March 2025: the new economy
Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.β
This week's module: LEARN
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
β¨ IMPORTANT REMINDER β¨ Grist 50 nominations are due this Friday. If Soapbox has made your life better in any way, will you please nominate me π₯Ίπ₯Ίπ₯Ί and any other climate leaders who deserve some flowers
Here's what we'll learn today Reader
A couple years ago on a Soapbox fireside chat in our online community, Indigenous activist Pennie Opal Plant said, "We have no human enemies. Instead, enemies are the thought forms that created separation, colonization, and capitalism."
That's lived rent-free in my mind since she said it.
And theeennn... earlier this week, @karishmaclimategirl made a reel announcing that billionaires aren't human.β
WOW. I mean, wow.
I have truly never considered this, and now, I think I agree. Here's what I've got so far.
Evidence that billionaires are not human:
- Consider the words homo sapiens. "Sapiens" translates to wise. But billionaires' brains are rotted by convenience. Like, they probably have never tripped on a lego since making their billions? Do they even know how to wipe their butts or does someone do it for them?
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- In Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort who is a humanoid but not human monster, exists that way because he's split his soul into 7 pieces through murder (sorry spoiler if you lived under a rock in the 2000s). The exploitation that billionaires have overseen strips away their humanity.
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- I actually don't think they're capable of conscious thought. Like I seriously believe this level of wealth and extraction does something irreversible to your brain/soul
What do you think? We have no human enemies, but are billionaires human?
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Right now, when I look up from the lichens, I see rapacious men plundering everything they can. I see them blaming powerless people for problems they caused, with no regard or even a passing curiosity for the threads they rip apart. In time, they will cannibalize themselves. Until then I find strength in what I know is true: life is possible through nuance and connection, and we depend on each other in a very direct way. My life would look so small to these men if they ever deigned to perceive it, but no matter when I die, I will outlive them. - Soapbox member Heather Stone in her beautiful post "
Consider the Lichen"
Anyway that's my opening stream of consciousness for today's Changeletter where we'll LEARN about the new economy/what's not working for us in the economy we're in.
β¨ IMPORTANT REMINDER β¨ Grist 50 nominations are due this Friday. If Soapbox has made your life better in any way, will you please nominate me π₯Ίπ₯Ίπ₯Ί and any other climate leaders who deserve some flowers
Upcoming Soapbox events
βOur entire events calendar for ALL locations + virtual can be found here.
Your bite-sized action plan Reader
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LEARN by choosing an issue area below, reading the corresponding article, and applying it to your own Just Transition journey
Have you heard the phrase "Just Transition"?
It's a framework that builds economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative one. Before we dig into that, let's explore 4 facets of how unjust our current economy is and why this man is trash:
- Economic control chokeholds: the richest 1% now own 54 percent of stock and mutual funds, up from 40 percent in 2002. The top 10% own over 90% of business wealth! (Inequality.org)
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- Communications control: the #1 richest person in the world (Elon) bought Twitter, the #2 richest (Zuck) controls Facebook, IG, & Whatsapp, the #3 richest in America controls the Washington Post (The Guardian)
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- Banking: over the last decade, your bank may have been part of investing $6,900,000,000,000 aka 6.9 TRILLION DOLLARS in fossil fuel expansion (Banking on Climate Chaos Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2024)
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- Investing: your retirement money is also probably invested in fossil fuels! (FossilFreeFunds.org)
Now, explore this framework of the just transition. Based on what you just learned above, where are YOU willing to stop the bad and build the new? How will YOU divest from their power and invest in our power?
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We'll get into it more next week in our ACT module, so come prepared to take some action towards a just transition.
Get a headstart by choosing a new bank with Mighty Deposits or Bank Green or talking to Carbon Collective about your investments...or simply by sharing this Changeletter with a friend to start a conversation.
That's a wrap for our LEARN module! See you next week.
Love,
Nivi
P.S. again... Grist 50 nominations are due this Friday. If Soapbox has made your life better in any way, will you please nominate me π₯Ίπ₯Ίπ₯Ί and any other climate leaders who deserve some flowers
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