Pensées – Thoughts about peace, nature and life

Throughout history, the demonization of others has always served as the chief justification for the theft of land, resources, and sovereignty. 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 becomes mandatory to participate in society.

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

Ironically, 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

A seemingly unresolvable paradox on the pace at which climate regulation should be enacted: slow enough to minimize contestation, yet fast enough to avoid more dramatic changes.

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

Climate change has been the cause of all previous mass extinctions. The only difference this time, is that we caused it, not some asteroid, volcano or tectonic shift.

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

Those who amassed fortunes large enough to shield themselves from the consequences of climate change, also happen to be the ones that caused it.

Elijah, Jesus or Mahdi could be good substitutes for “technology” in the mouth of those who claim it will save us from climate change.

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.

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.

Mass media are unlikely to drive meaningful climate action, for as long as they will continue to be owned by the very group that pollutes the most.

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.

The ties between humans and primates become evident when looking at how poorly we navigate the trade-offs between climate apocalypse, and short-term comfort.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

War stems from the fear of those who wage it, and the greed of those who command it.

Wealth corrupts the mind. It creates envy in those who seek it, and fear in those who have it.

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

The difference between intelligence and education becomes most evident at business school parties.

Bravery is to no longer fear certain outcomes. Wisdom is to no longer care.

Boredom is one of the most ubiquitous states. It is both the root of all progress, and all evil.

Natural disasters are Earth’s attempts to cleanse its surface from the parasites that feed from it.

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

Impermanence in the essence of life – everything that is, is meant to go away.