Cassandra, Consumption and Callings

What happens when we fail to believe the clear and obvious?

Cassandra was a beautiful young woman.  Though daughter of royalty, she was an independent free spirit, with an unusual gift; she could foresee what was going to happen in the future.  One day, as she was going about her studies at the local temple, she caught the eye of a handsome, if somewhat arrogant, young man named Apollo.  He held a powerful place in society. 

Some say Cassandra promised to marry him, or at least pleasure him, then changed her mind.  Others say she never agreed to such.  Whichever the case, when Cassandra said no to his advances, the young man became enraged and used his power to publicly shame her, to make her a laughing stock.  He convinced everyone that her ability to see into the future was a hoax, just a wild imaging.  He made sure her community and all of mainstream society would never take her seriously. 

Cassandra suffered greatly as time and time again she tried to offer her gift, her knowledge of what was coming, only to be laughed at, scorned, and brushed off by the communities and institutions she lived within, and even her own family. 

The story above is based on the Cassandra myth, birthed out of Greek mythology, in which, Cassandra, a Trojan priestess, is granted the gift of prophecy by the god Apollo.  When she refuses his advances, he is unable (apparently by some cosmic law gods are bound by) to revoke the divine gift, so, since he can’t take back her foresight, he curses her by making it so that no matter what she knows to be true, no one will ever believe it.

As a lifelong environmentalist and economic system change advocate, the Cassandra story almost makes me break out in sweat and rapid breathing, and triggers a strong flood of pissed-off-ness.  Many of you, working on causes you care about, in a system that doesn’t want to listen or change, likely resonate. 

The good news is that more and more people are facing up to the realization that humans are indeed harming the Earth, exacerbating climate change, etc.  We are, in fact, the first generations of humans who have recognized and admitted that our species is a causal force in climate change, widespread species loss, etc.  Common acknowledgment of human damage to Earth by mainstream media has only come in the past couple of years.  This is an historic development in collective consciousness and tremendously hopeful since such awareness and acknowledgement is essential to changing course.

Unfortunately, and frustratingly, for the millions of us who are working toward economic system change, there is still tremendous reluctance to consider that the limitless growth, consumption-driven, Capitalist economic system is a primary driver of human-caused environmental destruction including climate change.  It should seem obvious we can’t maintain a global economic system that is rapidly depleting virtually every non-renewable resource on the planet. Yet, for world leaders, mainstream institutions and media, openly questioning the status quo economic system is just a bridge too far; they are too immersed in the current system to challenge it.  Ah Cassandra, my sister, I feel your pain!

I don’t know why I have had, my entire adult, a calling to speak truth about our fundamentally insane trajectory, but calling it is, and so, speak and write I do.  My mission is to share information that empowers the growing movement working toward a healthier economic system.  I realize changing the entire mainstream, growth and consumption-driven, capitalist global economy seems a pretty overwhelming task.  But in the end, the economy is just a set of systems that humans created, which means we can recreate it.  I believe at the depth of my being that if enough of us are willing to challenge the illusion of limitless growth of consumption and a capitalist system that chews up people and planet, and demand and demonstrate something healthier and more equitable, we will bring it about.  Doing so is the most important challenge and opportunity of this age. 

With that, I want to share some recent news as ammunition for pointing out the insanity of the current economic paradigm. I hope you will share this information and talk about it everywhere you can.

Two weeks ago, on July 28th, we hit Earth Overshoot Day.  This is the day of the year that marks the point in which humans have consumed all the natural resources on the planet that can be replenished by nature in a year.  That means, starting July 29th we began consuming resources beyond the ability of the planet to regenerate or regrow them.  Environmental overshoot was first recognized forty years ago and since then, Earth Overshoot Day has come earlier and earlier every year.  In order for the current rate of consumption in the western world to be sustained we would need four Earths full of food, water, minerals, soil, metals, etc.  How can the entire world not recognize the absolute unsustainability of this trajectory? 

It is difficult for most people to fully take in how fast the rate of consumption of nearly all Earth’s natural resources is increasing.  Consider some of these trends noted in an article titled, Acceleration Forever?  The increasing momentum of mineral extraction, by Kurt Cobb.

·      According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, half of all the oil consumed since the dawn of the modern oil age, which began in 1859, has been consumed from 1998 through 2021. Really take this in – more than half of all oil ever consumed on Earth has been consumed in the last 23 years!

·      Based on mining statistics from the Copper Development Association, about half of all the copper ever mined has been mined in the last twenty-two years.

·      Aluminum production has gone up 559% since 1970.

·      Lithium production has increased 2,539% since 1970.  Annual lithium mining and production is now 25.39 times the 1970 rate. 

Importantly, these rates of extraction, production and consumption are growing faster than world human population growth, which means we are not becoming more efficient in our use of Earth’s supply. 

Also importantly, although metals like lithium, copper, and gold are crucial for solar panels, electric cars, etc. – in other words, important to making the transition to a lower carbon, renewable energy system – the mining of these products creates terrible environmental damage, including destroying critical wildlife habitat, decimating already endangered species and leaving behind massive amounts of toxic waste.  The mining processes also require tremendous amounts of water.  And finally, in the U.S., many of the deposits of these metals are located on tribal lands, often in places considered sacred by the indigenous sovereign nations who live there. 

The very challenging truth is that we cannot just shift rapacious growth to “green, renewably-powered growth” if we want to maintain a livable world.  We are going to have to curb the overall amount of stuff we extract and consume and we’re going to have to figure out how to reduce per capita energy consumption while increasing material well-being for people who are in poorer regions of the world.  So how do we go about it?

My top-line recommendations:

·      Governments, in their pursuit of economic growth must start genuinely asking growth of what, for what, and why?  For example, creating a job at minimum wage does not carry the same value as creating a living wage job.  Creating a job in industries that need to be transitioned away from, like coal production and industrial animal agriculture, is not equivalent to creating a job caring for our elderly, restoring degraded watersheds, or building low-carbon infrastructure. 

·      Government and private investment funders need to prioritize aggressive investment in energy efficiency efforts to bring down per capita energy consumption.  What’s called for is a whole-system approach targeting residential and commercial buildings, manufacturing processes, transportation, data farms, the whole enchilada.

·      Make the recycling industry sexy and well-funded.  The unpopular truth is, the only mining that makes any sense on an overpopulated planet that hits resource overshoot at mid-year, is to be mining landfills and the countless, massive refuse piles that surround population centers worldwide.  As for the rest of it, what’s in the ground, mostly needs to be left in the ground. 

·      Stop investing in any fossil fuel expansion and invest in energy efficiency and recycling technologies along with renewable energy. 

Most of this appears radical given the paradigm we are currently immersed in.  But I ask, if you’re driving at a fast clip, round a corner, and see a brick wall in front of you, isn’t radical action the only sane response? 

Author and podcaster, Vicki Robin, recently published a concise and useful piece on Earth Overshoot day.  In the piece she notes some advice the late ecological economist, Hazel Henderson, gave just before she passed, “It’s gonna be a sh*t show for the next five years, so tell the truth and enjoy your life.”  Amen and yes indeed. 

As for Cassandra, she kept telling her truth, speaking about the challenges and travails as well as the beauties and breakthroughs in the future to come.  Eventually people began noticing how often she was correct.  Meanwhile, Apollo’s influence waned, and Cassandra was scorned no more.  Over time, she became a highly valued counselor in building a more beautiful society.  At least, that’s how it shakes out in my version of the story. 

So, to all you Cassandras out there, keep sharing your knowing and speaking truth to power.  The time is now for the movement toward a more beautiful world that works better for all beings. 

In honor and appreciation of these extraordinary times we’re living in. 

Cylvia

P.S.

For anyone interested, here’s a link to a recent talk I delivered that highlights the power of story in creating a more beautiful world.  

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Wellbeing Economy Alliance

There’s a great addition to the Economic System Change movement in the U.S.  The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEALL) has hired a U.S. Lead Coordinator to integrate with the U.S. in the important work they've been doing in Europe, Latin America and parts of Africa. 

My not-for-conventional-profit organization, The ReThink, is a WEALL member and I recently delivered a WEALL talk on the uncommon question of, “Is there a spiritual side to economics?”  Here’s the link to the vid of the session.  The moderator is WEALL’s Thobile Chittenden.   I’d love to know your thoughts on the subject, “Is there a spiritual side to economics?”  What do you think?

#economicsystemchange #ReThink  #economy  #neweconomy