So, who is responsible for the current mess and the resulting climate armageddon on Planet Earth?

Well, mostly everyone, to some degree. But mainly, industry owners and their CEOs along with politicians are to blame for the pollution of Mother Earth — and for all the lives lost as a result.

As the crisis heats up now and more and more people die or are displaced by extreme weather events, there will be cries for the guilty to face justice.

The working-class heroes — the peasants, as John Lennon called us — are guilty for not standing up to the wealthy and calling them out. We’re guilty of allowing ourselves to be herded like cattle, and going along with the status quo. We have behaved like “fucking peasants.” And I suspect the vast majority of working-class heroes will continue to bend over for their bosses, at the expense of the planet, until extreme weather smothers them to death.

In an earlier post, I talked about how the flower-power generation never lived up to its promising potential. They just went with the flow, and sold out. Their motto: Sha na na na na, let’s live for today.

But succeeding generations are following in their footsteps. They’re selling out, too. They’re being led by greedy capitalists and their fat-cat CEOs.

I suspect some office workers — who I have written about recently — will find themselves with a crisis of conscience this fall when said fat-cat CEOs try to force them to return to offices, carbon footprints be damned. The workers know for certain now that brick-and-mortar offices are mostly redundant. They know they don’t need to waste the money on travelling and parking — expenses that don’t concern CEOs and managers who see their parking and other travel expenses paid for by the company.

But if office workers don’t stand up to the mismanagement by CEOs and their managers this time and do take to the road in cars and buses to travel to said redundant offices, then aren’t they just as guilty as the fat cats ignoring the climate crisis now?

I suppose it really depends on if you care about the planet and what you are leaving for future generations. You’ll be able to see just how many people don’t care by the traffic jams.

Hopefully, more and more people will be asking if the CEO of their company is doing anything to mitigate the carbon footprints of employees. Are they encouraging employees to continue working from home with the environment in mind? If not, maybe employees should raise the subject with them. And if not the CEO, how about the board of directors?

I know I’m dreaming, and I know I’m not the only one, to paraphrase John Lennon’s Imagine.

But if there is any way you and your company can mitigate the climate emergency, please go for it. Get it on your CEO’s radar. Get them thinking about the role they have in, hopefully, saving the planet for their grandchildren and beyond.

And do what you personally can by reducing your carbon footprints.

Stand up for Mother Earth.

Speak out against the greedy fat cats.

— Jillian