Priorities, priorities…

“Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate”, said Vox, one month ago.

“Social will save climate” is backwards. And dangerous

If you ask me, headlines (and mindsets) like that are one of the main things that may block, or at least delay too much, positive social and ecological change. “Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate” is backwards. Dangerously so. What about, instead:

“Climate tipping points are the only hope for real social reform in our lifetime”?

In my humble opinion, this is an intrinsically better, and more effective way to think. Specifically, it is the only one that will gather enough support, soon enough, to make good things happen.

Especially in this moment, when we have (at least) “Six ways in which coronavirus will change our world”, possibly leading (*) to a global phase-shift via synchronous failure:

• “The coronavirus outbreak is, ultimately, a lesson in not just the inherent systemic fragilities in industrial civilization, but also the limits of its underlying paradigm”
• “Getting through coronavirus will be an exercise not just in building societal resilience, but relearning the values of cooperation, compassion, generosity and kindness, and building systems which institutionalize these values”*

(*) part added on March 2, 2020