As floods & fires rise, oceans boil & ice melts, and "safe" temperatures are breached, something momentous just happened in the heart of the EU. No one has heard about it: journalists were present, but their editors refused to publish 🤯.
🧵, please RT. #BeyondGrowth2023 1/
For 3 full days the EU parliament hosted thousands of scientists, activists and policy-makers charting a future beyond growth. The talks & discussions were recorded and are now available to all. Thousands attended, thousands more followed online. 2/ beyond-growth-2023.eu/programme/
Topics covered planetary boundaries, trade, finance, fiscal policy, global South, decolonisation, gender, justice, well-being, social policies. Every panel included major advances in understanding. Together, the conference represents a monumental coming of age of post-growth. 3/
Being part of this event was a privilege and an honour. I wish I could share with you what being in such a space opens up in terms of determination to collaborate for a liveable world. The sheer electric energy of being in a room with so many young, critical, dedicated humans. 4/
I was a hobbit. Possibly Pippin?
But my main point is please, for the love of god, choose a talk from this amazing list, watch it and share some insights using the #BeyondGrowth2023 hashtag. Because despite its magnitude, NO media covered the event. beyond-growth-2023.eu/programme/
6/
Because here is the thing. Every. Single. Journalist. who was there (and there were many, from major outlets all over Europe and the world) that I spoke to, said "my editor refuses to print any story critical of economic growth."
This is insane verging on criminal and shows the dangerous ideology of economic growth as our secular religion, completely blinding us to the possible economic alternatives that could preserve a liveable planet. But it is the current reality.
So please. I am not good at this.
8/
But some of you are. Some of you are very, very good at making noise and news. Please RT and amplify #BeyondGrowth2023 content, the speakers, the audience, the topics, the debates. Be part of cracking the foundations of our secular religion of growth, our modern Moloch.
🙏🙏
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While I was writing this thread, @TheEconomist was writing a straight out disinformation hit piece mocking the event and the desire of younger generations to have a liveable planet. Although better to have some coverage than none, so ... kudos to them? 🤷♀️
The author of @TheEconomist disinformation piece finds degrowth ideas "whacky". Not half as much as your straight out science denial, mate. Beyond parody.
The neoliberal dream of fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch was always the destruction of US democracy and the elimination of government (except for its repressive organs police, courts, prisons, military ofc), and now he has won.
What now? A short 🧵. 1/ theguardian.com/us-news/2025/f…
Charles Koch built the neoliberal economic propaganda and climate denial machine, including the Heritage foundation, Project 25 and the Atlas Network. This is very much his victory, intellectual and strategic. Musk and Trump are simply doing his grunt work.
2/
First of all, don't indulge in false comfort if you are lucky enough to not be in the US. Odds are, the neoliberals/fascists in your country are, at this very moment, looking at Trump&Musk, learning, and planning the ways they can take down your own democracy and government.
3/
So ... this is just one more egregious example of Trump evil, in a whole timeline of them. I cannot imagine what this is doing to Americans facing this tsunami.But awareness and sharing are not enough.
🚨You need to organise.
The only way to resist is by building counterpower ...
and counterpower consists of people coming together in joint organisations and campaigns. 1. You should join existing organisations, actively designing and participating in campaigns, not just signing up for a newsletter and donations. 2. You should build your own groups as well.
The biggest threat to Trump are autonomous and organised citizens. Autonomy means that you decide for yourselves. Reliance on state (or state-affiliated) organisations is dangerous right now: what autonomous alternatives could you be part of working towards?
Too slowly getting out of a depression of the soul, hopefully to be more active, effective and outspoken in 2025. No huge wisdom here. The only way I can reconcile my beliefs and existence in reality is to have a MUCH more grim understanding of humanity - and a MUCH more sublime.
I am still working on my "what I read in 2024" blog post (timeliness, eh), but by far the most sobering was learning that genocide is a 'normal' part of human nature, from evidence presented in Christopher Boehm's great "Hierarchy in the Forest." Genocide here is warfare ...
between human groups where all are slaughtered, women, children, elderly. There is evidence of genocidal warfare before industrialisation, colonisation, or even agriculture. This is something humans, under certain forms of culture and environment, can and will do, "naturally."
Re ADHD, I just tried one low-dose Concerta pill, given by a friend, and is this how the rest of you feel normally? If this was a normal day for me, I'd have already taken over the world on behalf ecosocialism Napoleon-style. What is your excuse????
Equal parts amazed and upset.
Also, drugs are bad, don't take stuff without dr or pharmacist advice, etc etc, disclaimer.
A few on thoughts on Trump II. 1. Trump was ineffective in his first term, because he and his posse knew nothing of govt, and were hampered by their lack of preparation. That's what Project 2025 is about: hitting the ground running with appointees and agenda. It will be worse.
2. People are counting on the courts to reign in illegality in Trump govt operation, but not only does he have the Supreme Court, thanks to some actually organised ppl during his first term, he has filled LOTS of judge positions with his batshit conservative ilk. Don't count ...
on the courts, basically. It's going to be an illegal shitshow with no accountability. 3. For science, it's a clear disaster. Project 2025 spells that out. Fascists like reality-free zones to operate, and that means climate, environmental, health, economic etc data are targets.
Jesus christ. I think I need to turn to alcohol or drugs or therapy or SOMETHING. I had seen the AMOC overturning warnings, but I had not seen this graph. I though somehow mostly the North Atlantic and Europe would be affected, but no, it's global boiling. en.vedur.is/media/ads_in_h…
This is to be ADDED to global warming. I mean, yes, we're talking about Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK freezing. But look at Astralia and South Africa. And India. And West Africa. And Brazil-Argentina. And the US Canada. I mean this is...cataclysmic is a cute word at this point.
I have nothing. The fossil fuel and meat industries are winning, and everyone else is going to lose.
They are jailing climate activists and destroying all chance of stable human life on earth.