So here we are, living our lives. Just trying to get by. Trying to find our bit of happiness in the world. And then the world implodes.
All I wanted is to live in peace. To be around people I care about. Mostly mind my own business. To find meaning in my work, and to make my small contribution to make the world better. But I realized there are people working on burning the world to the ground, quite literally: dictators, fascists, greedy oligarchs and corporations are on track to destroy the world and everything we love, just to secure even more trillions of dollars in profits for themselves. How can we possibly cope with that?
The oil and gas industry worldwide made 2.8 billion dollars in pure profit - every single day over the last 50 years (source). We're facing an industry that can afford to buy elections, politicians, news outlets, TV channels, social media, create and fund pro-oil NGOs, and much more - and most of that with the profits of a single day. To add to that, it's in their interest to fund fascists, in order to destabilize governments. More power for very few people with money, less power for everyone else.
The evil forces are shockingly resourceful, organized, and loud. That means we have to be even more resourceful, organized, and even louder. Resourceful in numbers. Organized against evil. And our message has to be heard loud and clear from the rooftops: empathy and love!
Build your home-base: Talk with friends! Donate to causes you find worthy, like fact-checking news outlets and activists. Speak out if you see intolerance. Attend pro-democracy demonstrations. Boycott companies that spread fake news or extreme statements, and the ones that support extremists: Boycott Tesla, Meta, and fake-news spreading media. And if you haven't, close or at least abandon your accounts on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram! Join Mastodon and Bluesky, and rediscover the joy of having a like-minded and tolerant community! Spread the word on the positive news, because there are many!
I'd like to end this post on a personal note. To this day, my favourite band is the German punk-rock band Die Toten Hosen. I always liked their songs, and their lyrics connected with me in a special way due to personal experiences.
It just so happened that many years ago, while attending a live concert in Frankfurt, the front singer Campino threw an open beer can into the audience - and I was the lucky one to catch it, among many others who wanted to catch the can thrown by their idol. But the can landed exactly with the open hole around my middle finger, so I got a pretty scar. I've always laughed it off as a funny thing: "Hey, see - now I'll always remember my favourite band!"
Today, I decided it's time to lift that finger again - to send one message:
Fuck intolerance!
It's time to act. Let's get to work.
PS: follow me on Mastodon and Bluesky if my post resonates with you!
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