Our Burning Planet

INTRODUCING A NEW CLIMATE ANTHEM

20Twenties: Eve of Destruction – Daily Maverick featuring Anneli Kamfer

20Twenties: Eve of Destruction – Daily Maverick featuring Anneli Kamfer

Discussions need to turn into action in one moment. There is a chance that we still have a chance. That moment is now. Please watch the video and let’s make sure that people stop doubting we’re in deep trouble and that this moment requires our fast, committed and comprehensive action. 

 

To watch 20Twenties: Eve of Destruction without reading the editorial, click here or on the video below:

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We have failed.

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I was urged NOT to start with this sentence. To be positive. There is still time. There’s still a chance. This can still be solved. That indeed is true, most likely. But to start solving the greatest problem we have ever faced seriously, we need to make two fateful admissions: 

  • We’re already deep in the calamity that may end civilisation as we know it.
  • The great majority of humanity either doesn’t know that, or, even worse, doesn’t care – sometimes viciously.

So…

We have failed.

As a civilisation, as the media, as a politically aware class, as the business elite, as the leaders, as the religions’ holy people, as their followers.

Our spiritual frameworks, our philosophies, our education institutions tried their best but failed to make us act and now prepare us for the incoming disaster.

We are, individually and collectively, responsible for the greatest heating of the Earth’s atmosphere since the Permian Extinction, about 250 million years ago.

We are afraid to even start considering the horror of a burning, stormy, angry planet that is rolling our way.

Most politicians of the modern age have lied their way into power and are lying their way into staying in power. Their individual careers have been the priority, almost never the public good.

The media has been missing in action for decades, focusing on present dangers and rarely looking up towards the future other than “the scientists warn…”. Even today, as it is now an undisputed fact that we’re facing a human-made catastrophe, we are not able to reinvent our approach to making our readers, viewers and listeners fully aware. 

Our lucrative ideological divides have created a whirl of confirmation biases, easing our days into preaching to the converted.

Today, the people of our planet may gain a lot of facts, but do not have much insight.

Very vocal climate activists have brought many issues to the fore – and forcefully so. But, in a way, they have also failed: most people switch off when faced with single-issue activism in a complex, complicated world that makes daily survival so onerous to so many.

The problem is just so BIG. And, so, the feeling of true urgency in the fight against the climate crisis is lost to the overwhelming majority of humanity.

Most of us KNOW things will get bad. Few of us UNDERSTAND things will get apocalyptic (this is a strong, but necessary, term).

Getting that sense of urgency is the toughest of reality checks in this conflict- and pandemic-riddled world of forever-war-by-all-means humanity.

So how do we get that understanding and sense of urgency to people?

We can publish thousands of articles, and we at Daily Maverick’s Our Burning Planet, and many other media teams, have done exactly that. We can produce documentaries and movies. We can televise debates and debate on television. We can picket at political summits. We can glue ourselves to walls at business conferences. We can chase oil tankers and make human chains around fossil-fuel power stations.

The truth is, none of it has worked so far. 

COP after COP, we fail to convince the world’s leaders to commit to meaningful action.

We are often fumbling our basic message, as in we’re not trying to Save Our Planet – Earth does not care for this transient civilization – we’re trying to save the human race on this planet.

We need an act of imagination that will change the discussion.

We need a super-butterfly to flap its wings and take us in another direction.

We need a message that will not be forgotten or forsaken.

We need a few minutes of forceful truth that will bring the truth in all its horror, but also leave us feeling energetic and empowered to do something.

We need a message that people will remember where they were when they saw it for the first time.

We need a message that will be heard again and again.

The force of truth must be short, sharp and unforgettable.

We believe such a message can be carried by a song, so that our coming years do not become a swansong of humanity. And we need to pack it in a little more than three minutes; it may just help us change our future. This is our contribution:

20Twenties: Eve of Destruction

This video will not solve anything on its own. But we have a chance here to make millions of people fully aware of the calamity hurtling our way.

We cannot have a solution until we all agree on a common reality.

Discussions need to turn into action in one moment. There is a chance that we still have a chance. That moment is now. Please watch the video and let’s make sure people stop doubting we’re in deep trouble that requires our fast, committed and comprehensive action. 

There is much more to come in the slipstream of 20Twenties: Eve of Destruction. This is just a beginning. Let’s talk about what we should do to avoid the catastrophe that we have tried our best to ignore for so long. DM

Gallery
Absa OBP

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Dawn Sproson says:

    Finally, an agreement we are not trying to ‘save the planet’ we have to save humanity. The planet will get on just fine without us. In loving the earth we have evaded the need to love each other. That is the only way to save humanity.

  • Giuliana Bland Bland says:

    This is hard-hitting as you intended. The video gave me chills as you intended. But what does the ordinary person like me practically do? The problem seems insurmountable and it feels too late for individuals to DO anything that will change what’s coming.

    • Marianne McKay says:

      I watch the unstoppable swathe of buildings, informal settlements, industry, gated estates crawling relentlessly over the planet eating everything in their path into a uniform concrete mass and it looks very much like the planet has Stage 4 cancer.

      Thank you for the music.

    • Malcolm McManus says:

      What car do you drive? How much fuel does it use per 100km? Can we get a more fuel efficient car? Can we buy a second hand car instead of a new one? Can you get a lift into work? We all need to think along these lines for starters?

    • andrew farrer says:

      Actually, you can do something! it may seem small, but cut back on the number of trips you make in your car. Ask yourself can i get there walking? Cut back on your electricity use – our power comes from burning coal . . .
      Vote for a political party that acknowledges that climate change is real and has a plan.
      By the way, great re-make of Barry McGuire’s 1965 (anti war) song.

    • Malcolm McManus says:

      Too many people on the planet. Every human on this planet is responsible for reducing the number of people that will exist on this planet for future generations to live a more sustainable and better quality life. We breed like rabbits. Look no further than our own population in South Africa. Globally there are too many consumers who each have a direct impact on the state of our planet. Controlling the population growth is the most effective way we can impact tomorrow. It will show massive results in just a few decades.

      • John Strydom says:

        Absolutely spot-on. It’s so obvious and apart from the Chinese the rest of the world, especially Africa, remains deliberately oblivious. It baffles me.

      • Andrew P says:

        a) Women in patriarchal societies with no access to contraception cannot be held responsible for overpopulation. In places where women have full bodily autonomy and access to reproductive healthcare, overpopulation is not a problem.

        b) In any case, rich countries where populations are shrinking still do far more damage to the environment than poor countries where populations are growing, due to the enormous disparity in consumption.

        c) I applaud your decision not to procreate.

        • Malcolm McManus says:

          This is not about men or women or poor countries. Its about the whole globe and too many human consumers. I doubt 200 years ago global warming was a big issue. When they have these climate change conferences and use massive amounts of carbon emissions to get to there, I strongly believe they should have a very big emphasis on global over population and how to tackle it. Less consumers, less production and carbon emissions. This can significantly positively assist climate change in 2 generations. Less than 50 years. So far all other attempts are showing little results and are too slow.

          • Andrew P says:

            “Every human on this planet is responsible” surely includes poor women in patriarchal societies who, as I say, cannot be held responsible.

            “Less consumers, less production and carbon emissions” is true if consumption per person remains fixed, but that’s not the case. The problem is not so much that there are more people in total, but that a certain class of people is consuming too much per person. Between 1990 and 2019, the poorest 50% of the world’s population was responsible for only 12% of emissions, and the richest 10% for 48% of emissions.

            So in response to your “Look no further than our own population in South Africa”, there actually isn’t much to gain by reducing the populations of poorer nations such as our own. It’s wealthier countries that need to cut back.

    • Andrew P says:

      What we really need are measures one would usually only see in times of war: rationing, victory gardens, special taxes and expropriations, etc. Any parties/movements advocating in this direction need all the support we can give them.

      On an individual level, my advice is to focus on the big things rather than obsessing over rinsing and recycling every little bit of plastic etc. Big things include:
      – Not travelling by air
      – Cutting animal products from your diet
      – Foregoing the latest gadgets and making your electronic devices last as long as possible
      – Carpooling / taking public transport / working from home
      – Making less use of large appliances
      – If you have investments, writing to your asset manager to demand a fossil-free option

      This may be humanity’s last stand, but at the very least let’s go down fighting!

  • Jane Crankshaw says:

    Thank you for this message – heartfelt and spot on. Both the song and the Oped are exactly howI feel and think. Apart from doing the obvious – recycling, downscaling, reducing one’s own emissions, cleaning ones own immediate environment….where and how do we begin????

  • Antonie van Wyk says:

    There is a virus on this planet that is far more destructive than anything that has ever infected the human race, that makes the black plague and COVID-19 pale into insignificance. It proliferates, maims, kills and destroys and is so powerful that it will ultimately destroy itself. There is no known cure or vaccine and the leaders of the world lack the will to find it. There is only one thing that can stop the virus, and that is if it changes its own DNA. The name of this virus is ‘humankind’ – somewhat of a joke as it is not at all kind. It is the only virus on this planet that not only destroys everything in its path, but also turns on itself and destroys itself. This is ironic as its sole purpose is its own survival, yet it is killing its host, which will lead to its own demise.
    Apologies for the dark image, but perhaps that might help to shock people into action?

  • Annemarie van Wyk says:

    Beautiful sad touching video.

  • Christine Strickland says:

    Music is such a powerful tool to ignite the souls of humans… this is a wonderful contribution to wake us up and Anneli’s voice is magnificent. Congratulations, all at Daily Maverick, for another incredible project.

  • Thomas Woods says:

    I am happy that I have not bought into this cult of fear and hopelessness. The earth has abundant resources, which have been exploited – mostly responsibly – to make our lives better. To have comments from one of your believers saying that people are a virus… wow, the propaganda is working.

  • Daniel Cohen says:

    Very appropriate that this should be launched on the eve of the Day of Atonement. Also brings to mind Leonard Cohen’s paraphrase of Ecclesiastes “who shall die by ….. etc” the original of which will be chanted tomorrow in synagogues all over the world

  • Siobhan Hanvey says:

    This song packs a huge punch. Annele voice conveys the message without any frills and I don’t believe we can put any frills on this message any longer. I need to have a serious think about practical changes I can make right now. I truly hope that this song goes gang busting and creates a movement but I’m going to start with me and my family and my home and do my best.

    Thank you DM good job!

  • Sheda Habib says:

    Panic, panic, panic.
    I have never trusted anything at face value when it from a bases of panic.
    Logic and leadership disappear with panic.

  • Thandi Davies Davies says:

    Thank you for your very brilliant, chilling and timely video. Anneli Kamfer’s voice is mindblowing.
    However this video still relys on traditional ‘shock tactics’, which, while harrowing, doesn’t necessarily help us change our everyday behaviour. We rather need more instructional videos with tips and tricks for what to do rather than being shocked in to a state of paralysis. Recycling is not enough. We need to stop our reliance on oil-based products and an oil-based lifestyle… But this is incredibly difficult when we rely on plastic, technology, and cars. It feels totally impossible at times. However I repost Andrew Park’s suggestions and add some of my own:
    – Refuse plastic containers of all kinds. If you must buy plastic, ensure it is recyclable.
    – Buy locally grown veg and meat, locally made clothes and technology
    – Buy second hand clothes & household items
    – Connect with your local community & local food gardens
    – Start or join a ‘library of things’ where household and garden tools can be borrowed and shared
    – Vote for green political parties
    – Do not travel by air
    – Cut or reduce meat & dairy from your diet
    – Forego the latest gadgets and make your electronic devices last as long as possible
    – Carpool / take public transport / work from home
    – If you have investments, shift to fossil-free options
    – Invest in solar power
    – Plant locally indigenous plants
    – Don’t waste food <3

  • Nanette JOLLY says:

    When people take more than they need
    This is what I would call greed.
    More water, more air, more space, and more stuff.
    Don’t people know that enough is enough!

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