Surviving the ecological emergency part 3

We've done the background to this is part 1 HERE  and in part 2 HERE we did Get a stake in the game, Go birding and Build Resilience. In this final part of this sick bed ramble it's time for Connect to a Network/Affinity Group and Defence.

 

4, CONNECT TO A NETWORK

Having your own personal stake can only be optimised if you multiple it's impact by connecting into a network which is moving and growing in the same direction as you. There is an organic club/society out there, i.e. not one under a centralised banner or control like an NGO, the UN or political party etc but just the naturally evolving network of people that are into nature- a galaxy of groups, individuals and organisations. Engaging primarily with the organic network by-passes much of the power struggles, political agendas and inefficiencies of anything centralised and puts the power in the hands of the individual to amplify their personal stake by contributing into supporting and growing that organic network. The whole thing can be rather ego-less and collective, in fact anonymity/insignificance is a feature of contributing to a vast galaxy like network which is ironically very empowering- quietly contributing to building an immensely powerful network and not stressing over popularity contests or having constant applause for every micro-effort you do is liberating and deeply affirming.   

It would be difficult to list the individuals, groups and resources I link into on a daily basis because it is so vast but some of the big resources I network into include the new big data/ big information systems and their apps like Ebird, Birds of the World,  Irecord, I-Naturalist, Birdguides, Lepiforum, ResearchGate, GBIF, Wikipedia, countless blogs, spotify podcasts, websites and social media accounts and I still subscribe to good old fashioned periodicals such as Dutch Birding, Atropos, British Wildlife, British Birds, Ibis and Ardea and because I'm an old bastad I still even buy books and have an extensive birding and natural history library which I pour over regularly. It's an entire universe. 

In addition to all the natural history and science groups out there there is also the nature/environmental friendly business and producer network. How we spend out money has to be the single biggest impact any of us can have on contributing to building the survival network. Each pound spent is a vote for either a nature destroying producer/company or a nature friendly product/company. In terms of democratic power, every transaction made in the global economy is orders of magnitude more important to how we cast our once in every three or four year votes for political 'leaders'. Of course it also not just about how we spend our money but how we earn our money too. Basically it's pretty obvious but the values we support and link into in the world will determine our probability of survival and degrees of success in it.  

The creative global organic natural history community is a beautiful, dazzling and extremely complex community/network with so much mind blowing stuff going on and whole heartedly welcomes contributions, data, papers, photographs, content etc etc at any level ability.  Being part of that is surely anyone's greatest chance of surviving the ecological emergency.  

5. DEFENCE

As everyone knows there is an entirely different network out there- the dark side of nature conservation and the dark green transition. Democracy has a dark side which is why elites always justify their crushing of the masses to keep them down. Indeed look no further than social media to prove the point of the Elites- it is full of toxicity,  gossip, trivia, mob lynching, talentless moron herders and the mass affirmation of low standards. Democracy really can be pure hell. Look no further than Beddington Farmlands to see this hell at a larger scale democratic process- two billionaire cousins through a chain of subsidiaries and shell companies, use the promise of ecological outcomes to exploit an area and destroy it's wildlife, an exploitation supported by hush money from groups like the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts (In the Crane Country project, they have named one of the Cranes Viridor!) while their tracks are covered up by CIEEM Ecologists and Local Authority Ecologist (who also conspire to destroy local nature conservation effort) and the local community are bought off with doggy biscuits (a community fund) and the local birders and naturalists are trained to obey and keep quiet by threats of access denial. There is no better example of the Dark Green World than Beddington Farmlands but unfortunately this 'algorithm' is one going on everywhere that leads to over-development and exploitation. Its almost the standard planning process. 

Look closer and you can see even though this exploitative process is billionaire driven, people at every level of society are helping them do it- even the local bird group is helping these billionaires destroy their own patch. This is how Elites crush the masses- through manipulating them to destroy themselves and their resources. Making them feel part of something important and then eating them for breakfast. It's basically a livestock model of dealing with humans- pat them, feed them up and then eat them.  This network is the destructive network of the planet. Death and Life cycles are just the natural order and these are the algorithms/ systems where things die. These cycles wax and wane and few would disagree we are now at a time of global crisis where destruction/chaos is increasing.   

So how can anyone defend them self from this growing destructive network/process.  You can't stop it (I proved that at the farmlands- too many people are compelled to follow near-obsolete system orders). Knowing it and recognising it is the best defence. Disengaging from it and engaging in the survival network is key. If you want to live- get in the correct lane, get out of the way and let nature takes it course.  Death and destruction eats itself eventually. Our old systems will eventually be replaced with AI and global computer management systems, democracy will be digitised and growth indicators will become more complex. The giant systems of our time will die like the dinosaurs- cataclysmically and suddenly. Eventually chaos will lead to a new alignment/a new order.  As an old order dies and a new one forms it is possible to see that new order/network forming today in embryonic form. Being part of that, staking out your own ground, building resilience, connecting into the network and going birding seems like not a bad idea as the best way of defending yourself and nature, getting through the evolutionary bottleneck and surviving the ecological emergency.