In July, after seven years, it was time for our family to relocate back to Singapore from Phuket, Thailand. Our time in Phuket was incredible, for so many reasons, and heartbreaking at the same time, as this is where we lived during the pandemic.
The sorrow came from watching so many of our neighbours suffer economically when the world locked down, but there was joy in a community coming together, determined to take care of our neighbours in times of crisis. Just that was truly humbling.
Phuket was a powerful and joyful experience as a family, and it was also an amazing time watching our boys grow into men – heavy metal rocking men at that (see pic below)! It was a beautiful place to raise them, but as they moved into their older teen years, we weren’t so sure it was the case anymore – there’s a lot of “distractions” in Thailand let’s just say.
But it was our boys who decided they wanted more than a small Island paradise could offer. They missed the benefits of city living, so at the end, the decision to leave was theirs to make. It had to be.
They are at a critical point in their lives and education, so we knew we couldn’t make the decision for them. Some regrets have been expressed since we left, but we’ll build a new life back in Singapore and make the most of it. We always do.
The gift of peace to think
For me personally, there were a lot of “life” gifts in this time, but the biggest gift for me personally was the space to think – and before you say it, of course the awesome people I met were the most important part of our life there!!!
In Phuket, when it came to my brain and the space to really think and reflect, I finally had the gift of peace to do it. I wasn’t running around anymore, going to meetings or attending events, having coffees with people who wanted to ‘pick my brain’ – you know what I mean!!
All of that went away in an instant when we moved there, and I must tell you, I recommend it if you’re exhausted from the constant run-around. I was so exhausted when we arrived in 2017, and it was time for me to stop, to find space to breath and really contemplate all the big issues I’d been researching and wanting to understand on a deeper level.
I went all-in, spending hours and hours every day, sinking into knowledge and the global conversation of our time. I’m so lucky I got to do that, even if it was dark most of the time.
The time came to leave – I wanted to go
What made me want to leave Phuket is deeper, and to put it simply, I started to feel like I was living in a gilded cage. I felt trapped in our beautiful home, with nowhere near enough human interaction for this social gal. It wasn’t just this, of course, there was an environmental angle to this too.
When the world opened up again, I had a front row seat to nature being ripped down to build more and MORE villas (16,000 in our area alone), which made me feel deep sorrow. With everything I know we need to do for our planet, I was witnessing the absolute opposite of it in Phuket – but that’s a story for another time.
For many, being closer to home isn’t unusual these days. Practically everyone I speak to – no matter where they live – is spending more time at home than they did before the pandemic, and it doesn’t seem to be changing – especially for those of us a little older – aka GenX!
From the conversations I’ve had, many found joy in their homes, which was a great rediscovery or reimagining of living, and to this day, a lot of people have maintained this, not renewing the same level of frenetic energy they lived before. Obviously, I can’t say the same for the young ones, but you can’t blame them for wanting to be out in the world, right?
The challenge for me in Phuket is, I found I wasn’t leaving my house for weeks at a time (we had all we needed at home, including a huge pool for daily exercise), so it started to feel a little less of a bonus and more of the gilded cage I mentioned above.
Not to mention, sometimes you can have too much time to think, and I was ready to start reconnecting with humans other than family, as well as talking about what I was thinking about in-person, with my community, as well as with my wider business connections. I knew it was time to start talking about the stuff I learnt, and it was time to start listening to others too, which is always better face-to-face.
So, what did I think about?
I’ve always wanted to understand how the entire universe works, and while I will never get to the bottom of that in this life, what I spent the last seven years thinking about – to name a few, is…
Humanity; climate change; biodiversity loss; rising oceans; melting glaciers; the global economy; the impact of the environmental collapse on the economy, pensions and investments; technology – both its positives and negatives (AI, cybersecurity, etc..); equality; diversity; forever chemicals; plastics and microplastics; or more broadly the Nine Planetary Boundaries; geopolitics; authoritarianism; the far right; the far left; war; pandemics; trust, or more specifically lack of trust and why we are in this place; conspiracy theories; the human mind and how we think; the mob; societal breakdown; and so much more. Essentially the polycrisis.
Polycrises arise when concurrent shocks and interconnected risks combine to create a crisis even worse than the sum of its parts. Ref: Cambridge Dictionary.
Most importantly, I didn’t think about any of these topics in siloes. I’ve been relentless in bringing it all together, trying to understand how if one crisis happens (think any of the above), what does it mean to all the other pieces of the puzzle?
And if it has an impact on any of the other pieces, what are the wider implications to all of us and all living beings on this planet?
How far do the ripples spread?
What’s next?
How will we react?
Will sanity prevail?
Why can’t our leaders see more steps ahead than they currently do and get a handle on what’s coming?
Why aren’t they doing everything they can to get us prepared?
Why aren’t they doing everything they can to ensure peace, because it’s so critical to our ability to succeed?
So many questions…
I thought (and continue to think) about a lot of stuff, and it’s an on-going and relentless process, which sometimes leads to despair, and other times the light comes through enough to see the path forward.
Most importantly though, I always work hard to never jump to conclusions or react instantly to any news, because the story of our world is a long game, that requires looking back, and looking forward, because today we face risks humanity has never faced before.
To think broadly also requires a deep respect for nuance. Nothing is simple, but we live in a world that bows at the feet of the 30 second soundbite, when we should be spending time with the information that matters. Unfortunately, the information that matters requires time, deep time, and few are willing or unable to invest this time.
So why do I spend so much time on this stuff?
Why didn’t I just chill on the beach and enjoy life in a tropical paradise? Well, because it’s just not how I’m built, it’s never been how I’m built, and because I learnt a long time ago, that I need to understand everything before I can understand anything.
I’ve never thrived when I only understand topics from a singular perspective – I need to see how all the interlinking siloes come together before I can really grasp what is going on. This has been a theme through my personal and professional life.
Many people think like I do, but many people do not. In the corporate world, some of the greatest people I worked with understood their area of expertise to a level of detail that was profound. I loved working with people like this. We need experts who can go deep, and I love nothing more than learning from experts.
But for each area of expertise, I need to link all the parts together, and I love working with people who seek to do the same. It’s a thrill to listen to each other weave the tapestry together, but it only works when everyone is humble, and appreciates that none of us know everything, and that we may be wrong, so staying open to changing our minds is critical.
Both ways of thinking are important and valuable, unfortunately, we do not have enough people on either side respecting the other, but that is something we can change. We need both ways of thinking, the experts and the weavers, bringing the bigger story together, so we can all make sense of it.
We need both ways of thinking, the experts and the weavers, bringing the bigger story together, so we can all make sense of it.
In any community, if you have too much of one way of thinking, especially in leadership roles, it is not good for the institution you work with. For example, too much big thinking makes the practical impossible and that’s where the real work gets done. Too much siloed expertise means you miss how the ‘whole’ comes together and that is just as crippling. We need both ways of thinking and respect between both parties, especially now.
I also appreciate speaking and collaborating with people who do not make broad sweeping statements or presumptions. As a real-time example, I’m part of a conversation where people are speaking about a specific country, and they are making broad generalizations – as if everyone in the country is the same. I am definitely not a fan of that.
There is ALWAYS nuance and much of that is cultural. It takes time and attention to see beneath the story, but it’s always there if you know where to look. The gift of living around the world has definitely helped me be able to do that better than most.
It’s critical we get to that level of understanding if we want to grasp the complexities in this world, especially when it comes to the polycrisis. However, if we’re not capable of getting there, we need to be open to listening to and trusting the people who are doing this work.
That’s another gap in our world right now. We must be clear on who we are listening to, and ask some very important questions:
- What is their motivation for speaking up?
- Are they being paid for their views?
- Who is doing the paying?
A lot of money is going to mis- and disinformation campaigns, fronted by the media, politicians and influencers. We must challenge this and start asking the question – who is benefiting from all of this? Not you or I, that’s for sure. Those who participate in propaganda and disinformation campaigns succeed in one thing – discord and division – which is the goal. It always amazes me how few people can see it – you too?
It also amazes me how anyone thinks it’s in their interest.
Here’s a very recent example: Russia Secretly Funded Right Wing Media Start-Up Tenet.
This is the world we live in, which is why we need to be very level-headed right now, as well as switched on, and we must work harder to see the bigger picture, or we will continue heading in a direction no one wants to go in.
If you don’t believe me, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has been sharing a similar view: UN human rights chief warns of global risk of ‘dystopian future’. We don’t want to go there, we really don’t.
We are in trouble as a world
I want to understand the story of our time, so I can make sense of it and help others make sense of it too. This is important to me. It’s as natural as breathing.
If you know me, you’ll know I’ve always paid attention to world events and attempted to make sense of it all, but my opportunity for a seven-year deep dive, which gave me the unique opportunity to go deeper and wider across all the issues I listed, bringing it together, which revealed a very simple fact – we are in deep trouble as a global society and we’re not paying near-enough attention.
This trouble is not one of the topics above, it’s all of them, because it’s all interlinked – the polycrisis – and that is why the weavers matter right now. We are relentless is working to understand the bigger story, including the implications on all of us. It’s not a pretty view, but it is a necessary one.
As we watch war and violence spread around the world, extreme weather events ripping communities and countries apart, heat extremes not only killing people in greater numbers but animals, insects, bird, fish and plants, all pushing us towards famine on a bigger and bigger scale, extinctions leading to ecosystem collapse and all that entails, rising seas, and all of the tipping points on the edge, all of which will impact the global economy – inflation first, and then many will lose everything – and this isn’t just the Global South, it will have world-wide implications, and well, we’re not talking about it enough. We’re not preparing globally, nationally, or individually – and we should be. Especially at the local level.
Our leaders are not sounding the alarm either, and we can’t believe they wouldn’t alert us if things were that urgent, which is why the doubt continues to linger. Because our leaders aren’t screaming loudly enough, it must mean the urgency isn’t as urgent as people like me are saying.
BUT even while the future we face is unlike anything humanity has ever faced before, history shows time and time again, our leaders consistently fail in these moments. They literally do not know how to act. They don’t know what to do.
And that is why we can’t wait for them, instead we need to lead them. Why? Well here’s a sample of some recent alarming news:
- ‘Two incredible extreme events’: Antarctic sea ice on cusp of record winter low for second year running | Antarctica | The Guardian
- Marine life & islands struggle to adapt to warming climate (Oceans/Global)
- Extreme weather to strengthen rapidly over next two decades, research suggests (phys.org)
- Great Barrier Reef already been dealt its death blow – scientist | RNZ News
- From the Amazon to Southern Brazil: find out about the climate | Geral (brasildefato.com.br)
- World Risk Report: Where are natural disasters most common? – DW
- Farm crisis looms as monsoon extends its welcome into October harvest season – India Today
- Sharks deserting coral reefs as oceans heat up, study shows | Sharks | The Guardian
- At 82.2°C, has Iran just recorded earth’s highest heat index? What it feels like – Firstpost
- Food Crisis May Worsen As Floods Take Over 115, 265 Hectares Farmlands In Nigeria • Channels Television
I know it’s confusing
I get it. I know the conversation out there is very confusing. I’ve been focused on it almost exclusively for a long time and yes, it’s ugly, despairing and very very angry. It’s also part of the tapestry of the story of our time. As these challenges manifest and get bigger, this anger and rage is a natural reaction when people are in fear, however, if we allow fear to grow, it will consume us.
The strong men and women are rising, saying they can save us. They are promising to put up walls, keep the refugees out, protect their own, and on they go, but all this means is there will be more war, more violence, more suffering, more of what we don’t want. More of what we already fear.
Do we vote for them and guarantee this terrible future? How about we don’t do that, and instead come and join me in making sure this is not the path we take, however we need to recruit billions to join us if we want to ensure a very different future, so let’s get recruiting!
We – you and I – define the story of our time, but we must claim the world’s stages again – even if it scares the life out of us – because those who are speaking up are not speaking for us. They really aren’t.
A few examples of that…
German far right AfD hails ‘historic’ election victory in east (bbc.com)
It’s time for us all to get our heads around the fact that we are in a global crisis, and it requires global co-operation and resilience on all our parts. The strong men and women can not save us. They do not have the capacity for that, and they do not understand the enormity of the challenges we face.
One example of a “strong man,” of course, is Donald Trump – Drill baby drill. Yeah, he doesn’t understand what’s going on, but equally, he won’t be alive to face the consequences either. His kids and grandkids will be, and it makes you wonder – doesn’t he at least care about them? Many who know him say he only cares about himself, something very apparent.
The risks couldn’t be higher, which is why it’s time to get very serious and that means stepping back into the conversation, because the good people are stepping out in droves. They don’t like how ugly it is, and while I fully appreciate and respect why it’s happening, this only guarantees that those NOT fighting for a live-able future for all of us are owning the global narrative. We can’t let that continue.
Fortunately, I am connected to many legends (shout out to the Climate Crisis Club) who have remained in the fight, and guess what? We won’t stop, but we’re tired, so tired, but we fight on regardless – we have too!
If nothing else, help us in our quest for humanity’s future and support our work – because we’re not being paid by foreign governments to do any of it! No, we’re driven to protect you, and all other life on earth. It’s a powerful motivation to keep going, regardless of how useless it feels sometimes.
More importantly, if you have the strength, please, come back – we need your support. We need your participation. This is a relentless job, but we can’t give up on the future for our kids and grandkids, we just can’t.
Is there any hope?
People always ask me, is there hope? This is a REALLY challenging question to answer, especially when it comes to the polycrisis, because hope – or hopium – doesn’t feel like the right word for this time. You see, I’m more on the side of the ancient Greek philosophers when it comes to the word hope.
The Stoics reminded us that Fear was just the flip side of Hope. Hope and Fear are nothing more than letting our thoughts and beliefs project into the future concerning positive or negative outcomes we do not control – ref: The 9 Core Stoic Beliefs.
For me, hope doesn’t suit the context, especially when I look at the extremely complex situation we are in as a global society and how bad it has become, which is strange, because I am also full of hope.
I have hope in the power of the human spirit, of humanity’s ability to work together collectively to lessen the impact of the impending crisis’ we face.
For those who have no hope, I believe they have lost their belief in the power of the human spirit. I can’t blame them for believing this either, because the number of people who need to rise to face this emergency has not happened… yet. So, the Doomers may turn out to be right all along, but I will not give up on us, ever.
So no, I haven’t lost my hope or belief in humanity (to be more precise), though I must admit, there are days when I do lose that belief. How can I not?
Why I can’t do hope is because hope without action is useless. It feels like a fairytale. For me to say YES there is hope requires us doing everything we can to change our trajectory, which means a complete transformation of how we live on this planet, because that is the only path out of the dire predicament we are in.
Right now, we are not even touching the surface of what we need to do. We are tinkering around the edges, and we’ve got to go deep. Until we start the work required, at the scale required, how can I have hope?
This is worth a watch on where we are and what we need to do
What takes my hope away?
All around us, every day, we are being advertised a world incompatible with a live-able and healthy planet. Our phones are bombarded by adverts for cheap products, or by influencers selling a story of mega-consumption. Our governments are right alongside pushing growth to get our economies going again, businesses too of course, with the media complicit in this tale of more, more, more.
Fast, fast, fast
You don’t have to think hard to find an industry that is a shining example of humanity’s gluttony – the fast fashion industry. It’s raking in billions of dollars, while creating so much destruction in our environment, as well as human suffering in the supply chain. When will it be held to account? When will it cease to exist? When will WE stop supporting it?
The average Australian buys 56 new items of clothing a year (it beats the US), and yet, for a healthy planet, none of us should buy more than three, max five new items of clothing a year. That’s a big drop in habitual spending habits required for the sake of our future! It’s also a big deficit in the economic growth narrative driving our world. But on a personal level, why are we continuing to gorge on fast fashion when we know its impact?
We have no idea of chemical impact
Another industry is the chemical sector, spewing poisons into our homes, farms and the wider environment. We have chemicals in our cleaning products, furniture, clothes, accessories, shoes, food, drinks, cars, you name it. There are thousands of chemicals in our system, and we know the impact of one per cent of these chemicals – on us and in us. Yes, just one per cent!
And that’s not even considering the impact on all other life on our planet. However, there’s another real kicker here – we not only have no idea how these chemicals impact us, but we have no idea of the impact these chemicals have when combined – which happens in the environment. So essentially, we know nothing about the chemicals in our system.
Of the 84,000 chemicals in circulation today, only 1% of them have been tested for safety. Manufacturers are not required to disclose all of the ingredients used in their products, partially due to the fragrance loophole. Ballard Brief.
(Note: this is a US study, we have no idea what exposure is like in the Global South where I live. None!)
Sterility on the way
Novel entities, which include chemicals, plastics, nuclear waste, and more, are in nature everywhere on this planet – on the highest mountains, in the melting glaciers and in the deepest parts of our oceans. Birds and sea life are dying with stomachs full of plastic. Sexual reproduction is diminishing in humans and all other life on this planet, because we have so many endocrine disruptors in nature now. In fact, human sterility could happen by 2045… which isn’t too far away! Just this is a big topic and a very VERY big mess!
What a mess!
These are just a few examples of the complex challenges we have on our hands and I’m not even talking about climate change yet. There are so many more I could include – I could literally write a book on just this subject of impact and what it means long term on humans, our civilization and all other life on this planet, but I’ll leave that for another time.
I do believe we can turn this around, it’s not going to be easy though
Here’s a starter list of what we need to do:
Global consensus
A global consensus which demonstrates we understand and accept the situation we are in, including all ramifications we will face as a species, as well as the hundred+ year timeline required to clean it all up.
An emergency needs to be called, and we ALL need to mobilize. Governments must start speaking this language, because the time for half measures is long over. The challenge remains – no one will get elected on this message, and that is a HUGE problem to address.
Communication and education
Which is why we need global consensus on the communication and education required so everyone has a deep understanding of the situation we are in and what we need to do about it – versus the diabolic mis- and disinformation circulating today. Enough!!
However, I also believe it might be in all our interests that everyone doesn’t know how bad things really are (that’ll just send the whole world into despair, which means we won’t be able to make any progress), but everyone does need to know what behaviours must change and what actions we can all take.
Governments must focus the message here and put in place legislation to drive the change needed AND work out how government will take care of its people as our societies and economies fundamentally transform (degrowth, UBI), etc..)
It’s critical to note – we will not get everyone on-side and cooperating, but we can no longer wait for everyone. We need a huge shift in human society and believe it or not, most people actually want to know what they can do to make a real difference. Let’s mobilize that community – the rest will follow, or they won’t, but 70% of the world’s population will act if we get this right. That is enough to drive the scale of change required.
And yes, I know 25% is the tipping point for change, but we must aim for 70%, because the matches the scale of change required.
Priorities
We must agree our priorities in the short, medium and long term, then globally coordinate and cooperate, acting at the level required – which is not happening at all right now – instead, it’s business as usual.
We need well-funded non-political global research institutes dedicated to solving the biggest challenges we face (like addressing the 9 Planetary Boundaries) all working collectively, globally, and bringing in the best minds to work on the problems and then the rest of us apply the solutions – e.g. natural solutions like sunflowers clean up nuclear pollution or massively scaling up programs, like The Great Pacific Garbage Patch clean-up, although that’s not the only clean-up required in our oceans, rivers and streams.
Thanks to my friend Shark Guardian legend Elizabeth Ward-Sing for flagging this news – The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be cleaned for $7.5 Billion. If you listen to the video on Instagram, that’s less than what the US spends on Halloween decorations every year. So yeah, we can clean it all up, we just have to want to, but we also need to stop doing what’s creating the problem in the first place.
We MUST address the massive novel entities issue we’ve created. Just that is a HUGE task, but we must get started and understand the long road ahead and the implications to life on this planet regardless of what we do.
There is no getting away from the impact of novel entities, which is why it’s critical we get to work and understand success will take hundreds of years! The same for the eight other Planetary Boundaries.
Tech bros and the fossil fuel industry
The tech bros are not the solution to our problems, the fossil fuel industry isn’t either. They spend vast amounts of money convincing all of us they are working on solving the problems we face, but the truth is, they aren’t, and we don’t have time to wait for them to fail.
Nature is the answer to most of our problems and that is where we need to focus – replenishing the natural world in all the ways we can – land, water, air, all. Check out One Earth’s Bioregion report – that is where we must focus.
OF COURSE some tech will help, but we must focus our energies on the BEST solutions, take all our attention off growth areas that will further accelerate climate breakdown, and whatever solutions we come up with, we must always assess longer term implications first – as in, before we deploy! For example:
- Do we accept waste created from new solutions OR do we make sure everything is circular right from the start?
- Do we continue to find it acceptable that children mine for precious metals so we can create sustainable solutions, even though it’s also creating even more environmental destruction – does that sound like the right path for us to take?
- Do we need deep-sea mining? Is it really the right direction for humanity right now?
- Or maybe it’s time to consider what we actually need is less ‘sustainable alternatives’ and instead we focus on just less?
There are many possible questions here, which means, what we must do now is decide what is best for humanity AND the natural world, NOT the global economy. Seems idealistic? Well, we decide, or nature decides, regardless a decision will be made, and nature will win! So why don’t we change our strategy and partner with our biggest foe and ally – nature?
No war!
War cannot be part of our story today – it is not only societally destructive, but it’s an environmental catastrophe that will leapfrog us towards collapse, something already happening. We can’t afford war, we never could.
We also can’t afford power-hungry, egomaniacs seeking to control the world either, but I’m not sure how we get rid of them, apart from not voting for them in in the first place, and not supporting businesses run by these people.
Also, while we’re at it, please remember that not all countries or people have the privilege of voting, so don’t vote for someone who will take that right away. It’s hard to get it back, as millions of people can testify around the world.
If you can vote, vote for climate leadership, because if we don’t vote for this, we are voting for civilization collapse and a devastating future for our children – there’s no pretending otherwise.
Time to rebuild trust
We must rebuild trust in our institutions – because without trust we cannot succeed, and without trust in our institutions, it will be impossible. Let’s clean out the corruption, address why we have lost so much trust (in Governments, the media, charitable organizations and business) and solve these challenges once and for all.
Power and greed are at the heart of this challenge – so it’s time to look it in the eye and solve it in all the countries where it is a problem. We can’t continue as we are.
Time for massive adaptation
We must accept that extreme weather events will continue to become more extreme and more frequent, and get ready for that. We have chosen this path, we have ignored the scientists, so this is the outcome, and we need to be brave enough to accept it and prepare.
No matter what we do, it is going to get worse, but do we have the courage to work towards making it better, no matter how long it takes? That is the question of our time, because no easy or quick solutions are available to us anymore.
We must prioritize nature restoration
We need all resources focused on saving our green and blue spaces, and all ecosystems currently still viable on this planet. We must also work hard to restore those ecosystems deemed lost AND do all we can to save the species listed close to extinction.
We must solve diseases and the impact on our natural friends – Bird Flu, or Frog Virus 3 are just two examples. We need to clean up our soil, air, and water, however we also need to know that if we succeed in cleaning up our atmosphere it will result in more warming and therefore, it’s going to be a long time before we see the true benefits of our actions. Transparency and truth are required. There is human and non-human suffering ahead – we’ve gone too far, and we can’t ignore that. No one should be shocked by what lies ahead.
Help the Global South
We need to adapt and spend vast resources helping those already impacted in the Global South to stay where they are, by ensuring they have what is needed to live, and hopefully if we get it right, thrive.
The world cannot cope with mass human migration, but we also need to understand that it will be necessary if we don’t address the crisis. Let’s get ready for mass migration NOW.
What new areas of the world can be opened for migration?
Can we start preparing cities and farms in these areas?
Build new and resilient communities?
Change must come from the middle
And we – you and I – and the 3.8 billion middle class, along with the next billion middle class due by 2030 – we are more than half the world’s population, so we not only have power, we have the ability to address this emergency from the middle.
To do that, we need to collectively draw down our emissions across the world and buy less, use less, and live simpler lives. We are in overshoot, because we are all taking too much from our earth, and quite simply, this cannot be sustained, no matter how much advertising convinces us otherwise. We are not buying joy as consumatrons, we are ensuring societal collapse and a miserable future for our children and grandchildren.
We are being asked – are we willing to do less and take less, so we do not offer that future to the children of the world? Less clothes, less upgrades, collective living, smaller homes, gardens, holidays closer to home, and on it goes. That’s what we need to do – bring how we live down a very big notch.
For wealthy countries and citizens (those in the first quarter of Overshoot above), we need to reduce what we take by 75% to give you a feel for the reduction required – because how we are living on this planet is not sustainable, and if we don’t decide to do it ourselves, it will happen regardless.
Nature’s carrying capacity has limits and it will break one day. That day doesn’t seem too far away now, so shall we try to get ahead of this?
As Nate Hagens says – we bend or we break, I’d prefer we bend – you?
It’s time to take the red pill
I could add 90 more bullets to this list on what we need to do, but wanted to give you a flavour, because what is required is a massive change in human consciousness (we need to take the red pill my friends) and that is because we have an enormous challenge to overcome, and a change in universal consciousness is required to get us there.
Can we do it? Yes, of course we can, but we need to look this situation in the eye, be courageous, get started and ramp up exponentially. We also need to believe we can succeed, while accepting that we are not heading towards any utopia. Pain is on this journey. Loss too. We need to accept that.
It starts with all of us recognizing the scale of what is needed and asking the question – how and where can I contribute?
Who can lead us and who do we need to vote for?
How big is this task, what must we accept as already lost, what will that impact be and what can we save?
We also need to stop being resigned to failure. We have the greatest opportunity humanity has ever been given, to turn this all around and we must rise to this moment. But it’s going to require courage we’ve never known, acceptance of what is to come while appreciating many will not join the fight, but we go on regardless.
Most importantly, we need to come together and do it together. If we fracture, or remain fractured as a global society, we will fail.
We need to achieve a complete change in how we live on this planet, plus a re-think of what it means to be human.
I’m going to do Part Three of We Need a New Middle-Class Dream soon, when I get the peace of mind to pull it together – and this is the solution piece, after part one and the 10 videos in part two.
In this third part I’ll dig into the bullets above, talking to us, to the business world, the media, governments and other audiences on what is required from each group. It’s not a simple message, because it’s too complex to be simple, so I hope you’ll watch it when I release it out into the world.
Say no to despair & cynicism – it’s a killer
My friends, it is time to stand up and fight for the future we want for our world. Don’t give into despair. Don’t give into cynicism. And please, if you’ve been on this ride for a long time, don’t give up! I know it’s hard to stay in the fight, but it’s not for us, it’s for our kids – let’s keep going for them. They deserve our best efforts, they really do, and it’s on us adults and parents to try. We must.
For now, I’ll keep paying attention to what is going on, but my focus now is really on the timeline of collapse. I saw some news that a significant cooling is coming to the Northern Hemisphere this Winter. This could be great news for a very hot world, but if it’s too cold, damage comes with that too – like loss of Winter crops, increasing inflation and/or famine. It’s all a fine line these days and we’re living right on the edge.
The questions I am pondering today include:
When will the tipping points fall and what will the impact be?
Who and what is at risk?
What does that mean?
And how will humanity respond to each crisis?
On a personal level, it’s about asking the question – how can I keep my family safe and how can I share that message with my community so they can do the same?
There were many reasons to return to Singapore, but it was also a “keeping my family safe” decision. You might think moving nearer to the equator sounds crazy, but there’s mixed research on that front (which is fascinating, but a topic for another time), however the one quality Singapore has, which most countries in the Global South do not have, is resilience.
Resilience in the infrastructure where you live is CRITICAL as extreme weather events accelerate around the world, but even rich countries are not ready.
Of course, if you’re not from these parts, you won’t hear much about what Singapore has done to prepare, but this is a country acting in very big ways on the climate crisis. It’s been getting ready for decades, and while nowhere is perfect, I like the fact my family is here for the years ahead. I can’t think of anywhere safer right now.
Alright, better finish this
There you go, a wrap-up of my thoughts, so thanks for sticking with me. I’ll keep thinking, reading, watching, writing and speaking, but I am also determined to get out on bigger stages to influence wider change in the world.
That’s another reason we’ve returned to Singapore, so I can do more and make a bigger impact with my message. Wish me luck there, because as we all know, it’s not a message everyone is ready to hear, especially in Asia… Trust me, I know.
In the meantime, keep the faith and if you want to have hope, take action, any action you can think of. Equally, if you’ve been taking action for a long time and wonder why you bother when all around you the consumatron culture is destroying the world, keep going and teach those who just don’t know. We need everyone rising and speaking up, because truly, action is the only path out of despair.
Tell me, what action are you going to take next – big, small, I don’t care?
Here’s one of our recent big changes – we got rid of our cars – something I’ve wanted to do forever, because it is the biggest contribution we can make personally. Unfortunately, we had no choice in Phuket, cars are a necessity, but we are all on bikes now, and it’s brilliant! The boys are LOVING it – they’re out every day.
Cheers
Andrea
Further reading on hope
If you want to dig into the deeper meaning of hope, I recommend this – Hope in Ancient Greek Philosophy.
Here’s some shorter reads
- Ancient texts encouraged hope and endurance when they spoke of end times (theconversation.com)
- Philosophers on Hope | Issue 143 | Philosophy Now
- hope | Etymology of hope by etymonline.
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