Pensées

The paradox of technique is that it promises ultimate freedom while demanding absolute conformity.

The line between legitimate military action and terrorism is drawn by those who control the narrative, not by the nature of the acts.

The demonization of others has always served as the chief justification for the theft of land, resources, and sovereignty throughout history. The labels, however, have changed: once barbarians, heretics, and savages - now terrorists.

The convenience offered by technology is never free. We pay for it with our autonomy, as we lose the ability to carry out tasks delegated to machines, and with our free will, as adopting technology quickly becomes essential for participating in society.

Framing nature as "natural resources" misleads us into thinking we’re landlords, when we’re merely tenants.

There is a direct correlation between the size of a country's nuclear arsenal, and its tendency to label others as terrorists.

The power of the media lies in its ability to shape what we think about, not how we think.

To understand a society, look not at its rulers, but at the systems that shape, control and discipline its people.

The mechanization of life leaves little room for the soul to breathe.

By nature, democracy is incompatible with the existence of an exploitative ultra-wealthy elite. If one exists, the other cannot.

In a democracy, rulers are structurally discouraged to enact new climate taxes, regulations and obligations. The benefits will mostly be invisible in the next election cycle, but the uprising may be immediate.

Scientists are trained to be factual, rational and exhaustive. This becomes a liability in the media arena, where the winning formula is to push opinions, through emotional speeches and cherry-picked facts.

To gauge how serious any government is about climate change, compare the swiftness and significance of its climate actions, to those taken during the latest uprising it faced.

The industrial revolution marks the moment when the primary focus of science shifted from knowledge expansion, to productivity expansion.

Change would happen at a more adequate pace if climate action was framed as a war against top polluters, rather than a collection of goodwill initiatives towards nature.

Most modern governments are based on a set of constructs that are hardly distinguishable from religion: founding figures, immuable sets of written rules and institutions dedicated to spreading, updating and enforcing those rules.

Order is a self-fulfilling prophecy - it manifests when most believe that it will be enforced.

A good definition of power: the ability to reward loyalty and punish dissent.

The more passive entertainment your consume, the more brain-dead you are.

The American entertainment culture has proven more effective at eliminating intellectuals, than Pol Pot's gunmen and jails.

Current technology is incapable of mitigating severe natural disasters, despite centuries of refinement. Future technology will not do better with less resources and more severe events.

This will go on until money no longer offers a viable shield from the consequences of climate change. By then, it will be too late.

Wherever there is a millennia-old rule, there is a natural human tendency to do otherwise.

If you put your enemies through hell, be prepared to fight demons.

The recent trajectory of humanity resembles that of cancer cells, which replicate exponentially until they eventually kill both their host and themselves.

Inequality drives all wars, and most wars are waged to maintain it, rather than suppress it.

Without equality, peace can only come from fear and violence.

Our society model is rooted in destruction – it was shaped by the very warmongers who eliminated most of the human communities that valued peace and nature.

The link between destruction and accumulation is stronger than most realize.

In most things, a small group of crooks can herd a large group of idiots to their death as long as the journey is comfortable. Climate action is not different.