WTF: Let’s Just Kill Them All . . . An Ecological Civilization is Necessary

Image Source: NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg
Attribution: By NASA/Bill Anders
Dec. 16, 2024
A Note to the DeepTime Reader:
According to my understanding of the great 2oth century psychologist, Carl Jung, engagement with
the Shadow in one’s psyche is required in the maturational process. I understand this to be true at
both the individual and the collective level. A central theme in this article points to the nihilistic
Shadow aspect embedded within the collective consciousness of our global economic/political/social
systems, with the importance of integrating that Shadow aspect as part of the process of withdrawing
power from those systems. The lead title of this blog points directly to the message from that dark
Shadow aspect of our global systems as they are currently structured, a Shadow aspect that is
primarily buried in our collective unconscious.
WTF: Let’s Just Kill Them All
An Ecological Civilization is Necessary
Admittedly, the lead title of this blog post is raw and horrific, but I believe it accurately
describes a nihilistic energy nexus embedded within our global economic, political, and
social systems. An insane nexus, living within our collective subconscious and/or
unconscious, contributing to our path of planetary ecocide and human extinction. This
nexus is entirely a collective one, a nexus to which no sane individual would ever
subscribe.
As an “environmentalist” the last 25 yrs. or so, I have done quite a bit of reading on our
environmental cataclysms. However, it wasn’t until late 2023, while reading about the
starvation death of 10 billion Alaskan snow crab in the Bering Sea, the WTF insight
rushed into me. The raw message from the dark corner of our global economic system,
WTF: Let’s Just Kill Them All. I was completely flabbergasted by such a huge number
of living beings dying, with no ability to envision ecological destruction on such a scale.
From 2018-2022, a marine heat wave reduced the normal amount of sea ice, leading to
a smaller “cold pool” on the ocean floor. A sanctuary for young snow crab. Scientists
indicated warmer temperatures can lead to starvation and disease, and with less food
available in a smaller “cold pool” mass starvation ensued.1
Our global economic system, which has pumped massive amounts of GHG emissions
in our atmosphere since the 1800’s, has rapidly warmed our climate. Any specific
heat wave event may not be attributable to global warming, but there is no question
the frequency and intensity of them has increased. At the very least, the marine heat
wave killing 10 billion Alaskan snow crabs was made much more likely due to human-
induced warming.
Not long after the WTF insight, I ran across a 2011 Mother Jones article, authored
by Noam Chomsky, identifying the near institutional imperative in our market
systems to destroy nature.2 I was pleased to see affirmation of the WTF insight,
although some embarrassment ensued with the immediate recognition of the likelihood
of a high number of others with a similar understanding. Just not on my radar, and
obviously late to the party, although with very blunt phrasing.
In his analysis of our global economy, the environmental author, David Korten,
discusses the fatal flaws of what he identifies as the Sacred Money and Markets
narrative, noting the Nobel Laureate economist, Joseph Stiglitz, refers to the same
phenomenon in similar terms. A narrative that embraces the following: Earth’s
resources are valued only for the profit they provide, limitless consumption is the
path to happiness, competition and greed guide the hand of the free market providing
prosperity for all, concentrates power in the hands of financial elites, while
creating moral and legal structures for profit. Noting this narrative is taught at all the
world’s leading colleges and universities, Korten states it is false on every point, as well
as being immoral.3
Ever since our numbers and impacts have achieved the level of a geological force,
the global economy operating under this fatally flawed narrative has become an
existential danger to our Living Earth and humanity. A fatally flawed system blind to the
now catastrophic consequences it produces. The tragic death of 10 billion Alaskan
snow crab, from the lens of our global systems, are just collateral damage.
This ecologically destructive event is a glaring example of at least 200 years of
depredations by our global systems. The ongoing occurrence of similar events in the
news seems to have little impact on our collective behavior, so far. Examples include:
In the 2019-2020 Australian bush fires, it was estimated at least 1 billion
animals had been killed, both wild and domestic, with some species facing
extinction.4
The 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave killed an estimated 1 billion marine
organisms on British Columbia beaches, with scientists fearing far worse
consequences.5
The Dorset Wildlife Trust indicates insects are dying out 8x faster than larger animals,
with 41% of species facing extinction, due to habitat loss and the overuse of pesticides.
The report notes this level of extinction has not happened since that of the dinosaurs.6
In 2022, the inaugural UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal convened, with the
UNEP Director stating, “nature is dying the death of a billion cuts.” Antonio
Guterres, the UN Secretary General, commenting “…we are committing suicide by
proxy.” Initial conference goals were to conserve 30% of all lands and seas by 2030,
reflecting the urgency involved.7
The 2024 World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report indicated there had been a
73% decline in over 35,000 wildlife populations from 1970-2020. It warned of
dangerous tipping points approaching, possibly irreversible, calling for a “huge
collective effort” the next 5 years to address the twin crises of climate and
biodiversity.8
These events, conferences, and reports are examples of the proverbial tip of the
iceberg. An iceberg whose level of destruction is such that planetary ecocide is a
term that can be applied to the path we are on. In the face of all this information,
combined with events in the natural world, calls for transformation of all sectors of
human activity manifest at the highest levels.
The UN IPBES 2019 report, recognizing up to 1 million species may face extinction
in the coming decades, calls for transformation:
“…a fundamental system wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals, and values.”9
The 2022 World Scientist Warning of a Climate Emergency indicates the Earth is
“unequivocally” in a climate emergency. Humanity is in ecological overshoot, well
beyond Earth’s regenerative capacities. The report notes unlimited growth cannot
happen on a finite planet, with a call for “holistic and transformative change.”10
Thomas Berry, in his book, The Dream of the Earth, discusses the necessity for
humanity to move into the Ecological Age. A transformational movement that is equal
to, or greater than, the depredations spanning the last 200 years or more of our
scientific/technological/industrial era. A movement where humanity seeks to establish
a mutually enhancing relationship with the life processes of our Earth.11
David Korten, environmental author, echoes the necessity for transformation,
pointing to the necessity of developing an Ecological Civilization to save humanity.
Embracing the extremely long view of evolutionary development leading to ever greater
complexity, he cites evolutionary biologists conclusion life on Earth began 3.6 billion
years ago. Life’s evolution led to the creation of self-aware consciousness in the
form of the human species, which has become the dominant species on our Living
Earth. Holding Earth’s destiny in our hands, he states we behave as harmful
adolescents, with the only way forward to pass what is tantamount to an initiation
rite. Passage of this initiation rite involves creating an Ecological Civilization, and he
notes the 2000 Earth Charter embraces the worldviews and values of this kind of
civilization, without using this phrase.12
In 1994, the Secretary General of the1992 Earth Summit and Mikhail Gorbachev,
launched the Earth Charter initiative. Following input from an extremely wide
variety of stakeholders, the Earth Charter was introduced at UNESCO headquarters
in Paris. Since that time, thousands of organizations and individuals have endorsed it.13
The Earth Charter is a brief document whose primary themes are echoed in the call
to develop an Ecological Civilization. In the preamble, the dangers of our crossroads
moment are highlighted, combined with the necessity to come together as one human
family to birth a global sustainable society. The Earth is recognized as alive with a
unique community of life, with humanity as part of a vast, evolving universe. The value
of all beings is strongly emphasized, along with life’s interdependence. The current
dominant patterns of consumption and production are identified as causing ecological
devastation, risking the destruction of Earth’s diversity of life, as well as that of
humanity. Citing universal responsibility, the Earth Charter calls for transformation of
lifestyles, values, and institutions, linked with the critical necessity of strengthening
democratic values and institutions. Everyone and every sector of human endeavor are
called to engage in creative leadership in birthing a sustainable society.14
Since the birth of the Earth Charter in 2000, the concept of an Ecological Civilization
has become mainstream, with the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference subtitle:
Ecological Civilization-Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth.7
Despite the widespread recognition of the critical need for transformation at the highest
levels of our global civil society, the psychic and actual investment in our global systems
give power to widespread attempts to minimize, or even deny, the urgent need to do so.
In the 2024 Guardian article, Fury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate
failures, Exxon CEO, Darren Wood said the world would not reach net zero by 2050,
had waited too long to develop carbon free technologies, with the public unwilling to
spend the extra money for lower carbon fuels, asserting big oil was not responsible for
the climate crisis. His comments acknowledge the reality of this crisis, but despite this
recognition, Exxon-Mobil, the largest investor-owned oil company in the world, has
aggressive expansion plans, as do other major fossil fuel producers.15
The nihilism within CEO Woods statements is pervasive, combining a series of
minimizations with justifications for continuing Exxon’s expansion plans. Plans that
preserve Exxon’s short-term profits, with apparent full knowledge of the tragic long term
consequences. With his ideas expressed in mainstream media, the likelihood of other
fossil fuel titans holding similar views is truly chilling. Fossil fuel corporations are the tip
of the spear of the global death economy, emblematic in their modus operandi of the
globally predominant values and paradigms supporting this death economy. Infected by
a toxic nihilism, fossil fuel corporations know only one way forward, deepening the path
to planetary ecocide.
The renewable energy and EV revolutions have reached unstoppable exponential
growth, and combined with a plethora of other technical developments and societal
actions, fossil fuel use will decline ever more rapidly. An International Energy Agency
report indicates clean electricity will be 42% of the global grid by 2028, with global EV
sales increasing from 5% in 2020 to 18% of the global market in 2023.16
Refusing to accept these realities, fossil fuel corporations will face increasingly difficult
financial challenges, with the inevitable stranded assets. The likelihood of this relatively
long term outcome will be a contributing factor in the demise of the hegemony of fossil
fuel corporations. However, there is no doubt other powerful levers will have to be
employed, levers beyond my knowledge base and the parameters of this article.
Tragically, to one extent or another, every one of us is enmeshed within our death
economy, attached to values and paradigms supporting it, as it destroys the world
around us. However, all is not lost, with a plethora of beneficial historical and recent
movements and actions by uncounted numbers of people and organizations which
temper the primary thrust of our death economy.
High level examples include the 2016 Paris Agreement, signed onto by 196 nations,
pursuing a goal of limiting warming of the global climate to no more than 1.5 C.17
In 2022, more than 190 countries at the inaugural UN Biodiversity Conference agreed
to the goals of protecting 30% of lands and seas by 2030, a timeline reflecting the
urgency of our biodiversity crisis.18 In 2022, the US Congress passed the Inflation
Reduction Act, the largest climate legislation in history, with the potential to lower US
emissions up to 32-42% from 2005 levels by 2030.19 In 2023, 193 nations agreed to
the UN High Seas Treaty, seeking to preserve 30% of the high seas by 2030,
reflecting the urgency of our biodiversity crisis, with the ultimate goal of 66%.20
In 2016, the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation founded the Half-Earth Project.
This non-profit organization formed after E.O. Wilson, an internationally recognized
biologist, published his book: Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life. Project goals
are to conserve at least half of all lands and seas for nature, creating safe zones
that will save about 85% of all species.21
The effect of all these highlighted examples, combined with the unknown and
uncountable efforts throughout all societal levels, embrace a germinal sustainable
revolution. To date, a movement lacking the power to spark the transformations
required to successfully traverse our crossroads moment.
Deconstructing the Sacred Money and Markets narrative, as outlined by David Korten,
is very useful in withdrawing power from our global death economy. The writings of
Thomas Berry are also highly useful in this regard, as would a wide array of similar
authors in the environmental and political science fields. This paper asserts the
importance of identification and discussion of the WTF insight as part of this process
of withdrawal.
Beyond this kind of examination process, the delineation of a sustainable vision must
be brought into the forefront of our social conversation. David Korten, in Ecological
Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence, envisions sustainable communities
interacting synergistically with each other, living within the regenerative limits of their
bioregions, comprised of government and business sectors accountable to civil society,
with power localized and equitably distributed. He affirms humanity will only prosper as
we get our numbers and relationships right with the Earth, as well as with ourselves.22
Additionally, the worldview and values of the Earth Charter, outlined previously,
give an indication of the tone and orientation of an Ecological Civilization. Very
important among them is the idea Earth is alive with a unique community of life, all
beings have value in and of themselves, humanity is part of an evolving universe, with
democratic values and institutions critical to a sustainable world.13
There is no real way to predict what a centuries long sustainable revolution would
create for our world, but elements of the following vision must be established. A
global civilization comprised of a healthy, smaller, stable human population, living in
sustainable cities/towns/villages within their bioregions, fed by an organic and
regenerative agriculture, with settled areas floating among a sea of permanent natural
reserves covering at least half of our Living Earth.
Within the context of the ongoing crises of the twin cataclysms of global warming and
the mass extinction of species in the 21st century, this envisioning of an Ecological
Civilization seems impossible to achieve. Realistically, the 21st century will see ongoing,
ever more frequent and intense cataclysmic events directly and indirectly related to
these twin crises. There will be a great deal of chaos and disorder. However, in the
middle of this cauldron, if the next few generations can create a net zero world, set
aside half the Earth as permanent nature reserves, and eliminate all major sources of
toxic pollution, a promising beginning will have been created.
Of assistance in this century will be the increasing collective understanding our global
systems are not aligned with the forward progress of evolution, recognizing our ongoing
chaos and disorder as reflective of this lack of alignment, combined with the recognition
of the increasing demands of the universe to engage in synergistically creative
responses.
Thomas Berry, in his book, The Dream of the Earth, points to the coming Ecological
Age being equal to, or greater than, the depredations or our scientific/technological/
industrial one over the last few hundred years or more. Linked with this healing process
is the long term one of seeking a mutually enhancing relationship with the living
dynamics of our Earth.11 This is obviously an ongoing, ever-evolving effort, one that
will take centuries to arrive at a full flowering.
Thomas Berry has been called an eco-theologian, and in his book, The Great Work,
he writes of the universe as purposeful, affirming the idea of destiny for everyone alive
today. Born into this time with a role to play in humanity’s transition, everyone is
provided by the universe with the resources required to fulfill their unique role. Far more
than individual destiny is the collective, generational one of the Great Work, passed on
to succeeding generations.23
Echoing a similar theme, Pope Francis in his 2015 Encyclical, Laudato Si’, On Care of
Our Common Home, highlights the theme of everyone having a role to play, using their
pain for the world to guide them. Profoundly important is his emphasis on the wisdom
there is no such thing as an insignificant act.24 Through affirmation of this simple and
powerful truth, the Pope directly addresses that sense of powerlessness shared by just
about everyone in this cataclysmic time. Upon reading this affirmation by the Pope,
there resonated a deep chord of recognition, something which I will never forget.
Given the degraded condition of our Living Earth, it is safe to assume a universal pain
courses through the hearts of the 8 billion people alive today, much of it pushed down
into the unconscious. The urgent and multiple calls for humanity’s transformation at the
highest levels of our civil society reflect far more this universal pain, rather than the
scientific data confirming these realities.
Let everyone seek to engage in their unique personal and collective roles at this
crossroads moment in the history of our Living Earth. Let everyone recognize the
sustainable revolutions to come are nothing less than the struggle for the soul of the
world. A centuries long struggle, a geological instant, guided by the sustainable vision
of creating an Ecological Civilization. The successful flowering of such a struggle for
the Earth’s soul will result in a restored and revitalized Living Earth, as well as the
continuation of the human species. From the lens of the 21st century, this envisioned
Ecological Civilization linked with a revitalized Living Earth will be almost a totally
transformed and unrecognizable one. The result of a Second Renaissance in human
history, far more powerful than the Renaissance of the Middle Ages.
The vision of an Ecological Civilization can easily be accused of being naïve and
utopian, but this interpretation lacks any real veracity with the acceptance of the real,
inevitable, and profound conflicts endemic to the human race as this vision is pursued
over the coming centuries. Future conservatives and liberals, or their equivalents,
will have decades long battles over the multitudinous choices to be made as humanity
seeks to become a partner with our Living Earth’s processes. As long as the basics of
this generations long effort is commonly shared, we’ll be alright.
Respectfully Submitted
Dave Mitchell
Kansas City, Mo.
A retired LCSW social worker, with a history of providing primarily intake and case management
functions with the chronically mentally ill in both outpatient and inpatient settings. In the mid-
1990’s, I observed Missouri winters becoming just a little milder, beginning a decades long process of
reading about our climate and mass extinction cataclysms. Since the early to mid 2000’s, there has
been a series of volunteer engagements covering a very wide variety of activities with several
organizations here in Kansas City. These have included: the local Kansas City and Mo. Sierra Club,
350KC, Citizens Climate Lobby KC, Climate Action KC, training with the Climate Reality Project, and
several years hosting periodic environmental interviews on KKFI, Kansas City’s community radio
station.
In preparing to submit this article, it occurred to me that a discussion group of several sessions once
every two weeks could be very fruitful. Please let me know if any of you are interested in doing this,
and will explore possibilities. I lack hosting experience on Zoom, and would have to receive
guidance on how to set up a discussion group on this site. I assume these tasks can be
mastered, and hope there are several of you who might be interested.
Footnotes
1 10 billion snow crabs disappeared from the Bering Sea. Scientists and fishermen are working to learn why
5/5/23 Kirsten Debroth Alaska Public Media KMXT-Kodiak
https://alaskapublic.org/2023/05/05/10-billion-snow-crabs-disappeared…
2 Noam Chomsky, Mother Jones, 4/21/11
Noam Chomsky: Is the World Too Big to Fail? The contours of the global order
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/noam-chomsky-american-empire
3 Ecological Civilization and the New Enlightenment David Korten
Duke University Press Tikkun Vol. 32 Issue 4 Research Article Nov. 1, 2017
https://read.dukeupress.edu/tikkun/article-abstract/32/4/17/132917…
4 Death from Space Australia Fires—terrifying satellite image shows thousands of blazes raging across the country over
the last month 1/8/20 James Oxenham The Sun UK
https://thesun.co.uk/news/10679168/australia-fires-satellite-nasa-from-space
5 Heat Wave Killed an Estimated 1 Billion Sea Creatures and Scientists Fear Even Worse 7/9/21 Deepa Shivaram
6 Action for Insects Dorset Wildlife Trust
https://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-do/act-for-nature/action-insects
7 COP 15 Ecological Civilization Building a Shared Future For All Life on Earth
2022 UN Biodiversity Conference
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/COP15-ends-landmark-biodiversity-
8 2024 Living Planet Report 10/10/24
www.worldwildlife.org/publications/2024-living-planet-report
9 Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ Press Release May 5, 2019
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment
10 World Scientists Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022
Oxford Academic BioScience Vol. 72 Issue 12 Dec. 2022
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/72/12/1149/6764747
11 The Dream of the Earth Thomas Berry Sierra Club Books 1988
12 Ecological Civilization and the New Enlightenment David Korten
Duke University Press Tikkun Vol. 32 Issue 4 Research Article Nov. 1, 2017
https://read.dukeupress.edu/tikkun/article-abstract/32/4/17/132917…
13 Earth Charter https://earthcharter.org
14 Earth Charter https://earthcharter.org
15 Fury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures 3/4/24 Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/04/exxon-chief-public-climate-failures
16 International Energy Agency Renewables 2023 Executive Summary
https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2023/executive-summary
International Energy Agency Global EV Outlook Executive Summary Apr. 2023
https://www.iea.org/reports/global/ev-outlook-2023/executive-summary
17 The Paris Agreement https://unfcc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
18 COP 15 Ecological Civilization Building a Shared Future For All Life on Earth
2022 UN Biodiversity Conference
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/COP15-ends-landmark-biodiversity-
19 A Turning Point for US Climate Progress: Assessing the Climate and Clean Energy Provisions of the Inflation Reduction
Act 8/12/22 Rhodium Group
https://rhg.com/research/climate-clean-energy-inflation-reduction-act
20 Ocean Treaty: Historic agreement reached after decade of talks
BBC Science News 3/4/23 Esme Stallard
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64815782
21 What is the Half-Earth Project? E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
https://eowilsonfoundation.org/what-is-the-half-earth-project
22 Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence 5/25/21 David Korten
https://davidkorten.org/ecological-civilization-from-emergency-to-emergence/
23 The Great Work Thomas Berry 1999
24 Laudato Si’ On Care For Our Common Home Encyclical Letter Pope Francis
Libreria Editrice Vaticana Vatican City 2015
- Applies a deep time evolutionary perspective to: Ecology/Sustainability
- Learning Stages: Lifelong
- Type: Article
- Keywords: nihilistic nexus of our global systems, mass extinction, global warming, global death economy, Sacred Money and Markets narrative, transformation, sustainable revolution, centuries long process, Ecological Civilization, personal and collective destiny/tasks, Earth Charter
- Posted By: David Mitchell
- Date Added: January 15, 2025