They Knew and Chose to Kill Us Anyway

When judgement day arrives

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

I'm not here to prove that big oil, governments, industrialists and other members of the bourgeoisie knew that spewing gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere would change the climate and destroy civilization.

The undisputed - yet underappreciated - fact is they fucking knew. They destroyed our habitat nonetheless. Indeed, we all knew - some more than others. But we all sat on our hands because we all benefited indirectly.

Acknowledging the system within which we are trapped, large forces have propagandized us away from even debating alternative pathways. As a result, most of us have never pushed for change. This has been going on for decades. They've brainwashed us so hard, it's considered "unamerican" to cut back on red meat.

If these obstacles were removed, would anything have turned out differently? Hard to say. We all suffer from recency bias. We're all highly influenced by our next paycheck. So maybe we're just as bad as the executives looking to pad next quarter's earnings.

Carl Sagan warned congress about climate change in 1988, but the effects of CO2 have been clear for about a century. Yet, it remains a controversial subject because oil companies, lobbyists, conservative think tanks and others have poisoned knowledge with doubt. Misinformation has been rampant since at least the 1990s. At the end of this missive, I've provided numerous examples to prove this point. But that's not why I'm writing this article.

I'm writing this is to consider the implications to those who willingly misinformed the public, dooming millions and billions to misery and, eventually, death.

What do you call it when someone knowingly promotes an action that leads to mass death? It it premeditated murder? Is it a crime against humanity? And what about all those people who disagreed with the status quo but needed a paycheck so they fell in line?

We held the Nuremburg trials for Nazi's - many of which were just "following orders" too. They were responsible for deaths in the 10s of millions. It turned out "just following orders" was not an adequate defense.

When it comes time to seek justice, hate will lead decisions.

Assuming we're not too busy fighting over a morsel of food, I want to believe anyone who is found to obscure the truth about the damage inflicted by burning fossil fuels will face justice.

There may be civilized trials, but more likely among the ruins and chaos I envision kangaroo courts, sham trials and summary judgements. This isn't necessarily how I wish justice to prevail, but when a parent can't feed their starving children, anger tends to overwhelm.

It's one thing to participate in the system that is destroying us. It's another to purposely lead individuals, businesses and the public attitude astray using propaganda.

There are so many examples of evil companies hiding truth from the public about carcinogens, poisons and environmental damage. The irony is that fossil fuel companies at one point had the best climate change research available.

Today, I think we can agree that those in power knew and did nothing about it. But what about us?

Like many German citizens after the fall of Nazi party, most people will feign surprise after years spent clinging to their SUVs and overseas vacations. Not to fall into the 'carbon footprint' trap, but we do share responsibility with those in charge of the system.

We can't get enough of bread and circuses. But we'll start paying attention when that's gone. Only then will we raise our heads above the grasses to see the lion pride closing in. Some will seek solutions. Many will vehemently oppose even the most rational request, calling it an encroachment on their personal freedoms. Everyone will seek someone to blame.

The fossil fuel industry that has been gaslighting us all these decades is the right place to point blame. Same with their enablers.

Plot twist: we know this today, but it may not be so clear in the future.

Here's the thing. As farm yields collapse, resource conflicts flare and basic infrastructure fails, oil executives and the rest of the kleptocracy will funnel their last dollars into ensuring they don't end up at the sharp end of a guillotine.

Instead, we'll be misdirected into believing people of a specific ethnic, religious or political group are responsible. When judgement day arrives, we'll sooner hang our neighbors than deal with the people we today all agree are committing crimes against humanity.

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They Knew

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO, Darren Woods, talks about reframing the climate challenge during the APEC CEO Summit

Shell knew too:

...and more...