tl;dr The 'Bottom-Up' Grift (BUG) is the spinning of a line - for profit and/attention - that the true path to utopia is via 'bottom up' activity. This post defines the BUG, explains how to spot it, where it comes from, what to do about it. The Grift Making a career out of saying "we... Continue Reading →
Of ritualised climate “activism” on a doomed planet, going through the (e)motions. Of Ridley Scott, Lennie Cohen etc…
There's a Ridley Scott film (I know I might lose some folks, but stick with it, it will be worth it, I promise (1).) It's called "White Squall" and it came out in 1996. It stars the ever-watchable Jeff Bridges as a sailor and general dude. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T6WvayGd64 Anyway (and SPOILERS), there's a storm (a white... Continue Reading →
After Baudrillard and Thatcher – we’re in the “soup.” Of images, post-modernism, climate and the world historical defeat of society
It's Saturday night(1), and the people who are supposed to be the experts on this have not got a clue. And they don't even know that they don't have a clue. I at least know that I don't have a clue, which puts me 'ahead' (but on the same burning platform, on the same being-murdered... Continue Reading →
How long will this go on? Until it doesn’t. But “we” won’t stop it… (Cut and paste a Twitter DM)
I have smart friends. Some of them are on Twitter (for now) We DM. See below, of me and VSF (Very Smart Friend) Me: how are you doing? Shit is fucked up, isn't it, to use the academic language... 1:28 PM Very Smart Friend: How far can political reality stretch from physical reality? 1:40 PM... Continue Reading →
Schoolboy Powerpoint Fail AND “the costs of doing social movement.”
Two things before I feed the swans and then work into the evening on industrial decarbonisation and multiple streams approach ONE - I did a mostly good talk about ID and MSA today. Halfway through I realised I was sharing the screen of my penultimate powerpoint presentation and that I really ought to have the... Continue Reading →
Gormless “individual action!” vs “system change!” #climate “activists” talking past each other, as usual. My declaration of irrelevance, sorry, independence
Uggh. a) I have COVID b) I have had enough of climate "activists" and their gormless miss-the-point-"debates" about individual versus "top-down" action. The love-and-light brigade tell us our individual footprints matter, that we need to "be the change we want to see". They ignore the corporates (indeed, blah blah BP invented carbon footprints blah blah)... Continue Reading →
Hypocrites, Zealots and (in)activists – a cartoon (and inevitably unhelpful rant)
I asked my brilliant friend Marc Roberts if there were a cartoon in this blog post, and this is what he came up with. It is in the latest issue of Ethical Consumer Magazine, and it is genius, I am sure you agree. The problem is that the reality is EVEN WORSE THAN THIS, because... Continue Reading →
What responsibilities in times of abeyance? Je ne sais “re-Greta” rien.
When will the next Greta Thunberg hit the stage? I know I am a stuck record, but (I think) this is important. a)"We" are leaving/have left a period where climate change was relatively high up the political agenda b) We are leaving/have left a period where small (but non-trivial) numbers of people were willing to... Continue Reading →
“Welcome to the Smugosphere” – a two page bluffer’s guide/warning
What would you want to tell a new member of a social movement (organisation)? My two pager below - comments in the comments pls. A couple of years ago (god, it feels like a million years) I wrote a piece called "Dear New Climate Activist", which largely stands up, I think (genuinely interested in folks'... Continue Reading →
Inverse Law of Bullshit
I recently (within the last month) was on an online meeting that used all the "right" buzzwords about generative, transformative, interactive. It was... Ah, hell, you know where this is going. It was the most stale top-down format you could "imagine." (You don't have to imagine it, you've been subjected to it most of your... Continue Reading →
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