Thread by @EthicalRenewal

“Anyone would think we had some sort of death wish.”
Me and you?
“No. Humanity. The human race.”
Perhaps we do.
“We’re waging chemical warfare against our own species.”
It’s a kind of madness, isn’t it?

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Our self-harming chemical war:
– Particulates spewed out from our use of wood, diesel, coal and other fuels, particulates which we then breath
– The pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers we pour over pastures and farmlands, which then permeate our food chain

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– The microplastics we discharge into water sources, ending up in the water we drink
– The mass consumption of sugar, trans fats, salt
– The use of barbiturates, opioids, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol & other pain-killers, tranquilisers & stimulants

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– The moisturisers, make-up, deodorants and sun-blocks we smear all over our skin
– The ammonia, phosphorus, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds and bleach we use to clean our workplaces and homes

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These are repeated, multiple acts of species self-harm.
“We’re hardly doing ourselves any favours…”
I’m surprised we’re still walking.

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And that’s just where it begins… because we’re also using weapons of mass destruction against the environment on which we depend. Weapons like these:
– Soil depletion
– Water exhaustion
– Desertification
– Deforestation
– Greenhouse gas production

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– The mass production of domestic and industrial waste
– Plastics discarded into oceans and rivers
– Herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers disrupting ecosystems
– The decimation of insects

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– The extinction, or near-extinction, of countless other lifeforms
– Oil spills
– Mining waste
– Urban and farming sprawl

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And, as if that’s not enough…
“There’s more?”
There’s the kill shot: the stockpile of nuclear weapons we’re holding in reserve for our moment of environmental Armageddon.

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“F*** me – it’s looking grim.”
Sometimes it feels that way.
“I work hard to be positive. It’s getting more and more difficult.”
I’m sorry you feel that way.
“I want to do something about it.”
About remaining more positive?
“No. About the mess we’re in.”

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But you are. You have been. Isn’t that what these conversations are all about? We’ve got to find the root cause of our war against our species and the biological world before we can begin to put things right.
“But we’ve found that root cause, haven’t we?”
I think we have.

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“Ideas. Malign, viral ideas.”
Yes, ideas.
A pandemic of harmful ideas has infected our society.

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Ideas like these:
– The biosphere can survive anything we throw at it
– Let’s keep consuming more and more – there’s no reason not to
– Waste doesn’t matter
– Technology will save us

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Ideas like these:
– Don’t mess with the economy – it’s bad for business
– Don’t mess with business – it’s bad for the economy
– Nation states are more important than people
– Corporations give a f***
– We’ve got a free media and a free press – you better believe it

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And these:
– Voting occasionally means we live in a working democracy
– The world’s like it is because that’s how it’s got to be
– Little folk can’t change things; we’re just pawns in the big folk’s games

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“But haven’t we found ways to resist those ideas?”
I hope so. Thought vaccines like a shield of values, a wall of truth.

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Antivirals, too – like the Socrates Bomb, Chaplin’s Stiletto, Kate’s Garrotte, the Truth Grenade… They take the harmful, self-destructive ideas and question them, laugh at them, assess them, challenge them…

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“But? I can sense there’s a ‘but’…”
But we can go one better.
We can make those ideas irrelevant.

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You see, sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to step around it. It’s a different way of ‘turning the other cheek’. Perhaps it’s what the original saying meant.
You ignore the assault.

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You step outside the fray. You go beyond the bad ideas. You outshine them. You leave them behind.
You offer something better.
I call it The Alternatives Ambush.

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The ideas overwhelming our society? The socially disfiguring affirmations of greed and selfishness and the lust for power? They’re not great ideas. They’re not even clever.

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There are better ideas on offer–like these
–We can coexist with a thriving biosphere. It’s not too late
–Consumerism doesn’t make us happy–let’s go for sufficiency
–Waste is stupid. Let’s stop doing it
–Why wait for technological miracles? There’s stuff we can fix right now
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Ideas like these:
– Let’s mess with the economy to make it fair
– Let’s mess with businesses to make them ethical
– People are more important than nations
– Corporations don’t give a f***. Let’s make them give a f***

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Ideas like these:
– It’s time to free our media from the clutches of millionaires, corporations and the state
– Let’s fix our democracies so they can’t be bribed and manipulated by the powerful and the wealthy

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And these:
– Our world can be happier and fairer – and we’ve got the genius and capability to achieve that
– Changing society is a numbers game… Add yourself to the numbers

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“And how about, ‘Isn’t it time to be kind to each other?’”
Yes – perfect. Kindness is the foundation stone of all life-affirming philosophies – and it’s at the heart of the eco-sustaining alternatives we’re discussing here.

Be kind.

It kinda makes sense.

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So, for those of us struggling to stay positive, there’s good news:
–Humans are geniuses of creativity & imagination
–We’re amazing at problem-solving
–There are countless ideas 1000 times better than the slack-jawed, eco-destructive narratives which currently rule the roost
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Alternatives are there for the taking – creative and compassionate people keep dreaming them up…
Wonderful ideas which make the malign concepts of the 21st Century mind plague look outdated and stale.
It’s time to run with those new and better ideas. It’s time to change.

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So, for those of us struggling to stay positive, there’s good news:
–Humans are geniuses of creativity & imagination
–We’re amazing at problem-solving
–There are countless ideas 1000 times better than the slack-jawed, eco-destructive narratives which currently rule the roost
27/-

Alternatives are there for the taking – creative and compassionate people keep dreaming them up…
Wonderful ideas which make the malign concepts of the 21st Century mind plague look outdated and stale.
It’s time to run with those new and better ideas. It’s time to change.

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‘What would you do that’s so different?’ objectors cry out – as if that’s some sort of challenge – as if there’s no possible or conceivable substitute for the social and environmental clusterf*** we’ve managed to contrive.

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Well, here, for a start:
– A Green New Deal
– A Universal Basic Income
– The decentralisation of power
– The decentralisation of wealth
– Universal Basic Services

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And here:
– The democratisation of our democracies
– Re-building for resilience
– Re-engineering for sustainability
– Prioritising fulfilment and happiness over profit and growth
– Encouraging cooperation instead of competition

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And:
– Educating for critical thinking, creativity and compassion
– Deprioritising possessions
– Re-prioritising people and communities
– Educating for sharing… because there’s enough to go round

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These are powerful and feasible alternatives to the mess we now inhabit – and there are plenty more like them.

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Can’t do it?
“A lot of people will say that.”
It’s not how the world works?
“They’ll say that too.”
It’s too difficult or expensive or unworkable?
“And that.”
Well, tell them not to be so short-sighted and scared.

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There are 8 billion of us.
We’re astoundingly energetic, productive and capable.
Can’t do it?
There’s almost nothing we can’t do if we turn our minds to it.
Can’t do it?
There’s barely anything 8 billion of us can’t achieve if we want it done.

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All we have to do is come up with the ideas… plan how to put them into action… then give them a try.

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