Money, Money, Money

Image Credit - Oxfam

When thinking about climate change and how it relates to the 1% and to the rest of humanity, the flick Elysium comes to mind as we are heading toward that film's dark place at speeds not envisioned by scientists thanks to the inconvenient fact phase transitions are never linear. 

In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium - but that doesn't stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. 

Regarding the 1%, it's all about the money as one with enough resources, should take advantage of disaster in any way one can, right?

Just think about the future with me for a moment. First comes the Pyrocene — which is starting now, as the world begins to burn. Then comes what you might call the Aquacene — sea levels rise, and coastal towns, cities, regions, are inundated, flooded, begin to sink. Finally comes what I’ll call, somewhat inelegantly, the Mortalicene — when species just vanish, die off, fast, and whole ecosystems collapse, in ways that make right now look like nothing.

Now think about how much money there is to be made in each of those sub-ages of the Age of Extinction. The Pyrocene is already devastating harvests, and causing migration, burning down towns, turning the skies orange. Money, money, money. From simple stuff, like air filters, to shortages in crops which means agricultural monopolies squeeze both farmers and consumers, to construction, to more sophisticated goods, like finance and credit. Now think of the Aquacene. Who’s going to build the seawalls? How much is a contract for the seawall around…gulp…Manhattan…or San Francisco…worth? How much does a bottle of water cost, as the planet’s fresh water disappears? What about everything made from water, which is..everything? Money. Money. Money.

Finally, if you want, think of the Mortalicene — the age when great dyings really begin to happen. This species flees its habitat, crosses ours, and bang — time for a new pandemic. How much is the vaccine worth? The contract to provide a nation with masks and PPE? How much more expensive do food and water and energy get then? And what happens when — bang — this major city is suddenly, one day, too hot to live in. Whoops, dude — half a million people just died over there. Nobody can live there now. 

Now what? Labour shortages, raw materials shortages, meaning, money, money, money, if you remember the greedflation formula.

And so it goes - K. Vonnegut

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