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Somebody’s Gonna Win

November 5, 2024

(Recorded October 7, 2024)

Description

​​Somebody is going to win the upcoming US election. In a society deeply divided along partisan lines, individual identities and hopes/fears for the future may seem bound to a single choice: Republican or Democrat. Who wins is important, but if we take a step back and look beyond the short-term fervor of election politics, it becomes clear that what ultimately matters isn’t which person wins but how we – as individuals and as communities – respond.

In the long run, most things that will change the future are political. But our current government will continue to contribute to a future that is far from sustainable – regardless of who heads the next administration. The ‘bend not break’ moments of the future will require informed policies that go beyond what can be addressed in today’s political environment.

In today’s Frankly, Nate reminds us that the realities of our accelerating predicament go way beyond election results. Rather than filtering people solely by their political preferences, we should lean into the more profound and deeper ways of understanding and connecting with one another. And when it comes to the long-term stability and viability of our civilization, money and politics are secondary to the health of the biosphere and the non-renewable materials and energy which underpin it. Building on these insights, Nate provides a list of practical steps listeners can take before and after the election, regardless of the outcome.

In what ways are both political parties subservient to the dynamics of the Superorganism? How does election rhetoric keep us from confronting the issues that really matter? And what can we be doing, individually and collectively, to create a future of social and ecological resilience, no matter who holds office?

Show Notes

PDF Transcript

01:06 – Frankly on Wide-Boundary lenses

03:48 – The Superorganism

04:30 – US military spending data

04:43 – US debt data

04:54 – BRICS summit Kazan + key takeaways

04:58 – BRICS represents *45% of global population and 35% of GDP

05:07 – GDP growth: BRICS vs G7

05:33 – US greenhouse gas emissions data 

06:13 – Leaving the stability of the Holocene

08:25 – The issues which matter during elections

14:13 – Hurricane Helene in North Carolina

17:49 – Every-Gromen Roundtable

19:10 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin + quote

Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens

Nate Hagens is the Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF) an organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition. Allied with leading ecologists, energy experts, politicians and systems thinkers ISEOF assembles road-maps and off-ramps for how human societies can adapt to lower throughput lifestyles.

Nate holds a Masters Degree in Finance with Honors from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He teaches an Honors course, Reality 101, at the University of Minnesota.