The Sacred Story of Capitalism, Retold

If you have lived and breathed global capitalism since birth, examining its narrative can feel a bit like a fish analyzing water. But, as Rajan argues, we have to examine it because its flaws and strains are threatening to dry up the entire pond.

It gets tougher every day to deny the human wreckage wrought by capitalism everywhere it exists — the steaming heap of alienation, market failures, inequalities, and rigged outcomes. Proponents of globalization cheer unfettered capitalism as the vehicle for spreading democratic values, freedom, and reciprocal exchange, but in reality, as Rajan notes, entry and participation are not equally open to all. This reality is currently erupting into worldwide unrest and the rise of right-wing populism. Clearly, the official story and what happens on the ground don’t match: Lots of people work hard but get little benefit, while plenty who do not work at all get rich.

via The Sacred Story of Capitalism, Retold – Evonomics

Historic Midwest Blizzard Has Farmers “Expecting Massive Crop Losses – As Devastating As We’ve Ever Seen”

via Historic Midwest Blizzard Has Farmers “Expecting Massive Crop Losses – As Devastating As We’ve Ever Seen”

Excessive brain activity linked to a shorter life

via Excessive brain activity linked to a shorter life – The Washington Post

The Desert of Nihilism and the Throne of God

via The Desert of Nihilism and the Throne of God ⋆ MasterSelf

Charting the Cosmic Hero’s Journey

Journal of a Cosmic Anthropologist

These days you’d have to strap me to a bed to make me watch all the Marvel movies. Five years ago, that was a different story. Bed-ridden, recovering from major surgery, I wasn’t going anywhere and needed some serious escapism – watching every single Marvel movie plus the short films, doped to the gills did the job. It wasn’t watching the heroes level up to become Supers and defeat the Villains that stuck with me – it was the sacrifices they made to get there. Forever etched into my brain by that adventure into the MCU was the death imagery of the ordeals that Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Thor endured in their origin stories to then become a better version of themselves. Something that would be repeated for each of these core characters in successive tales, for higher stakes, each requiring greater sacrifices before their ultimate acts of heroism…

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Executive Rebellion – when should we take to the streets on climate?

The climate crisis is an existential one, threatening the future of humanity. The best thing one can do for children today is not to buy them a fancy education or top up their trust fund. Rather, it is to drop everything in order to try and slow the climate crisis and adapt societies to the difficulties ahead. So the fourth step you could take is to quit. Because our jobs are not as important as the climate crisis. Key leaders in the movement quit their jobs to join in full-time. Andrew Medhurst, quit his job in the City of London and ended up finance director for Extinction Rebellion. Alison Green quit her job as a Pro Vice Chancellor of a university to join the rebellion. Since then she set up Transition Lab to develop the policies for transformation. Another option is to go part-time, to find more time for the climate cause. Thanks to the flexibility of the University of Cumbria, that is what I did, so I could launch the Deep Adaptation Forum for people to prepare both practically and emotionally for breakdowns in our way of life. It is rapidly becoming a gathering place for people who wish to rebel just enough to help their professions adapt deeply and fairly to the troubles ahead.

Executives in the private, government and charity sectors all face growing frustration at the clear net impotence of our actions on climate change. This ‘stasis anxiety’ will grow as the news on extreme weather and the latest science becomes more worrying. Extinction Rebellion call on “everybody now” to act with urgency. As protests unfold in cities around the world, it is time to consider joining an executive rebellion on climate change.

via Initiative for Leadership and Sustainability: Executive Rebellion – when should we take to the streets on climate?

Nietzsche’s Eternal Return

via Nietzsche’s Eternal Return | The New Yorker

A Concise Overview

As a fan of life, I would prefer humans and other life forms avoid extinction in the near term. As a rational conservation biologist, I know better than to rely on my beliefs rather than evidence regarding the Sixth Mass Extinction and abrupt, irreversible climate change. In contrast to my evidentiary approach, most humans prefer fantasy over evidence. As one consequence, it is small wonder we have arrived at the edge of extinction.

Because major stock-market corrections typically occur during September and October, we might lose habitat for Homo sapiens this autumn as a result on reduced industrial activity. I am not predicting such a financial catastrophe, although I would not be surprised if such an overdue event materializes (on the other hand, I am surprised we made it this long without a notable financial correction). A rapid release of methane from the Arctic Ocean would also destroy habitat for humans as the Arctic ice continues its rapid disintegration. Ditto for a disruption in the ability to grow and store grains at scale as a result of abrupt climate change. Any of these three events, and probably others, will alter the climate sufficiently to cause our extinction in the near future.

Another alternative future is plausible. The sociopaths who pull the strings of empire might further elucidate ongoing, global militarism to the point that even Americans recognize a world war is occurring. Such an approach has been deemed perennially reasonable by said sociopaths and largely ignored by the dumbed-down masses.

I am often asked where and how to live in the face of the information I present. Although I am disinclined to tell others what to do, I am living with extreme urgency and with the pursuit of meaning in my life.

via A Concise Overview – Nature Bats Last