top of page
Writer's pictureThe GentYYC

Renaissance or Revolution? (one is vastly preferable)

Updated: Jul 19, 2020



The status quo is a dead system walking. It's not about whether we will properly address the #ClimateCrisis or not but rather when & under what circumstances? A Renaissance is best. A Revolution is minimum viable. Either way you want be on the right side of these things




Humans have made it abundantly clear: ashtraying the world, creating mass extinctions & befouling our children's future? None of that's enough. Many (most?) of us are either too stupid or don't care or don't care enough about any of it. The impending Global Cataclysm(s) puts an end to that once and for all.



It's coming and it's coming over the next 10 years and it's not stoppable. That's a safer bet than not and I stand by it. Think of all the climate disasters today compared to just five years ago or even two. Everything's going faster. Multiplier effects. And we're still pouring on the gas.



If I had to guess it's this pendulous-glacier-the-size-of-Florida thinger but it could just as easily be scores of other things or most likely combinations thereof. We'll all look back at 911 as the good old days. And that's the end for the status quo & the defenders of the status quo. Forever. Call it "the Ice Strikes Back" if you like.



The pending, inexorable Global Cataclysm ends the status quo because it's everything the Climate Crisis so far has not been: *really* fast & impacting everybody in every country at the same time. After that, the #StatusQuoDefenders have their choice. Their response informs ours.


Post Global Cataclysm (PGC?) I don't doubt there'll be some #StatusQuoDefenders left making the same morally & intellectually bankrupt arguments they are today but I don't expect things to go well for those people, businesses or organizations for very long.



Post-Global-Cataclysm, the stiffer the opposition #StatusQuoDefenders present the more they'll be pushing a vastly more *unified & galvanized* 99% into action, specifically a Revolution & a global one at that. Excuses from the reckless & greedy won't play well in the PGC world


The #StatusQuoDefenders'll shoulder all the blame of an enflamed global populace unwilling to blame themselves any longer for their tiny part in it. Big entities profiting from making things worse in a time of unprecedented global crisis will be torn down brick by brick.



My ask of #StatusQuo defenders is to look back in history & ask yourself how the more stalwart defenders of a morally bankrupt status quo fared in previous times of huge Change & Revolution throughout human history. Maybe we're all kinder people these days but you know what?

I kinda doubt it. The good news is there's an alternative. The bad news (for #StatusQuoDefenders) is the window to get yourself on the right side of history (and a teeming mass of the global 99% looking for someone to blame) is *very* rapidly closing.



But even at this late date it *STILL* doesn't have to go down that way. An alternative exists, cognitively & philosophically if not "politically" (a bullshit word about bullshit things said by bullshit people) & that alternative is nothing less than a full-blown Renaissance.



If we must rule out an Apocalypse (and we must) the flip side of a Revolution is a Renaissance. Humans've experienced both before many times in many different ways. Today's no different. Maybe the only thing we can all agree on is that one is vastly preferable to the other. Right?!? Right.



MUSICAL INTERLUDE #1: Put it on. Loud. Leave it on. Listen to it all. Then listen to it again.


KEEP THE LIGHTS ON INTERLUDE #2: Pay Me. Ain't fightin just to fight. In it to win it. Ful blown Climate Warrior operating out of Calgary Alberta which is irrefutably GROUND ZERO for the ClimateCrisis in Canada. Win it here you can win it anywhere. Sell a JustTransition like a product. Mind the Curve. Get-the-Gettable. Save the World. Build a Future.



Both cognitively and philosophically possible, a Global Renaissance entails designing & executing a smooth SHIFT to renewable energy, a circular economy & a sustainable civilization. Anything less ain't gonna cut it but WHY WOULD YOU WANT LESS ANYWAYS?




An Alberta Renaissance approach means investing in this province instead of hacking it to pieces. Means seeking a way for ALL ALBERTANS to profit from predictable challenges instead of continuing to get crushed by them. Can we not agree one way is better?



For Canada, this means we step up to the plate and why on earth not? We're a superbly educated nation of friendly (& might I say quite handsome/beautiful) humans uniquely suited to show the whole world exactly how this thing is done. If not us, whom? Does not the world need more Canada? Of course it does.


For the world? A Global Renaissance EQUALS a GreenNewDeal, which in turn EQUALS the Sustainable Development Goals. All of these increasingly popular concepts are pieces of the same whole, two sides of the same coin. If you support one you should support all. The fight is the same and so are the wins.

A WW2 styled footing is required/desirable. America's wartime economy + FDR's New Deal (hence the name) created in America the strongest middle class the world's ever known, right up until Reagan flushed it all away with the #TrickleDownHustle


The alternative to this is not even worth mentioning (so I'll just re-post it)


Prior to the pending (and yes, it's pending regardless of what we do today or tomorrow) Global Cataclysm we can start doing the good work for a Global Renaissance, a Green New Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals by #MindingTheCurve & #GettingTheGetable. To not is to fail.

As for the status quo power-mongers, how's this thing going to turn out & where does it leave *YOU* if it goes to hell in a handbasket sooner than later? Would you prefer the right side of a Renaissance to the wrong side of a Revolution? Can't be both. Not a tough question.


If we rule out an Apocalypse (& we must) the flip side of a Revolution is a Renaissance. No other choices on the board. Inexorable global forces own the schedule. We can all agree one's vastly irrefutably preferable to the other. Need anything else from me? We done here?

/END?


******


All for now and thanks for reading. If you feel like supporting the work I do on threads like this I can assure you it's *very* thirsty work & you can buy me a cold beverage of the adult nature through this here tip jar thinger and I thank you kindly:



And if you're interested in supporting the Gent on a more long term basis, large or small I can tell you I'll never give up trying to present the critical information in digestible chunks & fostering the necessary change. Projects inbound. My Patreon:



59 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page