There Is No Defense For What We Are Doing To Our Planet

Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash

Our leaders — everywhere — have failed catastrophically to prevent climate collapse. Even now, they still have no plan. We are morally obligated — us ordinary sane citizens of Earth — to defy our leaders and work with competent experts to do everything possible to save the planet and end the insanity.

I did not start The Saners because I wanted to. I wanted to learn piano, and animation, and immerse myself in the arts. I’m 67 and I’m ready to live the rest of my life my way.

But I felt a moral obligation to deal with the worldwide climate crisis — in a meaningful and effective way. Because future generations — as it stands now — are doomed to struggle on a dying planet. If we don’t do something — and that “we” absolutely includes me — today’s children won’t be playing piano and creating cartoons. They’ll be foraging for food, and trying to stay cool under abysmal conditions.

I can’t stomach that possibility and, as it stands today, likelihood.

“I Can’t Do Anything” Is the Same As “I Was Only Following Orders”

The excuse used by the Nazis is pretty much equivalent to the excuse that today’s (largely) missing opposition to the climate crisis is using.

People believe they are powerless. They don’t know what to do. They are obedient to the authorities and waiting for our leaders to behave responsibly.

It’s 2024 — many decades after our leaders were clearly and directly warned about the crisis and the need to quickly and sharply slash the burning of fossil fuels. They have done the opposite and continue to protect and support Big Oil. They even subsidize the doom of our children with our tax dollars.

And still we passively obey. We gripe about climate protesters — perhaps they disrupted your commute by blocking a highway — but most of us remain silent about the gigatons of toxins that fossil fuel profiteers spew into our biosphere every year. We are failing our own children.

What We Have Been Putting Up With Is Insane.

In all fairness, it is true people everywhere feel powerless and they don’t know what to do. Many are busy and tired and stressed out from the challenges of daily life.

That does not mean they do not care.

In fact, people do care. Deeply. A recent U.N. survey suggests that 6.4 billion of the Earth’s 8 billion people want something done about the climate.

But there is nobody to turn to. It’s us or no one. That’s the stark truth.

Now, here’s another truth. We CAN do something. We are NOT powerless. Deep down we all know this, even though we have been persuaded by leaders across the world under every system that we must leave things up to them.

We Control Our Attention and Our Labor and Our Words

The authorities want us to feel powerless. They want us to think that everything that happens must go through them. Anything else would be chaos, anarchy. We should FEAR what would happen if we defied authorities.

But it’s obedience that we should fear. It’s obedience that is killing us. Most of us actually know this. But we need affirmation, we have doubts. And leaders and influencers do not acknowledge that they themselves and our existing systems have failed and that, if we continue accepting or supporting them, we are choosing doom.

Well, I’m acknowledging the truth. Believe your eyes. Believe what you see happening in the world. Believe your own experiences. They are right. Climate disasters are more frequent and severe. What scientists predicted, and warned about, is happening right now. Massive ongoing CO2 emissions are turning our beautiful Earth into a hostile hellhole.

It is happening right now, while authorities and “experts” and influencers try to distract you. Of course, they can’t ultimately succeed. The collapse of the biosphere will inevitably grind civilization to a halt. But we cannot wait for that!

We have a crisis and it demands immediate attention.

We have power. In fact, we have nearly all of the power. Because we are ordinary people and we do all the work. Leaders don’t dig oil wells, or refine oil, or frack. Leaders depend on the obedience of workers, depend on people desperate for money. They depend on us believing their lies or, at least, not having any other choice.

But we do have choice and power. We could do many things. Some are easy, and some are difficult. Given the stakes, we really need to get started and do what we can.

1. Weaken and ultimately shut down the fossil fuel industry. Perhaps with a kind of “quiet quitting.” Work slowdowns, calling in sick, “making mistakes.” Later, resistance can be more direct and open and widespread.
2. Expose the lies that underpin the excuses for the insane wilfull mass murder/suicide of our species. The truth is we never chose fossil fuels. We were only offered fossil fuels. Profiteers decided to stick with them, to purposely slow and try to stop clean energy. Here’s the truth: our leaders and systems are SO CRAZY that they are trying as hard as possible to maximize profits even though they are fully aware that it will fundamentally end life as we know it on Earth. That is incredibly insane—which is why we call our group, in opposition to their crazy destructive acts, The Saners.
3. Promote and live according to your true values—rejecting greed and power lust and selfishness (which are portrayed as necessary and even laudable), and embrace generosity, love, and respect for Life and Nature. Another lie is that greed, selfishness and other terrible instincts is fundamental human nature. It isn’t. This lie is simply a convenient excuse for destroying the Earth out of greed, and denying responsibility. “The markets made me do it.” Bullshit.
4. Speak out frequently, clearly and fearlessly. This is perhaps the easiest thing to do once we start—and right now, possibly the most important. The ridiculous and insane narrative about energy and climate—a narrative that prohibits sane and necessary approaches from even being considered, must be challenged. Especially since our alternative is exciting and beautiful and the status quo doesn’t even have a vision to offer us. They just say, this is how it is. Get used to it. They say we are nothing, and they are everything and shut up and obey.

Well, I’m not a slave. I’m not an ignorant fool. I’m not a human resource. I’m not a servant of either business or government. I care about life and not shareholder returns. I don’t care about any flag or national symbol. I care about actual human beings. I care about the quality of people’s lives.

And THAT is really what The Saners is about. Yes, we are a climate movement. That’s the crisis that we must meet RIGHT NOW. So, it’s a priority. But our ultimate aim is a sane, caring, humane, loving civilization. We are tired of being used and taken for fools.

The so-called powerful forces—people who do literally nothing of consequence—have been our slavemasters. We are done taking orders. We love life, love our planet and respect Nature. We will even treat them, those crazy dangerous fools, with love and respect.

But destructive, cruel and selfish actions? No, we are putting an end to that. We are starting now, and we intend to move the needle every day.

Impossible? No. Inevitable. The collapse is coming. The only question is how quickly and how intelligently we take hold of this ugly shitshow, this capsizing ship of state, and how carefully we rebuild the world as one worth living in.

The people (nominally) in charge are crazy and we won’t drink the KoolAid. We’re stopping them, starting on a new path right now.