Our current way of life was designed to serve capitalism which was sewn with colonialism, racism and sexism (the patriarchy) to construct the fabric of our oppressive society, each of us is a thread woven into it with our cultural principles and ideals. Capitalism has enabled the exploitation of the earth, people and labour within consumerism, we’ve been convinced that there’s no alternative. The shadows of imperialism and the legacy of colonialism allows the endless extraction from the land, which has continuously been impoverishing marginalized communities all around the world and in turn destroying the ecosystems we rely on — purely for the sake of infinite economic growth where profits matter more than people and the planet, it’s driven by corporate greed with power that can control governments. Whereas consumerism was initially used as a strategy to lift a failing economy, but we can’t just simply buy our way out of these problems.

“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” -Frederic Jamieson

We have to face the truth to overcome our complicity in this unfair system and demand justice. It’s as if we’ve become desensitized to human suffering and these tragedies, we get by with the blissful or willful ignorance that makes us passive and complacent. Why should we care? The basic desires of humans are generally the same — we always worry about our lives including our family and friends, we want stability with our jobs (no jobs on a dead planet) and we also seek some kind of purpose. If we genuinely cared about each other along with our surrounding environments, it’d be mutually beneficial for us and make our existence more meaningful. So once we approach life with radical imagination and empathy to think beyond ourselves, then we can alter our perspectives and way of living. 

We need to reconsider our core beliefs that guide us and start to question everything that we know and what we thought we knew. What were we taught that’s been deeply ingrained? What can we be more aware of? Since there’s so much to (un)learn and relearn, it’ll always be a constant process of reflections that’s going to be personal and very different for everyone. We might feel overwhelmed or defeated, but a shift in one’s mindset is the first step. Are we checking ourselves on the ways in which we contribute to what we're (fighting) against? What are our basic morals? What do we continue to enable? What attitudes and habits have to be changed? We can't keep living in delusion, so we must align our values with our actions. We should often make the best possible choice that's within our reach by improving our behaviours and lifestyles, or at least trying to do better because practice makes permanence — not “perfect” and the goal isn’t perfection, it’s progression.

Now is the time to raise our consciousness and live more intentionally as everything is interconnected — we need a holistic outlook that will honour the experience and knowledge of indigenous wisdom. We have to mend our relationship with the earth and reconnect ourselves to the natural world, but as well as with one another and build communities based on reciprocity. We should engage in more art and creativity to influence culture that will encourage widespread action. Everyone has something unique to offer but it can’t be accomplished individually, through collective efforts there’s a better chance at moving the needle away from this destructive society. We have to work towards effective solutions, otherwise we're just putting a patch to fix what's been broken when we should be trying to stitch a new world together. We need to rebel against the status quo with revolutionary acts to disrupt the current system, change societal norms and adapt. As we’re living in this pivotal moment of transformation, let us re-envision our future and evolve into a modern utopian reality rather than going back to business as usual.

“We need to reinvent our eating and drinking, our moving and working, in our local ecosystems and local cultures. Enriching our lives by lowering our consumption, without impoverishing others. And above all, we need to subject the law that govern production and consumption to the laws of Gaia; the laws of the planet.” -Vandana Shiva