CANADIAN ELECTION 2025

We Canadians had an election on April 28. There were six parties that, like our various religions, have beliefs that divide us. Ordered by their degree of belief, from the greatest to the least, in the economy, they are People’s Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Party, New Democratic Party, Bloc Québécois, and Green Party. We all worship the Economy as if it were our God. Their ‘ministers’ ‘sermons’ explain to voters the ways they will grow the Economy so it can supply us with more stuff. 

Those who actually believe democracy is the ‘real’ God’s gift to humanity were so enraptured by our election crusade they were unaware there was another disrupter in the race who was not Trumpty Dumpty. It was Nature. She has a simple platform: unite humanity; save Herself. She was in it to win. If she had won we’d all have won. But we won so we are all losers. Like other candidates, Nature had signs to spread Her message. Unlike those of other candidates, ‘Her’ signs were largely ignored.

The most significant sign notes our world population that was 4 billion 50 years ago is now 8.2 billion, predicted to be 9.7 billion by 2050 and 10 billion by 2080. These predictions ignore the fact Aug 1 is this year’s “World Overshoot Day”, the day we begin to run a resource deficit. Growing the economy can’t increase the supply of resources. So as we’ve been doing for the past 50, we’ll borrow from next year. If Leon Musk can’t find us another earth in the next year or two, Nature will call for a “cheque mate” long before 2050.

Another of Nature’s signs is a meter that indicates the world temperature exchange. It is telling us our earth is absorbing more heat than it reflects back into space. The increasing energy imbalance caused by the living of 8.2 billion people is diminishing our survival zone. Ironically, by the time the tech geniuses get their AI fully developed, presumably to be used to discover a way to save Nature, and us, the energy needed to run it, no matter whether clean or dirty, will likely close our survival zone.

Appropriately painted on a piece of plastic, the third of Nature’s many signs predicts humanity will produce 445 million metric tons of plastic this year. Most of it is discarded and eventually breaks down. The waste is so ubiquitous, micro bits can be found throughout our bodies, including in our brains. Recently it has been detected in afterbirth. Plastic bits in our brains can’t be good. Even without them being polluted by plastic we have breached our limits of asininity.

Finally but not the last of Nature’s signs says “the Amazon Jungle now expires more CO2 than O2.” This vast area of vegetation used to be called the “lungs of the earth” because of the oxygen it produced by photosynthesis. But its capacity to create oxygen has been decreased by increasing wild fires due to droughts, and purposeful slashing and burning to provide land to graze cattle and to grow soy beans to feed to cattle elsewhere around the world, to feed 8.2 billion people.

Although there are many more signs that indicate we are beating Nature to death, their consequences are like bullets in a gun. One can kill us so even more than one is overkill. Nevertheless, I chose to load 4 to emphasize the fact we are winning elections by a large margin and we’ve not got time to lose. Fortunately, losing elections to Nature although admittedly not easy, is simple and with just natural intelligence.

Since the election is mostly about money we can begin to lose to Nature if we quit believing life is a “Dragon’s Den”, and raze our vertical economy. A UBI won’t help because it doesn’t eliminate economic divisions. We can increase the possibility of a life saving loss to Nature if we also agree there is no “power in politics” and silence the debates which would have the unintended consequence of helping to slow global warming. With an open mind we can free our beliefs and hopefully just put Nature on the next ballot.

Democracy won. We are all losers.