Climate Change is a Symptom | Rachel Donald
Entangled World
The Role of Activism in Systems Change
Exploring the role of activism in creating systems change and emphasizing the need for disruption and engagement with individuals to bring about effective change.
My guest today is Rachel Donald. Rachel investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. A climate corruption journalist, she is the creator of Planet: Critical, a podcast & newsletter read in over 125 countries, which explores the intersection of the energy, economic, ecological and equity crises. She also regularly presents on the relationship between systems and narrative, and is currently writing a book on violence.
Rachels speaks about her experience as a climate corruption journalist and how her reporting has revealed patterns of exploitation and extraction that are rooted in perverse economic systems. She talks about how she initially thought business was the answer to the climate crisis and came to realize that our for-profit economic system is directly opposed to a liveable planet.
Rachel explores how our capitalist system commodifies everything and pulls us apart so we can no longer rely on the collective and are forced to meet our needs in increasingly individualistic ways. We talk about where our ideas of separation might have originally come from…could it have been back in the days of Plato and Descartes who talked about the split between the body and mind, could it have been the invention of the plow which required us to feel like separate and superior beings to animals because you couldn’t torture an ox all day to do your farming work for you and still believe in its sacredness? However, our ideas of separation emerged, our fragmented consciousness may underlie the global challenges we face and a return to wholeness is now needed to avoid civilizational collapse. To close, Rachel shares inspiring examples of incredible work being done by people around the globe co-creating a more flourishing future.
This is a wide-ranging conversation! I hope you enjoy it, if you do please subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app or the entangled world Youtube channel.
Rachel’s Links & Resources:
Matt Leighninger, Planet: Critical podcast
Simon Michaux, Planet: Critical podcast
Ashish Kothari, Planet: Critical podcast
Books Mentioned:
The Dawn of Everything, David Graeber and David Wengrow
Other Resources:
Mongabay: independent news site that covers what’s happening to vulnerable people around the world, particularly indigenous peoples.
Johan Rockstrum, Planetary Boundaries
Entangled World explores our greatest, interrelated social, economic, ecological, and technological global challenges, their underlying drivers, and how a more beautiful world might emerge.
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