust easily push over cooperation and mutual understanding.

Addressing the age of mass delusion requires a multifaceted approach. Education systems must prioritize critical thinking and media literacy, equipping people with the tools to discern facts from fictions. We need to build institutions and networks like the #OMN, particularly in media and technology, to take some responsibility for curbing the spread of misinformation and promoting more reliable and truthful sources of information. Encouraging open dialogue can help bridge divides and rebuild trust in shared reality. The #4opens are a path to this to not only challenging falsehoods but also providing compelling narratives that resonate with people’s values and emotions. By creating a social environment that rewards paths of truth and reasonableness, we can push back at the tide of delusion and hysteria.

Our age of delusion, folly, and hysteria mirrors historical periods of irrationality and superstition. The erosion of shared social norms and reasonableness poses obverse risks to public health, democracy, and social cohesion. The path forward is clear, use the #4opens and tools like the #OMN to reclaim our commitment to truth and foster meany societies that value evidence and critical thinking #KISS

How can we get people not to be prats about this path, ideas, please?

Reconnect with Our Social Roots

The path through technology, society, and environmental crises is a challenge that most people find difficult to find, let alone walk. This is why I have been building “sign posts” in a #hashtag story for the last 20 years, hashtags such as #geekproblem, #KISS, #4opens, and #deathcult etc. These are metaphors that highlight our technological thinking and represent issues and philosophies that make visible the paths of technological advancements and social cohesion. By using these “signs” and path, people can better understand the need to move from individualistic and technocentric working to collective and sustainable social practices.

The #geekproblem has the tendency of technologists and enthusiasts to focus excessively on technical solutions, neglecting the social and human aspects of these paths. Technologists struggle to comprehend the simplicity of #KISS path to overcome the tunnel vision where technical fixes are panaceas, side lining the importance of social dynamics and community engagement. The #4opens framework—open data, open source, open standards, and open process—offers a counterbalance by providing a structure that promotes transparency and collaboration. However, this does not inherently solve issues; it simply creates a space for people to engage and address problems collectively.

A significant barrier to overcoming the #geekproblem and embracing more holistic approaches is the pervasive culture of #deathcult worship. This is a metaphorical for the last 40 years of #neoliberalism, a term that describes the idolization of technological progress and capitalist efficiency at the expense of environmental sustainability and social well-being. Many people and groups, consciously or unconsciously, worship this path, prioritizing short-term gains and #fashionista “marvels” over sustainability and human connections.

The worship of this #deathcult is destructive because it undermines broader societal issues, it pushes the culture of #stupidindividualism with blinded competition, making it challenging to discuss and address anything outside the #mainstreaming agenda. This focus diverts attention from the collective action needed for #KISS tackling complex problems like #climatechaos and resulting social break down.

In this metaphor, composting represents the process of breaking down and re-evaluating our technological and social practices. It requires a willingness to let go of dysfunctional and harmful paradigms and to create fertile ground for new seeds or sustainable and humane approaches. This fertile soil, enriched by lessons learned and experiences gained, can nurture the sprigs of humanity through the on rushing era of #climatechaos.

To move beyond this destructive worship and technocentric mindset, we need to recognize and reject the blinded pushing of technology and efficiency as easy goals. This involves a critical examination of our values and the systems we support, using the #4opens to composting the piles of #techshit accumulated over the past decade’s symbolizes a necessary shift from merely accumulating technological advancements to reflecting on their impact and repurposing them for good.

Pickup your #OMN shovel and get to work:

Balance Individualism: Embrace collective action and community engagement. Recognize that social problems cannot be solved by technical solutions alone.
Promote the #4opens: Encourage transparency, collaboration, and openness in all endeavours. Use these principles to create spaces where people can engage and address issues together.
Critique the #Deathcult: Actively challenge the idolization of blinded technological progress and capitalist efficiency. Advocate for sustainable and socially responsible practices.
Compost and Rebuild: Reflect on past practices, learn from mistakes, and repurpose technology to support long-term sustainability and human well-being.
Nurture Humanity: Focus on building strong, resilient communities that can withstand and adapt to the challenges of the #climatechaos era.

The journey to overcoming the #geekproblem and moving away from #deathcult worship is needed, it’s past the time to pick up your shovels and make compost on this.

https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

The Path Beyond #Neoliberalism

With the onrushing impact of current climate and systemic crises, it becomes realistic to see that #neoliberalism, free-market orthodoxy and the pushing of minimal state intervention, is fundamentally an inadequate path that is ill-equipped to address #climatechaos and social challenges we face. This failure means a radical shift in perspective and approach is going to happen, with this we might need to shift our “common sense” to being something like “Revolutionary Realism.”

The current #mainstreaming of false promises of #Neoliberalism over the last 40 years has pushed the fundamentalist free market path as the engine of prosperity, wealth and efficiency. However, since the 2008 financial crisis, these promises have increasingly rung hollow. The empirical evidence, rising inequality, decreasing life expectancy, and environmental degradation, exposes the limitations and failures of this economic orthodoxy.

From our turn of the century Alt globalization movement, we have Mark Fisher’s concept of “capitalist realism”, which describes the pervasive belief that capitalism is the only viable economic system. This helps us to see that the invisible dogma has fostered a sense of fatalism, particularly on the left, where a resignation to critique and protest has replaced active efforts to envision and construct alternatives. This defeatism perpetuates the status quo, as it undermines belief in the possibility of systemic change.

There is a need for revolutionary paths in the imminent collapse of capitalism, contrary to the notion that capitalism is indestructible, we are witnessing its destabilization under the weight of its inherent contradictions and the accelerating climate mess. This realization should be pushing a shift from capitalist realism to revolutionary realism, to acknowledging the inevitability of capitalism’s decline and the necessity of preparing for what comes next.

The climate crisis is a catalyst, a primary driver of this transformation, from droughts affecting global trade to natural disasters disrupting economies, the environmental impacts of #climatechaos are compounding the systemic vulnerabilities. These disruptions necessitate a move towards a different way of organizing economic systems, this could be a controlled and planned economic system or more a balance of grassroots federated democracy.

State control of the economy is one path, historically, state intervention has proven effective in times of crisis, as seen during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. State control of the economy does not inherently mean totalitarianism; it can involve a balanced approach, with both top-down planning and bottom-up participation.

Effective planning is a path we might need to take, for managing resources and ensuring equitable distribution. This could involve simplifying economic processes, such as reducing the variety of consumer goods and localizing production to reduce dependency on international trade. Digital #4opens technology can enhance this planning by providing real-time #opendata and facilitating more responsive governance based on metadata as the signal to guide the economic and social flows.

Democratic Participation is a path to avoid the pitfalls of authoritarianism, any new system must incorporate democratic mechanisms, such as #OGB path of building the power of citizens’ assemblies, to legitimize state actions and ensure accountability. This grassroots participatory approach mitigates the risk of corruption and foster a sense of collective responsibility.

Practical steps for transition are free basics and maybe rationing if it’s needed. A key element of a new system would be the socialization of essential services, healthcare, housing, and food production, to ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met. Rationing of luxuries and non-essential goods can help to push some sustainability and equity on this mediation path.

Encouraging worker participation in decision-making using projects like the #OGB and perhaps supporting small businesses, as a social democratic path out of the current #mainstreaming, can humanize the economy and maintain a degree of market diversity to push the needed transition. This hybrid approach blends state control with “entrepreneurial” social freedom, making the path through the coming mess by balancing efficiency with innovation to shift our dogmatic illiberal common sense.

But fundamentally we need a cultural shift towards valuing sustainability, community, and collective well-being over the #stupidindividualism of hyper consumerism. This can be promoted through, empowering #DIY education, radical media (#indymediaback), and grassroots movements. There is a long history of this (#makinghistory) which we need to remind our selves about.

The transition from current #mainstreaming to a more sustainable and equitable system requires revolutionary realism, a pragmatic recognition of the imminent collapse of the current system and a proactive approach to growing its successor. This might involve embracing state control, and or fostering grassroots democratic participation, to push the cultural shift towards sustainability and collective well-being. Can we navigate the complexities of this transition to take the path to building a more resilient and just society is the most important question for our time?

Who’s responsible #Climatechaos?

The CEO of a large oil company made a statement about climate change, suggesting that consumers are to blame for the slow progress in addressing the issue. According to him, the companies have the technology to produce lower-carbon fuels, but consumers are unwilling to pay the premium for these greener alternatives. He argued that consumer choices, driven by price sensitivity, are hindering the adoption of cleaner energy solutions. Criticizing activists and society at large, claiming that their exclusion of the fossil fuel industry from the climate change dialogue is counterproductive. He believes that the industry has the potential to contribute significantly to climate solutions, but is being sidelined by activist-driven narratives.

In this market logic perspective, in the principles of the free market, corporations innovate and consumers drive demand, it’s up to consumers to “vote with their dollars” and choose sustainable products, thereby incentivizing companies to invest in and produce greener options.

However, this viewpoint has sparked a backlash and if you think about it as the problem of our current “common sense”, it is useful to look at this logic as akin to a drug lord blaming society for drug problems, highlighting the evil in the shifting responsibility from producers to consumers. The argument assumes that consumer choices alone is the driving force for systemic change, ignoring the influence and responsibility of corporations (capitalism) in driving fossil fuel dependency. Remember that a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions can be traced to a handful of companies. A 2017 study revealed that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988. This highlights the disproportionate impact that corporations have on the environment, underscoring the need for systemic change rather than the #fashernista pushed ideas of individual consumer “choice”.

Shifting the blame onto consumers, is diverting responsibility for climate change and the disasters’ role that fossil fuel companies play in this mess. This #mainstreaming narrative misleads by pushing that meaningful climate action is unattainable without consumer-driven solutions, a dangerous assertion in the social and environmental mess we face.

The #traditionalmedia portrays oil companies as rational actors operating within the bounds of market logic, while the activists are depicted as radical outliers. This agenda reinforces the status quo and diminishes the urgency of the need for change and challenge. In the political arena, climate change takes a backseat to concerns like the economy and healthcare. Even as climate awareness grows, it remains challenging to prioritize it in main streaming political discourse and policymaking.

This on the surface is simply “common sense” but lifting the lid, and you find a darker and conspiratorial story about the ascent of #neoliberalism and its pervasive influence. Neoliberalism, that this #CEO is speaking, is about advocating for the primacy of free markets, deregulation, and globalization, is deeply ingrained in modern political and economic thought. Originating from the ideas of thinkers such as Friedrich Hayek, this neoliberalism path has undergone a transformation and expansion, and now profoundly shaping policies and ideologies across the globe.

The term “neoliberal” was coined in 1938 and gained prominence with the publication of Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom in 1944. Hayek’s argument that individual self-interest is the only safeguard against tyranny found a receptive audience among the ultra-rich, who were portrayed as heroic figures resisting governmental overreach. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) influence extended to the US, where he established the Atlas Network, an umbrella organization that encompasses over 450 think tanks, including groups like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. These organizations, many of which operate as charities, do not disclose their donors, allowing them to exert opaque influence on shaping policy and public opinion.

Over the next three decades, a network of academics, journalists, and business people emerged, refining and promoting the ideology. Wealthy individuals and corporations funded lobby groups that presented themselves as impartial research institutes, further embedding neoliberal principles into the political mainstream. While initially having little impact on the social democratic postwar consensus, these ideas later inspired conservative political leaders like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who lead, neoliberalism’s major breakthrough in the 1970s, during the economic turmoil caused by the oil crisis and the decline of Keynesianism. Governments, seeking new economic models, turned to neoliberal solutions. As Milton Friedman, a prominent neoliberal economist, noted, “when the time came, we were ready … and we could step right in.” The resulting policies of tax cuts, weakening of trade unions, privatization and outsourcing of public services, and widespread market deregulation lead directly to the mess we are in today.

We are feeling the consequences of 40 years of the neoliberal era in the growing extreme economic disparities. In the United States, the wealthiest 1% own a third of the nation’s wealth. This shift to neoliberalism failed to deliver on its promise of robust economic growth, over the past 40 years, global growth has been slower compared to the postwar period. Instead, we have seen the rise of oligarchs who have reshaped capitalism to serve their interests, through mechanisms like offshore tax havens and political influence. Despite failure, the ideology remains a dominant force in shaping contemporary political and economic paths.

A green #mainstreaming look at a path out of this

Over the next 20 years, the oil and gas push the impact of #climatechaos that will kill millions of people and displace billions. The rise of this #deathcult illustrates the profound impact that a coordinated network of ideologically driven institutions and individuals can have on global policy and economic systems. We should learn from this, activists and grassroots movements are needed to push for more aggressive climate action, aspesherly when their efforts are met with resistance and dismissal. This resistance balances the fossil fuel industry’s substantial influence on politics and media. Fossil fuel, alongside most major corporations, spend millions on lobbying and advertising to protect their interests. The climate crisis demands urgent and radical action, to balance this pushing of mess, while individual choices play a small role, placing the burden solely on this as the oil CEO does is adding to the mess and a distraction from the path we need to take.

This post was inspired by the reviews of George Monbiot new book https://www.monbiot.com

#cop, a look at #mainstreaming mess

Slogan for #openweb: “Technology’s job is to hold the trust in place”

Definitions can be loose; making things overly rigid is a #Geekproblem that fosters conflict.
This is why the #4opens is about interpretation and judgment. The #Fediverse is a vibrant and active #openweb project, currently one of the healthiest “native” parts of this path.

Some “native” examples we are working on:

Principles for #OGB (Open Governance Body) Consensus and Engagement: Decisions are valid only if a wide range of people are involved, ensuring that the collective is the consensus. This prevents any single individual from overpowering the group. Power resides in trust groups, which likely use their influence positively. This #KISS is needed to maintain trust that ensures better outcomes.

Solving technology problems with trust and #4opens: These principles provide a flexible and resilient approach to technological challenges. To repeat, the key role of technology is to maintain trust. To do this, let’s focus on the social path, an example of this would be #PGA (People’s Global Action), that keeping this as a checkpoint helps block #mainstreaming attempts and maintain polite engagement.

Building and maintaining projects needs strong social defaults and hardcoding #4opens. Consistency, keep the #4opens principles at the forefront to prevent dilution during outreach. Building tech from the grassroots level, horizontally, avoids #mainstreaming “common sense” which always leads to burnout and friction. While outreach is essential, the core principles should not be compromised. Focus on community and consensus to ensure broad engagement to maintain trust and effective governance.

These guidelines provide a structured approach to developing and maintaining technology projects that are open, transparent, and community-driven. By emphasizing trust and the #4opens principles, we create a resilient and sustainable path for technological and social change and challenge that is so needed in the era of #climatechaos.

#NGI #NLnet #EU

A messy job, but with the right tools and approach, we can make progress

The neoliberal world-view is designed to replace trust with greed as the social motivator. Of course, all successful societies are based/built on trust, so neoliberalism is building a #deathcult. The current #climatechaos and social decay are simple to understand outcomes. If you’re wondering why this is useful, it’s an important part of a conversation and an obvious statement that many can agree with. When they do, ask them for solutions. When they inevitably come up with common sense neoliberal mainstream views, you can then gently dismiss these as #deathcult.

For the last 40 years, #neoliberalism and #postmodernism have shaped “common sense” in #mainstreaming society. This has led to behaviours that become hostile when challenged. These behaviours are especially entrenched in our communities, both online and offline, as we are building from activism it’s a challenge to mediate this behaviour to foster better outcomes.

Composting the mess requires empathy, patience, and strategic mediation. By creating activist spaces for dialogue, showcasing success stories, leveraging #4opens tools and principles, and managing defensive reactions effectively, we foster a culture of sustainability, justice, and collaboration.

In the tech, path, the world is so different and so BROKEN now that I have to re-watch and re-read to talk about #OMN stuff now. We forget how broken things have become over the last 40 years… we are all lost in the “common sense” muddle, it’s a mess.

From the #openweb: “A Silicon Valley VC-funded startup succeeds or fails based on how fast it can grow. At the start, it needs YOU to grow. It will put its best face forward and promise to be nice. Once it has grown enough, and it no longer needs you (see: network effects), you have little to no power to affect its behaviour. That’s when you get screwed. Maybe not all at once (see: slowly-boiling frogs) but eventually, sure enough.”

So exercise your power when you have it. At the start. By looking the other way.

Strategies for Effective Mediation

Building Empathy and Patience from the understanding that many people’s world-views have been shaped by decades of dominant #deathcult ideologies. Balance “spiky” confrontational and “fluffy” non-confrontational Language.
Gradual Introduction of Alternative Views: from the “fluffy” path soft prodding, introducing alternative perspectives gently. Use relatable examples and stories to illustrate points, promote small, manageable changes rather than radical shifts. Incremental changes are more likely to be accepted and adopted.
From the “spiky” prospective, it’s sometimes needed to break things to clear space, this activism is a core to this path. We do need space for people to express their views and explore new ideas.
Highlight success stories of grassroots and alternative projects that have achieved real life positive outcomes. Emphasize the visible benefits of these projects in terms of community well-being, environmental sustainability, and social justice.
Leveraging Tools and Principles: #4opens can be used to build tools for community engagement, to mobilize communities around principles of mutual aid, collaboration and shared knowledge.

In conclusion, composting the mess created by 40 years of #neoliberalism and #postmodernism requires empathy, patience, and strategic mediation. By creating activist spaces for dialogue, showcasing success stories, leveraging #4opens tools and principles, and managing defensive reactions effectively, we foster a culture of sustainability, justice, and collaboration. It’s a messy job, but with the right tools and approach, we can make progress. Now, let’s pick up our shovels and get to work.

https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

The Role of Academia in Climate Action

The balance is currently out, between more research to tell us what we already know about #climatechaos, the ecological overshoot and the urgent need to reduce material and energy consumption and actually doing something about this. Our challenge lies in shifting social norms, implementation and growing public engagement to enact these changes and most importantly with justice so they “stick”.

#Academia needs to pivot towards facilitating public education that enriches our capacity for radical political action. This means moving beyond traditional research roles and actively engaging with communities to spread awareness and understanding of the root causes of climate and ecological breakdown.

The root causes—colonialism, industrialism, capitalism, consumerism, individualism, anthropocentrism, and ecological blindness—are deeply interconnected, they all manifest in our “common sense” cultist worshipping of the #deathcult. Academia has the tools to help unpack these relationships and present them in ways that are accessible and actionable for the public, to give space for people to lift their heads and see the mess we are in.

Figuring out the best ways to reduce our ecological footprint needs to be a democratic process, with public deliberation and decision-making at its core. Academia can play a role in this by hosting forums and workshops that bring together stakeholders to discuss and deliberate on climate action. Providing evidence-based information and tools to help communities make informed decisions.
Acting as mediators to ensure that all voices, especially those of outside the #mainstreaming, are heard in these discussions.

Overcoming Procrastination and Implementing Solutions. There is a tendency within scientific and academic communities to justify results and avoid definitive action due to fear of unintended consequences. While caution is important, it should not lead to paralysis. We need to strike a balance between thoroughness and timeliness in walking paths through this mess.

Progressive Common Sense Solutions are straightforward and have been proposed repeatedly, yet they are stalled by bureaucratic inertia and political reluctance: Transitioning to renewable energy sources,
Reducing waste and promoting recycling and circular economies, implementing sustainable agricultural practices, promoting public transportation and reducing reliance on fossil-fuel-driven vehicles.

For our more liberal friends, the concept of working ‘with’ the planet emphasizes a harmonious relationship with our environment rather than exploiting it. This involves: Regenerative Practices: Shifting from extractive to regenerative practices that restore and enhance natural ecosystems.
Local Solutions: Focusing on local solutions that are tailored to specific environmental and cultural contexts. Resilience Building: Enhancing community resilience to environmental changes and shocks through adaptive strategies.

In conclusion, academia has a role to play, in balancing, more research on known issues with actually mobilizing knowledge and resources, facilitating education, encouraging public deliberation, and supporting the implementation of outside the current box “common-sense” solutions. The goal, we, need to foster a culture of activism to balance the inmate #fluffy side of institutions and working practices, it’s pastime to get off the fence and do something #KISS please.

The blindness of fluffy and spiky liberals

The last 40 years of social and environmental mismanagement have brought us the onrushing disaster of #climatechaos and social break down. This situation highlights a troubling reality about society. On one side, we have the powerful and fundamental evil hard right anti #mainstreaming entities responsible for the harm. On the other side, there’s a small movement of left anti manstreaming activists pushing for urgent and necessary change. Caught in the middle are the mainstreaming majority, the “common sense” liberals, who by default align with the #mainstreaming evil forces that side with the hard right to resist this push for needed change. This alignment is a #blocking obstacle to addressing the root causes of our environmental and social crisis.

What I’ve been doing through the #OMN (Open Media Network) the last 20 years is to support the left and targeting these middle-ground liberals, aiming to grow their perspective and support towards meaningful change. It’s notable that #XR (Extinction Rebellion) has also taken the fluffy side of this approach in recent years. Currently, liberals represent a #blocking force. Overcoming their resistance is essential to addressing the challenges posed by dogmatic power and achieving the transformative change our we and the wider ecological planet so desperately needs.

It’s a desperate time for people have to work past their prat’ish “common sense” to compost this mess.

The liberals criticising the #deathcult are worth listening to https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-11/joseph-stiglitz-the-road-to-freedom-neoliberalism-fascism/104210670

The stuff of disaster movies

On this blog, I am looking at the path of change challenge, with a focus on tech and activism leading to revolution. What meany people still do not understand is that this is the positive path to take. Though, as has been pointed out, “the issue is that time is running out for this path before global climate collapse — one bad feedback trigger cascading into the next. Ocean circulation and weather disturbances, massive forest fires and famine, ocean acidification, phytoplankton death, oxygen depletion. The stuff of disaster movies.”

In a world hurtling towards environmental catastrophe, for some people the spectre of revolution can be seen as pointless. The harsh reality is that the clock is ticking, and our time and focus to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change is fading, we do need to act, and we need tools to act with #OMN. The real nightmare begins with one feedback loop after another: Ocean Circulation Disruptions: Changes in ocean currents drastically alter global climate systems, leading to unprecedented weather disturbances. Massive Forest Fires: Temperatures rise, forest fires become more frequent and intense, releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide and further accelerating global warming. Famine: Altered weather patterns and prolonged droughts could devastate agriculture, leading to widespread food shortages and famine. Ocean Acidification: Increased CO2 levels lead to more acidic oceans, endangering marine life, especially those with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons. Phytoplankton Death: The death of these tiny but vital organisms would disrupt the marine food chain and significantly reduce oxygen production. Oxygen Depletion: With less oxygen being produced by phytoplankton, we face a future where breathable air is no longer guaranteed.

Without urgent change, we will likely survive this, but at what cost? Think Mad Max rather than liberal norms, there might be a billion survivors, but they won’t be happy people. Struggling to live in a world drastically different and much harsher than the one we know today. Necessities like food, water, and clean air become scarce, with societal structures collapsed under the pressure of survival. The thought of living through such a scenario is scary.

So on a positive note, this is a wake-up call for the urgent need for social change and immediate action to mediate climate change, we need to shift our focus from merely surviving to thriving by fostering resilience and sustainability, fundamentally shifting away from the current mess. We need tools to use to bring about this change #OMN

It should be obverse to most of us that we are past the stage for pushing only sustainable practices in daily life, from reducing waste to supporting eco-friendly businesses. The is likely still some effect from, policy changes and raising awareness to educate others about the dangers of climate collapse so they can take direct action now to build communities. One thing which will have some affect is building resilience by invest time and effect in community projects to help mediate the social paths through the impacts of climate change.

The fight against climate change is not only about preventing disaster; it’s about creating a path through the mess. We can still take action, as catastrophe unfolds. Understanding paths that actually matter, helps. You can support one path here https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

The Looming of Human Extinction: We Need A Call to Action

Why Human Extinction is Almost Certain, human survival is based on maintaining global temperatures within a certain threshold. Staying under 5°C of additional global warming to avoid catastrophic consequences. Peer-reviewed research says that the pace at which temperatures are rising has been underestimated due to greenhouse gas emissions driven by the current mess. We are now on a trajectory towards 7-13°C of additional heating, far exceeding the critical threshold of 5°C.

The Evidence is in the underestimation of Temperature Rise. Multiple peer-reviewed studies highlight that the rate of temperature increase has been significantly underestimated. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate models have not fully accounted for feedback loops and other accelerating factors.

Current emissions’ trajectory, despite crap international agreements and pledges, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to skyrocket. Coming over the next ten years are feedback loops, permafrost thawing, ice melt, and oceanic methane release. These feedback loops are not linear; they amplify the effects of greenhouse gas, leading to faster and more severe #climatechaos.

The consequence of 7-13°C Heating is simply ecosystem collapse, disrupting food chains and natural services. Human health and livelihoods are affected by heatwaves, severe weather events, and sea-level rise which will displace millions. Agricultural productivity will plummet, leading to widespread food shortages and famine, combined with increased disease transmission due to changing climates and habitat ranges for vectors.

Social and Political Unrest, resource scarcity will push conflicts and migration crises. Political instability and societal breakdowns will become more frequent as communities struggle to adapt. Why Transformation is Inevitable, leading to revolutionary change. The impending collapse of societal structures under environmental pressures necessitates revolutionary change. Transformation is not just desirable, but essential to steer the course towards any future.

Guiding the Transformation is a role for our grassroots movements, activism and community-driven initiatives that are crucial. The Open Media Network (#OMN) and other decentralized platforms provide tools for organizing and disseminating information for action. This can drive technological and social innovation, shifting investment to renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and resilient infrastructure. This will need social innovations, such as new governance models exemplified by the Open Governance Body (#OGB), which offers adaptive and participatory solutions.

More #mainstreaming policy and accountability has a role in holding our greedy classes and policymakers accountable for climate actions and emissions. International cooperation and enforcement of stringent climate policies needs to be prioritized.

Call to Action, human extinction due to #climatechaos is not a distant possibility but an imminent threat. We must act to mediate in any way we can the worst outcomes and guide on a progressive path the inevitable transformation. Join grassroots movements, support technological and social innovations, and demand accountability from those who cling to power. Together, we try to steer the course of history towards survival and flourishing rather than extinction.

#ClimateCollapse #Sustainability #EnvironmentalAction #Survival #FutureGenerations #ClimateChange #EcoAwareness #SaveOurPlanet #Climatechaos

Tension in contemporary politics

In the #liberal approach to politics and economic systems, there is an ambition to save the world, there is a lot of championing of progressive causes such as climate change mitigation, social justice, and human rights. The strategy to mediate the current mess involves leveraging the existing political and economic systems to achieve these goals, believing that reforms lead to significant improvements without changing the current structures.

We have “right” and “left” liberals, the right is blinded dogmatic worshippers of the #deathcult where the “left” uphold capitalist principles, regulated markets, private enterprise, and incremental reforms and are terrified of radical changes. At best, this creates a perception that they are trying to balance two inherently contradictory goals: preserving the status quo while also advocating for real progressive change.

Delusion or Pragmatism? Incremental change vs. radical overhaul, for anyone with any sense, this balancing act is delusional because capitalism’s drive for profit and growth stands in opposition to the environmental sustainability and social equity that liberals say they seek. They do argue, with some merit, that incremental change within the system is more pragmatic and achievable in the short term, and that it can lay the groundwork for more substantial transformations in the future. Looking at historical precedents, significant social changes, such as civil rights advancements, labour protections, and environmental regulations, have come through gradual reforms rather than abrupt revolutions.

What this website keeps asking is the liberal #mainstreaming path fit for purpose any more, after 40 years of worshipping the #deathcult, might we actually require radical changes? The onrushing #climatechaos and hard shifts to the right, makes actually questioning this path the new building #mainstreming. We do need to question whether the current political and economic paths address pressing global issues effectively or at all. If not, more radical solutions need to be considered.

Back to the fluffy liberals. While maintaining the strengths of liberal democracy – such as civil liberties and political freedoms – it is worthwhile exploring and experimenting with alternative economic models that prioritize ecological sustainability and social equity more explicitly. This is in part what the current #openweb reboot is about.

Constructive dialogue about this between our “left” liberals and more radical progressives needs to lead to real, innovative options that draw on the basic humanistic strengths. While the liberal approach is contradictory, in its fluffier “left” path it represents a pragmatic effort to navigate the complexities of modern society. Whether this approach is sufficient to address our global challenges is a question that deserves ongoing discussion and active critical examination. This is at the heart of the fluffy/spiky debate.

The Illusion of Realism in the era of the #deathcult

Our everyday, often dogmatic “common sense” in capitalism disregards the history of socio-economic material conditions, #classwar, #ecocide, debt, slavery, violence, and oppression. In this we are currently blinded by the myth that there is no alternative to the current crap and broken system, this willfull blindness blinds us and obscures the brutal realities on the edge of our “privileged” western lives. The narrative is one of inevitability, the market logic pushing us down the path of extinction is natural and unchangeable. So it becomes obverse that we need to change this “common sense”, how do we do this?

To understand why capitalism cannot be reformed into an ethical system, we need to delve into its history. Capitalism always thrives on exploitation and inequality, the wealth of the few is built on the backs of the many, over the last 40 years, after the decades of hard moving away from 20th century social democracy this has accelerated into view.

Class War: The division between the working class and the ruling class has always been stark, with the latter using their power to maintain and increase their wealth at the expense of the former. This struggle is not just economic, but also a political and social battle, deeply embedded in the fabric of our societies.

#Ecocide: Capitalism’s dogmatic pursuit of “profit” leads to environmental degradation, that grows at on an unprecedented scale with the pushing of #climatechaos. The logic of endless growth is incompatible with the finite resources of our planet. This drive for the illusion of total control leads to a legacy of destruction that we are now have to begin to reckon with.

Debt and Slavery: The modern economy is built on a foundation of debt, trapping people and nations in cycles of dependence and exploitation. This mirrors the historical use of slavery, where human lives were commodified and controlled to serve the interests of capital. While the forms of exploitation have changed, the underlying power dynamics remain the same. From colonial conquests to modern-day policing, violence is a tool of the capitalist system to suppress dissent and build control.

The liberal attempts to reform capitalism have failed because the system’s core is fundamentally unethical. Reforms serve to placate dissent without addressing the root inequality and exploitation. This band-aid approach leaves the structural issues intact, allowing them to fester and re-emerge in new forms we see today.

Economic Inequality: while making lives meaningful for meany people, wealth redistribution measures, such as progressive taxation or social welfare programs, do little to challenge the accumulation of capital by the worst people. When the cycle of boom and crash comes round, these measures are rolled back and undermined, highlighting the difficulty of enacting lasting change within the capitalist path.

Environmental Initiatives: Green capitalism, focus on sustainable business practices and eco-friendly products, fails to address the systemic drivers of environmental degradation. It results in greenwashing, where the appearance of sustainability masks ongoing ecological harm. It’s not working and is not going to work.

Social Reforms: While social justice movements have achieved victories, they face fierce resistance and are limited by the capitalist context in which they operate. True social change requires a fundamental shift in the distribution of power and resources #KISS

We are at a juncture, the choice is simple: continue down the path of capitalist “common sense” with its smoke and mirrors and building crises, or embark on a journey towards a different, equitable, and sustainable future. This shift requires collective action, imagination, and the courage to change and challenge entrenched holders of power. The revolutionary calls for a new global movement established outside the collapsing system, ready, willing, and able to build examples of this alternative, so people have options to move away from the current blinded “common sense”. In this change, we don’t actually have a choice.

#OMN #Revolution #NewFoundations #EndCapitalism #SustainableFuture #CollectiveOwnership #Degrowth #RadicalDemocracy #UniversalBasicServices #NonviolentChange #GlobalMovement #R21C #OGB

You can help make this happen https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

We need to be disturbed

We are in a mess with the building #climatecrisis due to our collective refusal to acknowledge reality, after 40 years of worshipping a real #deathcult The problem we now need to mediate is that I am not sure meany people know what reality is. What we’re experiencing now is a preview of what’s to come. It’s going to get far worse, and then it will keep on getting worse. Yet, the narrative pushed by the media and #mainstreaming politicians suggests the same consumerist delusions. That the climate and weather will simply shift to a different state, and we can adapt to it. This is not only lying – it’s dangerous.

To hide this building mess, the view is pushed that we can easily adapt to the ever-worsening #climatechaos, this is a fallacy. Adaptation becomes increasingly difficult as conditions deteriorate, especially when so much remains unknown. The failure to recognize that the situation will continually worsen isn’t due to a lack of language to express it – I’ve just articulated it plainly. No, this is a deliberate act of #gaslighting. It’s a wilful distortion of reality, designed to downplay the severity of the crisis and to reassure the public that adaptation will be straightforward and successful. The motivation of this deceit is clear, to avoid alarming the public into demanding urgent action. The tactic, to maintain business as usual, uphold the status quo, stifling the calls for systemic change.

We’re given the illusion of democracies where the public’s will prevails. However, at the same time, we’re told that things can only be this way. The priests of the #deathcult who benefit from the current failing paths, the wealthiest and powerful, asserts that the system is immutable and that they will not permit any change. This is in stark contrast to the lies we’re constantly fed about the will of the people, democracy, and freedom. The simple truth, those in power dictate what is best for us, to our detriment.

What is real, that the current governments (and governments in general) do not exist to serve or protect the public. They are captured and shaped by vested interests, representing the nastiest, most wealthy and powerful factions. The party system, present in every country, acts as a filter, it systematically excludes representatives of the people who are willing to challenge the interests of the #deathcult. The #mainstreaming paths are about maintaining business as usual while asserting that this status quo is in the best interest of the public.

The contradiction, governments preserve the status quo rather than protect or serve the people. In every electoral option, the powerful and wealthy win, while the public loses. This illusion of public representation is simply an illusion. Governments may concede to public demands on issues to prevent revolutionary change, but are very resistant to anything that alters the balance of wealth and power. They are resolute on this point: it will not change.

There are limited options outside this mess, in the #mainstreaming independents are vetted, anyone whose views clash with the intrenched interests will be smeared and discredited by the corporate and oligarch-owned media. This is why we’re facing a social, climate and ecological emergency. Humanity and our civilization are on a path toward global suicide because maintaining this suicidal path serves the interests of the #nastyfew. This is why they are rich and grasping to power, and why they will fight to kill and displace billions of us to keep things exactly as they are. It’s a #deathcult we need to fight, best to be honest about this.