What follows generation Z?

We seem to be hurtling towards extinction and those that should be taking it seriously because we pay them an enormous amount of money to take it seriously are not, taking it seriously. Cop27 achieved nothing at all other than to agree to pay money to those most impacted by climate change - this is like paying somebody to let you punch them in the face. And if we continue paying them they’ll continue to let us punch them, until there’s no face left.

“Leaders of the world, if you don’t show us what you’re doing in our interests to fix the climate catastrophe we’ll stop paying you an enormous amount of money and then we’ll piss in your plant pots.”

Is everyone depressed - or is it just me? It seems extinction is inevitable and so we should just get used to it. We should stop feeling guilty about our behaviour and perhaps have a massive extinction festival to cheer ourselves up. We could call it the billionaire bash.

Because let’s face it people won’t change their behaviours. To imagine that they will is delusion. People cannot start using less. It won’t happen. Think about it, if you’re seen to be using less it might look like you’re poor and then what will the neighbours say. Human’s are hardwired to want more so how can they change thousands of years of programming and suddenly stop wanting to raise their own living standards? It’s a false premise. We need to put the idea of wanting less out of our heads completely because it’s against our human nature to want to lessen our situation, and the politicians and business owners don’t want us to use less either. So to attempt such an impossible task is a pretence, it’s a lie; it’s the retched, relentless work of Sisyphus. 

The only way it will happen is if we’re forced into it which eventually we very surely will be - because there will simply be less to have - for most of us. 

No, ignore the idea of less and continue to use more, only use more of the good stuff. Use more home grown foods. Use more fuel produced in your own country. Go on holiday more locally. Yes that’s it. That’s the answer. But actually, that’s not the answer.  That won’t work either. People don’t want to go on holiday locally because it’s rubbish. People don’t want to eat home grown foods because it’s too expensive. People can’t use fuel produced in their own country because it’s not really up to them. And again politicians and business owners don’t want that - of course they don’t because they want more, enormous amounts of more. Since we’ve been paying them so much money they’ve gotten used to it and now they just want more money and taking extinction seriously is not profitable. How can buying less and using less be profitable? It just can’t.

So what? What are the options? Come on leaders help us out here. We pay you an enormous amount of money to have ideas and work in our interests so why aren’t you?  Hold on… is it at all possible that you’re not working in our interests at all? It seems plausible actually because we don’t see any evidence that you are, none at all. So whose interests are you working in, if it’s not the general public? You must be working for someone - otherwise who’s paying you an enormous amount of money? 

Perhaps the general public aren’t very interesting to you now, since you got so much cash. Maybe they’re a bit smelly and ignorant and so you want to get as far away from them as you can. Hanging out with the billionaires and millionaires is very probably much more fun, more rewarding, less dirty. I don’t blame you actually. I expect they have great parties, lush and tasteful. What a fabulous life to live freely in the bosom of the modern gods. Much more fun than the lowly normal life of the general public. But the public continue to pay you enormous amounts of money to not work in their interests, to go to parties put on by modern gods. That bit seems odd to me. Unless I’m mad - which is possible.

It’s not the fault of the general public. They didn’t cause the problem and they can’t possibly hope to fix it by recycling egg cartons and using bamboo toothbrushes, though they’re being encouraged to give it a good go. Because it’s good to keep them busy at least. 

It’s big business pumping out millions of tonnes of toxic breath into our air, polluting our seas and oceans, killing our wildlife and forests. The general public aren’t doing that. It’s those modern gods and we’re paying them enormous amounts of money to do it. 

What a strange world we live in that the general public are held responsible for fixing the planet by the very people who are wrecking it, whilst we pay them enormous amounts of money to continue wrecking it and then when they ask for more money to pretend to try to fix it, we give it to them. 

Something isn’t quite right here.