"This morning, I read this text by George Tsakraklides – and then took a look at my Twitter timeline.
The article works like those glasses from John Carpenter's “They Live”: you put them on, and suddenly you see everything as it really is. And it's even worse than you feared.
The roof is burning, the walls are crumbling, the foundation is being washed away by groundwater, while we sit in front of a screen and deal with the saga of a former pimp for rich people.
Our minds are being Epsteined, and we are so incredibly stupid that we are even paying for it.
Tsakraklides offers no comfort, no solution, no happy ending. Only the bitter truth: we are not part of a system that can be changed. We are the system—and we are the problem.
What this text reveals is nothing less than the complete bankruptcy of the human race – morally, ecologically, existentially. We are a parasite with delusions of grandeur, believing ourselves to be God while eating the last banana and setting fire to the tree.
This humanity was never really conscious.
It was efficient, yes – in plundering, in deceiving, in destroying. But not awake. Never. And that is why it will perish. Not through external force – but because it knows nothing else but to exploit itself until there is nothing left.
Do you want the gray pill, Neo – or would you prefer the other gray pill?"
What can I do? You say that we are potentially sentient at an individual level but not as a society, and I completely agree; the powerlessness felt at this individual level is overwhelming and frankly soul-destroying. Is there anywhere that these individual sentient people are collecting? A place where we can come together and start this fairytale shift you (don’t) wax lyrical about?
A realistic view of our society that is very out of balance, a parasitic beast. We have a long way to go if we are ever to be balanced. It may not be possible. We may have brainwashed ourselves with too much “profit motive.” Excellent clear view of this persistent harmful pattern.
Boiling it down to acreage is unhelpfully superficial. The short answer is, for a population of 8 billion we have significantly exceeded the sustainable acreage long ago. It’s not the acreage per person that matters but the TOTAL
This is sooo good. As I was reading it I thought of all the people I’d send it to…….then realized that some would bail because it was “too long”🙄 Then even more (most) who would be so unconscious of these ideas that they would think I was having mental problems and was “doomscrolling” too much and needed to “cheer up and look on the bright side”.
These are responses I’ve gotten from my own writings (though not nearly as good and powerful as yours) that I have sent to people in the past, pertaining to these ideas. I quit sending them. They all live in my “Notes” app on my phone……where they will perish when I do.
Brutal but not much to argue with. Any resistance to your language comes from a place within me that has learned, through the prevailing, dominant culture to be polite, shut up and make the best of what you have. Spiritual awakening is what many in the West are now realising is essential, , not to stop what is happening but to help hunker down as 'the ship' goes down. A bit like the orchestra that keeps playing as The Titanic sinks.......
I think one of the biggest problems with a good number of those that promote socialism or communism leave out how the whole Earth requires the same care and attention as workers do. Thank you for making this point!
To add to your point, in 2 days, the 24th of July 2025, we are hitting Earth overshoot day! How long have we been running this insane system as if we have 2 Earth's to draw resources from?
George, interesting read but not very accurate… I agree humans are quite destructive… rapacious… etc. and also resilient… adaptive… even semi-sentient...
However, it was not too long ago that massive ice sheets were the norm.
Some know we are part of the web of life.
Those who cling to the myth of individualism, or tribal/national identity… or our supremacy… believing their tiny thread of dna is more important than other threads are ‘asleep at the wheel.’ Driving the current great extinction.
Individualism and tribalism are not myths. They are perspectives with real consequences. They are behavioral traits. I choose to see myself as an individual. I don't want to be part of any tribe, other than the tree of life.
UB, yet each of us were born into, socialized by a certain ‘tribe’ or culture… there is some old saying about how you can’t step in the same river twice however, the river is the river. At least until it dries up.
And a beautiful, fairly quiet, somewhat cooler morn deserves a musical interlude. 15C, 62% humidity. A ‘marine layer’ occludes the sun as crows talk in the distance, a few chickens cluck, other birds, the swish of cars walks away, and again a train running fast through town. Tweet tweet. Oh, last night I heard the first cicada song of this season.
Our choices are important yet how to step out of our own footsteps… to transcend the current in past destructive cycles and walk into a better future. A better now.👣🐪🕯️
The tribe I was born into could be your tribe. What we have come to reject makes us individuals.
Did you know that King of the Hill translates well in Quebec? It's called Henri pis sa Gang. It's an indication that Texans and Quebecers share something in common. Maybe it's an attitude, I'm unsure. Language is not really a barrier.
All good points George, thanks. The paper and its peer-review oligarchy has been developed specifically as an evidential home base if you will. From here, we’ll break out the storytelling. Stand by. Loving your writing. A greed-less society, wouldn’t that be something. Alas, vulture capitalists circle in a neoliberalism infused world. There’s work to be done.
Thanks for sharing. A very complex paper. Thorough but too complex for a degrowth paper. Degrowth is about simplifying. You may want to do an essay version with clear problem-solution structure as this academic journal approach suffers from the baggage of evidence-based obsession of the peer-review oligarchy. Ditch the evidence and go nuts with your implications (which I missed) most of all, how can we transition to a value-based system without an existential, spiritual and greed-less society? You might benefit from collaborating with anthropologists and psychologists. That’s where all the work that needs to be done is. Ideas are abundant. But the will is nowhere to be seen because we are told we can’t move away from profit. That’s a blatant lie.
"This morning, I read this text by George Tsakraklides – and then took a look at my Twitter timeline.
The article works like those glasses from John Carpenter's “They Live”: you put them on, and suddenly you see everything as it really is. And it's even worse than you feared.
The roof is burning, the walls are crumbling, the foundation is being washed away by groundwater, while we sit in front of a screen and deal with the saga of a former pimp for rich people.
Our minds are being Epsteined, and we are so incredibly stupid that we are even paying for it.
Tsakraklides offers no comfort, no solution, no happy ending. Only the bitter truth: we are not part of a system that can be changed. We are the system—and we are the problem.
What this text reveals is nothing less than the complete bankruptcy of the human race – morally, ecologically, existentially. We are a parasite with delusions of grandeur, believing ourselves to be God while eating the last banana and setting fire to the tree.
This humanity was never really conscious.
It was efficient, yes – in plundering, in deceiving, in destroying. But not awake. Never. And that is why it will perish. Not through external force – but because it knows nothing else but to exploit itself until there is nothing left.
Do you want the gray pill, Neo – or would you prefer the other gray pill?"
Thank you for reading Jack 🌿✌🏽
What can I do? You say that we are potentially sentient at an individual level but not as a society, and I completely agree; the powerlessness felt at this individual level is overwhelming and frankly soul-destroying. Is there anywhere that these individual sentient people are collecting? A place where we can come together and start this fairytale shift you (don’t) wax lyrical about?
Yes. HERE. Welcome to the place. It’s not much, but it is what it is.
I am glad I have found it. 🙏🏻
✌🏽🌿❤️
A realistic view of our society that is very out of balance, a parasitic beast. We have a long way to go if we are ever to be balanced. It may not be possible. We may have brainwashed ourselves with too much “profit motive.” Excellent clear view of this persistent harmful pattern.
Thank you for reading 🌿✌🏽
As an individual, how much protected acreage of land does each one of us need to exist w/o damaging the biosphere?
Truly, I would like an answer or some kind of clarification to this 🙋🏻♀️ question.
Is there any equivalency now? Or all too late? ⏰
Boiling it down to acreage is unhelpfully superficial. The short answer is, for a population of 8 billion we have significantly exceeded the sustainable acreage long ago. It’s not the acreage per person that matters but the TOTAL
It depends, of course, on the landscape.
This is sooo good. As I was reading it I thought of all the people I’d send it to…….then realized that some would bail because it was “too long”🙄 Then even more (most) who would be so unconscious of these ideas that they would think I was having mental problems and was “doomscrolling” too much and needed to “cheer up and look on the bright side”.
These are responses I’ve gotten from my own writings (though not nearly as good and powerful as yours) that I have sent to people in the past, pertaining to these ideas. I quit sending them. They all live in my “Notes” app on my phone……where they will perish when I do.
I am sending it anyways
Keep writing, I’ll send you some $
Thank you for reading and supporting MWM🙏🌿✌🏽💀keep living in the Truth
Brutal but not much to argue with. Any resistance to your language comes from a place within me that has learned, through the prevailing, dominant culture to be polite, shut up and make the best of what you have. Spiritual awakening is what many in the West are now realising is essential, , not to stop what is happening but to help hunker down as 'the ship' goes down. A bit like the orchestra that keeps playing as The Titanic sinks.......
✌🏽💀
It's a quite pessimistic piece, but I assume you're trying to push for the last chances to awaken humanity by being harsh.
You can say that ..✌🏽❤️
I think one of the biggest problems with a good number of those that promote socialism or communism leave out how the whole Earth requires the same care and attention as workers do. Thank you for making this point!
To add to your point, in 2 days, the 24th of July 2025, we are hitting Earth overshoot day! How long have we been running this insane system as if we have 2 Earth's to draw resources from?
🌍✌🏽❤️
The call to replace "consume" with "borrow" is a small linguistic shift with profound ethical implications. Thank you for sharing.
I also have a personal question I wanted to ask, I left it inbox, when you have time please check it out.
Thank you
You are welcome
George, interesting read but not very accurate… I agree humans are quite destructive… rapacious… etc. and also resilient… adaptive… even semi-sentient...
However, it was not too long ago that massive ice sheets were the norm.
Some know we are part of the web of life.
Those who cling to the myth of individualism, or tribal/national identity… or our supremacy… believing their tiny thread of dna is more important than other threads are ‘asleep at the wheel.’ Driving the current great extinction.
Anyhow, 💦🐝🐪
Individualism and tribalism are not myths. They are perspectives with real consequences. They are behavioral traits. I choose to see myself as an individual. I don't want to be part of any tribe, other than the tree of life.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
UB, yet each of us were born into, socialized by a certain ‘tribe’ or culture… there is some old saying about how you can’t step in the same river twice however, the river is the river. At least until it dries up.
And a beautiful, fairly quiet, somewhat cooler morn deserves a musical interlude. 15C, 62% humidity. A ‘marine layer’ occludes the sun as crows talk in the distance, a few chickens cluck, other birds, the swish of cars walks away, and again a train running fast through town. Tweet tweet. Oh, last night I heard the first cicada song of this season.
Our choices are important yet how to step out of our own footsteps… to transcend the current in past destructive cycles and walk into a better future. A better now.👣🐪🕯️
Oh, here’s the musical interlude
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5SeY99CtYPU&pp=ygUPI25vbmFtZW9rYXkxMDAx
The tribe I was born into could be your tribe. What we have come to reject makes us individuals.
Did you know that King of the Hill translates well in Quebec? It's called Henri pis sa Gang. It's an indication that Texans and Quebecers share something in common. Maybe it's an attitude, I'm unsure. Language is not really a barrier.
Transitions to value is a degrowth mechanism. You may get something from our recent paper George. Love to hear your thoughts. https://rdcu.be/ettkX
All good points George, thanks. The paper and its peer-review oligarchy has been developed specifically as an evidential home base if you will. From here, we’ll break out the storytelling. Stand by. Loving your writing. A greed-less society, wouldn’t that be something. Alas, vulture capitalists circle in a neoliberalism infused world. There’s work to be done.
Keep me posted and thanks for reaching out!
Thanks for sharing. A very complex paper. Thorough but too complex for a degrowth paper. Degrowth is about simplifying. You may want to do an essay version with clear problem-solution structure as this academic journal approach suffers from the baggage of evidence-based obsession of the peer-review oligarchy. Ditch the evidence and go nuts with your implications (which I missed) most of all, how can we transition to a value-based system without an existential, spiritual and greed-less society? You might benefit from collaborating with anthropologists and psychologists. That’s where all the work that needs to be done is. Ideas are abundant. But the will is nowhere to be seen because we are told we can’t move away from profit. That’s a blatant lie.