As of right now, climate change and pollution are legitimately unfixable problems in my opinion. Everything else could hypothetically be fixed (although most of it probably won't be), but those two are really going to fuck us over.
The "ruling class" of today rely on the vast pools of labor that constantly increase with food production and industrialization. If something ever killed a significant percentage of the world and reversed population trends, they'd have much less leverage to continue their way of life as they do now. That doesn't mean things will be good, but there can only be so much cannibalism before it is no longer in a ruling elite's self interest.
climate change and pollution are legitimately unfixable problems in my opinion
The Late Devonian mass extinction was likely caused by the evolution of oxygen producing plants. This fundamentally altered the chemistry of the atmosphere and kicked off the Hangenberg event which is estimated to have killed half of all life in the world's oceans and around a quarter of all life on dry land.
Incidentally, the sudden and massive spread of plant-life during this period is responsible for the rapid accrual of fossilized carbon that has become the fuel we're currently killing one another to secure.
Everything else could hypothetically be fixed
We can't ever really go back. We can update our social responses to climate-wide events. But industrialization isn't just going to stop happening even if we check our fossil fuel consumption habit. Humanity's propensity for engineering our surroundings to meet our comfort needs is an unstoppable evolutionary tendency. That's not something we can ever "fix". Pandora's Box was opened millions of years ago. We're going to have to play this hand out until we hit another ecological balancing point.
things are about to get a whole hell of a lot worse
I get this line every fucking day on here. It really seems to deny the reality of the post-industrial era. One of shrinking poverty, enormous surpluses, and a backbone of infrastructure that benefits the entire planet.
Like Kromptkin recognized over a century ago, we have already won as a society and a species. We just need to recognize it and dole out the winnings equitably. What Westerners see as a terrifying decline arrives just as much of the Eastern Bloc and the Global South are finally cashing in. And much of what Westerners dread is this equanimity - this international muscle enjoyed by nations not in the privileged Early Adopter group taking a slice of the pie they thought was always going to be theirs.
And even then it isn't really bad news for Westerners in the aggregate, because so much of that pie was going to an elite plutocracy in their own backyards.
What people in the US and the UK and Germany and Japan are coming to terms with is the dead-weight loss of their own monarchies. Whether they choose to carry this baggage into the 22nd century will determine how they end up living. But the days of colonial extraction are closing. The Free Lunches paid for with the surplus labor of East Asia and West Africa are coming to an end.
29 Comments
applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 42 pts · 151d
Me just trying to survive long enough to see a girl in the mirror
bdonvr@thelemmy.club · 23 pts · 151d
Maybe try looking harder next time. I think you'll find she's already there.
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 151d
This needs to be a ladybeard meme.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 151d
The ultimate victory is living well.
flandish@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 151d
world’s been on the brink of ending my entire 45+ years. Kinda hope it happens here.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 151d
FerretyFever0@fedia.io · 15 pts · 151d
As of right now, climate change and pollution are legitimately unfixable problems in my opinion. Everything else could hypothetically be fixed (although most of it probably won't be), but those two are really going to fuck us over.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 151d
TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 151d
Oh no, humanity will survive, but you probably won't.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 150d
They ain't killed me yet
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 151d
TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 151d
The "ruling class" of today rely on the vast pools of labor that constantly increase with food production and industrialization. If something ever killed a significant percentage of the world and reversed population trends, they'd have much less leverage to continue their way of life as they do now. That doesn't mean things will be good, but there can only be so much cannibalism before it is no longer in a ruling elite's self interest.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 150d
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 151d
The Late Devonian mass extinction was likely caused by the evolution of oxygen producing plants. This fundamentally altered the chemistry of the atmosphere and kicked off the Hangenberg event which is estimated to have killed half of all life in the world's oceans and around a quarter of all life on dry land.
Incidentally, the sudden and massive spread of plant-life during this period is responsible for the rapid accrual of fossilized carbon that has become the fuel we're currently killing one another to secure.
We can't ever really go back. We can update our social responses to climate-wide events. But industrialization isn't just going to stop happening even if we check our fossil fuel consumption habit. Humanity's propensity for engineering our surroundings to meet our comfort needs is an unstoppable evolutionary tendency. That's not something we can ever "fix". Pandora's Box was opened millions of years ago. We're going to have to play this hand out until we hit another ecological balancing point.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 151d
"The world is ending" is easier to accept than "The world has always been a hard place and also I'm not getting any younger".
Easier to believe you'll live to see the end of the world than that the world will keep spinning without you.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 151d
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 151d
There is no "end" to live to see.
I get this line every fucking day on here. It really seems to deny the reality of the post-industrial era. One of shrinking poverty, enormous surpluses, and a backbone of infrastructure that benefits the entire planet.
Like Kromptkin recognized over a century ago, we have already won as a society and a species. We just need to recognize it and dole out the winnings equitably. What Westerners see as a terrifying decline arrives just as much of the Eastern Bloc and the Global South are finally cashing in. And much of what Westerners dread is this equanimity - this international muscle enjoyed by nations not in the privileged Early Adopter group taking a slice of the pie they thought was always going to be theirs.
And even then it isn't really bad news for Westerners in the aggregate, because so much of that pie was going to an elite plutocracy in their own backyards.
What people in the US and the UK and Germany and Japan are coming to terms with is the dead-weight loss of their own monarchies. Whether they choose to carry this baggage into the 22nd century will determine how they end up living. But the days of colonial extraction are closing. The Free Lunches paid for with the surplus labor of East Asia and West Africa are coming to an end.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 151d
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 151d
If you've stepped outside the US, you've seen a very different picture
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 150d
Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 150d
A cold dark oblivion made of the ruling class's hubris.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 150d
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 150d
chattre@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 21 pts · 151d
ccan I... eat the rich 🥺
Stanley_Pain@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 151d
Always. Now and Forever :).
nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de · 13 pts · 151d
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 150d
Every fucking time
nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 150d
Mission Passed
Respect +
brookedSmile@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 151d
Dont forget the trans panic, they always need an issue to pit everyone against.
M4t1cc@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 151d
But it comes with 3g of protein!
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 151d
AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 151d
Remember that Rest is Resistance
Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club · 7 pts · 151d
Them average 90s clothes (that we wore 10 years ago ... right?) tho ...
GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 150d
"We have monetized your enjoyment of life, and your past due account has been sent to collections."
compostgoblin@piefed.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 151d
It got easier to deal with after accepting that we’re all essentially just background characters in a cyberpunk dystopia
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 151d
DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 150d
"Molotov cocktail, the local drink; and all she wants to do is dance, dance."
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 150d
I’m sure my mum has that shellsuit.