Being on hold is the straw that broke me.
As I’m on hold for the seventh time about the same issue, I’m reflecting on the state of the world and how it came to be that I’m in such a rage about a robot answering service while the world burns, so since I’m stuck here waiting, here is my rant about the ensh*ttification of the world. I didn’t make up that word. It’s the word for what happens as capitalism endeavours to extract ever-increasing profit from a finite system.
The world gets sh*ttier. Customer service decreases as companies make budget cuts – budget cuts = layoffs. Once-free services increase ads, and pressure to subscribe. Paywalls go up. Ads get more misleading, scams get more and more clever. But the world is not only sh*ttier from an individual perspective of my annoyance when I have to phone customer service.
[gestures at everything]
• I don’t need to tell you about forest health and fire risk, because many of you may already have bug-out bags packed if you’re not evacuated already. What I may need to make clear to some of you is the link between Big Logging and forest fires. They will tell you that they need to “manage the forests” to prevent fires, but the opposite is true. Industrial logging increases fire risk by creating same-age, single-species plantations and suppressing natural regrowth. Diverse, older forests are far more fire-resilient. The native Wabanaki forest that has been managed sustainably by indigenous peoples for generations, and is much more resistant to wildfire.
• The population of terrestrial insects is declining at about 9% per decade. They are the foundation of the food chain. Insects are food for larger species, and they pollinate fruit plants. We can’t survive without them.
• WWF reports global wildlife population declines of 69% since 1970. In North America, some studies estimate 80–90% reduction in wild biomass of large mammals since European colonization. NINETY PERCENT!
• Humans have decimated the populations of ocean species as well. There are records of sailors dipping a bucket in the ocean at random and pulling up buckets of fish. We over-fished cod until the industry collapsed, and the population continues to decline.
• I have read that the North American forest was so large and vibrant that ships could smell the trees from offshore before they could see land on the horizon.
• IsNotReal is a t3rrorist state. They are deliberately starving millions of people. Gaza is levelled to the ground, the IOF is killing journalists, attacking aid trucks, preventing aid from entering. . . I’ve seen too much horror over the past 2 years to list here. The general public is against this, people are posting, speaking out, donating to Gazan families, letter writing – but governments are doing little to nothing to prevent the genoc1de.
• The Canadian government just tried to force Air Canada employees back to work, violating their constitutional right to strike. Air Canada employees deserve to be paid for all the time they are working.
• Rump waging war on his own citizens, calling the national guard to DC to take action against “crime” even though the crime rate has been at a record low. LA “Music Festivals” – search this on clock app if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Mainstream media is curated to uphold the interests of the ruling class, and now even clock app is being censored.
What is the link between all of these? CaPiTaLiSM
Here is my thesis that I haven’t seen phrased like this before: The stock market should not exist.
As long as it is possible for people to profit from the exploitation of labour and the extraction of resources by doing nothing but clicking buttons in a trading app, and corporations are beholden to increasing profit for shareholders, the world will not only continue to become more annoying, but is already literally burning.
We can’t go back to how it was. We can’t bring back the insects, the extinct species, replanting trees does not regrow an old-growth forest.
All we can do now is stop the bleeding.
I think there are two most effective and important approaches to creating a new paradigm.
One: Boycotting
Corporations are going to keep squeezing as much profit out of us as they can until their last breath. We need to make sure that exploitation is not profitable. The only way to do that is to make Big Corps not profitable anymore, and the only way to do that is to stop buying from them. I know it’s impossible to just stop buying everything, but think about where you spend your money. Support small, local businesses. Buy food from the farmer’s market. Before you buy, ask who is profiting from this, who is being exploited by this, and what am I supporting by spending this money?
Two: Building systems of resiliency within our communities.
The more we can rely on each other, the less power corporations have over our lives. Grow some food – even balcony tomatoes if you can. Learn to preserve food. Share tools instead of everyone buying their own. Organize skill-shares with your neighbours. Build local economies where money stays in the community. When the global system fails — and it is failing — our survival will depend on how well we’ve woven these local safety nets.
If you’re still here, consider subscribing to my mailing list. I plan to write and create videos about all these topics, and I would like to abandon Meta apps.