Basically, I finally got to the core of the conservative and market fundamentalists’ arguments for inaction:

It’s, “we can’t afford to save the planet.”

So the elites, they create and control money. And they can just whimsically create as much as they want, whenever. And they want us to think we can’t “afford” to stop climate change.

There are all kinds of convoluted arguments now.

I was impressed by this guy named Art Berman, who spent 40 years as a petroleum engineer and now is a consultant for major energy corporations. And he’s started going on podcasts and talking about the collapse that he is actively helping to create and has probably made dozens of millions of dollars off of—at least.

His “ideas” really are just “defeatism is the new denialism.” He’s just like, well, the governments aren’t going to do anything, because look at their pasts. And the corporations are trying to make money, so they’re off the hook. It’s the consumers’ fault (didn’t vote hard enough and also didn’t just all quit fossil fuels despite elite refusal to create public transit to replace cars, (which again, our fault, we didn’t work hard enough to afford public transit (which would have been cheaper for consumers but I digress))). Any solution would be very complicated. And it might be that, well, there are no solutions. Which is scary to think about—so we better not think about that. (Naughty naughty ☝🏼).

So what we really need to look at is the more immediate threats—which are energy wars and terrorism. So we’re going to need to actually pump more oil out of the ground, burn it, on bombs and military equipment and transporting soldiers around the world to die. So the elites can get settled who is going to be the top dog riding into the apocalypse.

These are his arguments. And environmental podcasts will listen to him, like he has some kind of subatomic amount of intelligence or something. I’m not really sure.

Why do people fall for this stuff? I was vaguely wondering in the back of my mind.

I realized something that can help people to understand the extinction apologist’s logic: It’s a lot like the Narcissist’s Prayer, which is this device to illustrate how the mind of a narcissist works—their denial.

And I think of the elites, the entire money power system as addictions—to power or money or oil or whatever. Similar to how a narcisssist is dependent on supply.

Here’s the prayer:

That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.

With “you deserved it,” as this idea that you didn’t work hard enough for the capitalism and the money for it to want to save you. It’s your fault.

And this is why it’s so complicated for the elites, the corporate dems, the republicans, the energy apologists, to do anything. They would have to convince the money to do it. And the money… well, it’s a hard sell.

So I was thinking of these kinds of things and this phrase that was bouncing around in my head from a collapse podcast on how “we can’t afford,” certain changes to adapt to climate change.

Something about how just one water pump, to keep sea water out, was going to cost a coastal city as much as its annual tax revenue in a year, which they said was unrealistic financially.

And this really got to me, that on a collapse podcast, you still have this language of financial feasibility. This Business Ontology, if you will.

And I realized, you know, when it comes down to it—that’s their core argument. The conservatives, the capitalists, the shadowy forces behind whoever is in power, if anyone. We can’t afford to save the planet.

There’s just not enough money to save the environment.

Sorry guys!

Better luck next time.

And what really got me, was, I had been reading Revelation recently, for obvious reasons, just curiosity. and a certain verse stuck out to me in a way it never really had when I read it as a kid. I also find it interesting because of the way religion manifests in politics today:

Revelation 9:20

“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.”

(Of course money is this thing that we made that everyone is slaving over just to live, and the elites are telling us there’s not enough of it to keep the planet alive (they have the printing machines), and everyone’s just waiting on permission from the money to even begin to try to save ourselves and our children from extinction).

And I was just imagining people walking around in some apocalypse, covered in boils, there’s like fire raining down, which is the only light because the sky is black smoke. And they’re like, grabbing each other by the collars to try to extract gold coins from each other’s pockets. And God’s up there trying to get their attention. Just up there like, “welp…… Maybe if we try turning the water into blood….” Maybe they will look up and see what the hell they are doing.

Blindly worshipping shit that THEY MADE while everything around them burns.

For reference, article entitled “Why the U.S. can’t afford a Green New Deal.” But I’m sure there are plenty more with the same idea even if not as direct about their thesis.

It’s gotten funnier too the more I understand the economy and “financialization.” Which means you can buy stock “futures” which is basically like betting on the price of a stock 1 year from now, and you can get like 1:10 odds and crazy stuff like that. So we can afford a casino of the world’s resources but no meager environmental reforms.

I guess money becomes absurd when you’re working your life away to save for retirement. While your retirement investments are killing your today.

The elites are saying you’re not working hard enough meanwhile gambling with the pillars of the modern economy.

Anyways, it’s absurd, it can be hard to do it justice fully in a text post.

Just makes me laugh at people who are still chasing money, like a bunch of ants all racing to the top of a house of cards. It’s good to be out of that thinking and focused on other things.