Shaping the Future in Times of Upheaval

We stand at numerous global threshold points simultaneously, in the midst of profound transformation that touches every corner of our lives. The world as we know it—society, government, our economies, sense of who we are and international relations—is undergoing seismic disruptions at an unprecedented scale. These changes are not just confined to the US, where the Trump administration is generating mass disruption, but are also independently unfolding worldwide, as radical shifts ruthlessly dismantle the old order.

Whether we view these upheavals as positive or negative, it’s undeniable that life as we’ve known it is becoming increasingly unrecognizable in the midst of intense momentum, redirections, endings and beginnings.

At the heart of this evolutionary transformation and redefinition lies the need for minds, hearts and belief systems to change as these relate to the interconnected forces driving the polycrisis of: shocking political events and movements, economic instability, world order upheaval, healthcare challenges, technological advances, environmental crises, and human rights struggles. These elements have collided and are reshaping our future in ways we cannot ignore and that must be addressed.

As we experience this tumultuous period, one thing is clear: we are witnessing the breakdown and hollowing-out of old systems, and the future will be shaped by how we creatively respond and adapt to the zeitgeist of these sweeping changes.

This era over the next 20 years in particular, despite and because of its chaos, holds the potential to be the most shocking, empowering, and freeing time of our lives—totally re-writing all - if we can navigate its significant challenges and radical waves with resilience, solidarity, and purpose.

Some of our most critical global threshold points include:

... Rising Autocracy & Authoritarianism: The increasing rise of far-right movements and authoritarian governments worldwide

... Climate Crisis: Accelerating environmental destruction, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events

... Corporate Power Over Government: Influence of powerful corporations and lobbying groups controlling policy and legislation

... Technological Control & Surveillance: Expansion of AI, surveillance systems, and digital surveillance that threaten privacy and civil liberties

... Economic Inequality: The widening wealth gap, exploitation, and growing power of multinational corporations and tech oligarchs

... Erosion of Democracy: Political polarization, corruption, and the undermining of democratic institutions and processes

... Global Health Disparities: Inequitable access to healthcare and lack of preparedness for future health crises

... Human Rights Violations: Widespread human rights abuses, particularly in conflict zones and marginalized communities

... Migration & Displacement: Mass migration due to conflict, climate change, and economic instability, leading to humanitarian crises

... Weaponization of Technology: Autonomous weapons, cyber warfare, and the militarization of AI and robotics

... Collapse of Global Systems: Fragile economic, political, and social systems that are near breaking points under the pressure of global disruptions

... Cultural and Social Fragmentation: Deepening social divisions, identity politics, and fragmentation of communities on national and global levels

These are interconnected, critical tipping points where change is inevitable, although outcomes remain uncertain at this time and are dependent upon the choices we collectively make and how much we love and value life.

This piece aims to explore aspects of these — some in greater detail than others — not to spread fear, but to speak to the need for love, awareness and action, and to provide a grounded understanding of the forces shaping our world.

In an age where the status quo is crashing (or needs to) and an uncertain, new reality is taking form, how prepared are we to change ourselves that we may more capably influence the course of this transformation and these threshold points? Awareness is the first step, and resilience and action are more vital than ever.

We are also entering an era of rebellion—against authoritarianism, oligarchy, the rise of AI, and the growing control over our lives through elites and technology. The battle is not just for political power but for the very soul and essence of ourselves as human beings. To creatively respond to this upheaval, we must first awaken to the magnitude of these changes. Denying or ignoring them only ensures their success.

The old world order—“business as usual”—is gone and will never return. Just as in past revolutionary times like the radical establishment of the Church of England by King Henry VIII and the ransacking of all the monasteries, the fall of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire, and the American and French Revolutions, we now find ourselves at the cusp of a similar shift.

While some elements of the past will endure, much will be swept away, and the future will demand new ways of thinking and being.

For the past four decades, both sides of the political spectrum have embraced war, deregulation, surveillance, and neoliberalism, paving the way for the current crisis. Systemic failures—such as the 2008 financial collapse and the Iraq War—have been shaped by decisions across the political spectrum, with little accountability for those responsible. The
result is an anxious world rife with economic and environmental instability, deep mistrust of traditional institutions and leaders, a rising tide of nationalism, and backlash against globalization and progressive social movements.

Across the globe, from the US to Hungary, Italy, Germany,Poland, France, India, Turkey, Israel, Russia, the UK, Brazil, and Argentina, far-right movements are gaining ground. Exploiting fear and uncertainty, they promise control as a solution to chaos, while simultaneously deepening and exploiting divisions. By blaming marginalized groups—migrants, minorities, the poor and different ethnic groups—for societal problems, these movements serve to distract and divide.

In reality, the wealthiest elites, with their unchecked power, are significant drivers of our collective struggles.

This moment of crisis is not an isolated phenomenon. We are witnessing the collapse of old systems in a world that has yet to define the new. This is just past the crest of the rollercoaster after decades of tension, and the ride has just begun. In these times of upheaval, it’s easy to fall into blame, nostalgia for a past that no longer exists, or panic about an uncertain future.

But rather than retreat into fear, spiritual bypassing, hopelessness or magical thinking, we must face these realities with clarity and engage in conscious, intentional action from places of deep connectedness, presence and passion.

As we move forward, the question is not whether we can survive this era of radical change—but how we will rise to meet it. The future is not yet written, and it will be shaped by those who awaken, resist harm, heal, act in solidarity with others and love enough to care enough.In these transformative times, our ability to adapt, evolve, envision and fight for a more just and humane world will determine the course of history.

This essay will cover the following:

· Introduction
· A Burning to the Ground
· Just One Flood and Just One Battle for Control
· Radical Social Engineering & the Tech Billionaires
· Toxic Leaders, Predatory Leaders
· A Staggering Conglomeration
· So Now What
· What Matters Now for We, the People
· A Global Movement
· Conclusion

Introduction
Last year, I wrote extensively about Oneness and the Web of Life, using Gaza as a lens to examine the escalating polycrisis and the threats facing humanity, the Earth, and all its species. It was a call to recognize why caring matters, and an appeal to come together.

I highlighted Gaza as the canary in the coal mine—a litmus test revealing the true (psychopathic) nature of certain leaders and ideologies. The normalization, support, protection, arming, and celebration of genocide, including the burning alive of babies and children, are not only crimes against humanity in Gaza, but also harbingers of what could eventually affect everyone, albeit in different forms.

Gaza was a wake-up call for millions around the world, andit continues to be so as the violence continues and ‘Gaza-ification’ spreads throughout the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. To name just one region of our globe.

His words highlight the depth of global complicity in the atrocities that not only include mass killing, violence and starvation, but also the complete trashing of International Law, the trashing of which means nobody is safe.

Now, as we move through 2025, the year has begun with an intense and apocalyptic start across many parts of the world...

Mass protests have erupted in Argentina, the US, Spain, Serbia, and Germany, all in response to far-right governments, coups, abuses, and rising authoritarian movements. The Middle East remains dangerously inflamed, and transnational climate catastrophes—such as fires, droughts, and floods—have decimated homes, infrastructure, and lives, leaving millions homeless and stateless. Manmade humanitarian crises and genocides in Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Congo, Ukraine, and Burkina Faso are claiming countless lives and displacing millions. Meanwhile, the rise of AI and the global surveillance state has revealed a techno-feudalism poised to irrevocably alter the world forever.

It is clear that the world as we knew it is being radically upended. The structures that once appeared stable and reliable are being systematically dismantled in an organized demolition. The veneers of democracy, civility, tradition, decency, and care have fallen away, just as they have in past historical upheavals. Along with these masks, the institutions once fought for and revered—once seen as ironclad—are also crumbling.

At the same time, we are witnessing the exposure of systems built on racism, supremacy, domination, colonization, corruption, and exploitation. These systems are under attack, whether by design or force, and are also being exposed and/or destroyed, regardless of their perceived value. This includes countries, alliances, and millions of people who are being severed from familiar systems, livelihoods, and safeguards that once provided security.

Current leaders, enablers, and evolutionary agents are revealing hidden truths, saying the once-quiet parts outloud, unmasking corruption, and / or burning down systems and alliances that were once thought to be untouchable. While some of these structures may survive, others will not.

We are experiencing a complete reordering of the world.

A Burning to the Ground

Whether we call it the inevitable outcome many have long seen coming, the anticipated recalibration of life as we know it, karmic fallout, the rise of fascism, or the collapse of old belief systems, ideologies, and policies—it’s all unfolding simultaneously in cascading, interconnected chaos and shock.

Responsibility, accountability, ethics, morality, humanitarianism, justice, peace initiatives, reconciliation, and transformation have been glaringly absent from the evolutionary equation for some time. Now, the storm has arrived, bringing everything to the forefront. As discussed last year, we are being confronted with the need to navigate and radically transform ourselves and our world for a new evolutionary era.

It’s a “shock and awe” moment—unsettling and brutal. No one knows the outcome because we’re in the midst of it, even as many parties are actively writing it, or attempting to.

Across the globe, devastating events are playing out: deportations, purges, ethnic cleansing, the demonization and targeting of minorities, punishment of dissent, the rise of fascism and authoritarianism, the dismantling of public institutions and workers' rights, the gutting of oversight and social programs, bypassing international law, and the existential threat posed by a growing technocratic surveillance state.

Why this call to action? Because it’s important to throw sand in the gears of what’s harmful, whatever that harm may be, because it's all connected.

Those who attended my seminars or read my blogs 10-15 years ago will recall my discussions about entering a time of “Apocalypse” (from the Greek apokálupsis), meaning a revealing or unveiling. The final newsletter of December 2024 focused on 2024 as a year of warning and reckoning. It exposed how global systems—political, spiritual, technological, and economic—are propped up by outdated, destructive belief systems that no longer serve Life. The need to come together and face our shadows became urgent to avoid being overtaken by them.

In the 5-Part Series Who Bombs Hospitals and Inherits the Earth?, we examined the interconnected global causes and the dark forces driving not only genocide and ecocide in Gaza but also the same corporations and groups behind the escalating crises that are reaching our doorsteps in this eleventh hour. These forces, which have been gaining momentum for at least 40 years, are now bearing down on many of us.

As we move through 2025, we are beginning the radical reconfiguration of society. A collective revolution and evolution, driven by mass disruption and technological change, will accelerate throughout the second quarter of this year and beyond.

There is a global “burning to the ground”—whether it’s in Gaza, the West Bank, the EU, Ukraine, Congo, or the US.

As traumatic as it is, this destruction can lead to transformation and the birth of new orders, albeit painfully for many. What those new orders will be—politically, culturally, socially, spiritually, technologically—depends on each of us.

Everything is interconnected, and everything is political. We are just beginning to ascertain what will emerge to fill the vacuum left by the destruction.

And …

Who will seize control of the narrative in the midst of this shock and destruction? Who will be cannibalized by this process?

We don’t yet know the extent to which global momentum can confront or mitigate the harm and destruction underway, nor how well-organized this resistance might be.

We don’t yet know the mechanisms by which national and international laws and bodies will act—or even if they will survive and be able to stand against rising authoritarianism, fascism, or the acceleration of AI-driven control.

For some in the Global North, this wrecking ball may feel like a new phenomenon. For others, particularly minority groups in the Global North and populations in the Global South, it’s business as usual. These communities have long lived under the weight of continual violence and destruction, often at the hands of Global North nations, which have ruthlessly exploited their land, labor, resources and weaker status.

However we experience it, we are bound together through our interconnectedness in the Web of Life. We are now being called to commit deeply to this world, to reality, to the Earth’s sacredness, and to one another in solidarity, creativity, and care. We are being asked to care for our brothers and sisters, because we have far more in common with them than with those in power.

How valued do you feel in relation to those in power? Are they considering you in their decisions, or are they serving their own interests?

We are being relentlessly confronted with the need to clarify what belongs and what doesn’t in a new story—so we can ensure we have a voice in writing it, rather than letting it be written by those who act only for personal and political gain.

One thing is certain: there is no magical “New Earth” that will simply emerge out of thin air. The more we believe in this fantasy, the more we hand over our power and allow the Earth, its creatures, and even ourselves to burn. It’s time to fully find our voices and take a stand.

Just One Flood and Just One Battle for Control

One of the key evolutionary factors here is fully knowing that our beingness is inseparable from the Earth and the fate of the Earth and its peoples.

And so by now, we must surely be all coming into the realization that in this dream-reality the characters our Souls have chosen to play, any one of us—ourselves or our loved ones—could become homeless, jobless, ill, displaced, or targeted by forces beyond our control, at any given time. Whether it’s a flood, earthquake, executive order, war, cancer diagnosis, or deportation, we are all just one event away from disruption.

The global crises we face—political, cultural, financial,spiritual, environmental, social, and technological—are all interconnected, and they demand urgent, transformative responses. The systemic inequality and injustice, racism, climate change, and endless wars (in the US, for example, eight trillion taxpayer dollars have been diverted from infrastructure, jobs et al and instead spent on the War on Terror since 9/11) are all deeply rooted in outdated belief systems founded on separation, greed, elitism, exploitation, and dehumanization. These forces are coming home to roost in what can be described as ‘Imperial Boomerang.’

At its core, we are witnessing a battle for the narrative between two paradigms: the “dominator paradigm,” as described by Riane Eisler, and the emerging “partnership paradigm.” The dominator paradigm, characterized by elite-based, centralized, authoritarian control, is being challenged by a potential shift toward decentralized, horizontal, and more democratized leadership—a multipolar vision.

… referring to the global struggle unfolding across movements. This battle is particularly intensified by the rise of Tech
Billionaires who hold immense power, wealth, and influence, further driving the demolition of old structures. Themselves a unipolar, transnational hegemon.

Technology, and its manifestation through global surveillance, is a key disruptor and facilitator in this transformation. It’s
no secret that technological advancement has outpaced our moral and ethical considerations. In the months and years ahead, the value of humanity, the Earth, and our collective well-being will become central themes.

In the US, Project Stargate—a joint venture between OpenAI, Softbank, Oracle, and MGX—has garnered attention. Planned since 2022 and formally announced in January 2025 on the first day of Trump’s presidency, it promises an investment of up to $500 billion in AI, with 800 centralized data centers being built across the US. While this may offer job creation and technological advancements, including potential improvements in healthcare, finance, education, and agriculture, it raises serious concerns about prioritizing surveillance, military interests, and profit over public welfare.

Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and a key figure in Project Stargate, has stated that AI will be used to monitor both law
enforcement and citizens through a vast network of cameras. He envisions a future where police cars are replaced by autonomous drones, with surveillance becoming all-encompassing.

Meanwhile, in the EU, a biometric entry/exit system (EES)will replace physical passports, digitally logging travelers’ movements. In Gaza, sniper drones and other AI-driven surveillance systems are already in use, with these technologies being “field-tested” on Palestinians. This has led to the global exportation of such systems, as detailed by Antony Loewenstein in The Palestine Laboratory. These technologies are being deployed worldwide for border control, law enforcement, and the violent suppression of protests, climate refugees, and war refugees.

The militarization of borders and the rise of surveillance states have become a familiar reality for desperate migrants attempting to cross into the Global North. As journalist and author Chris Hedges points out, the same systems—drones, walls, checkpoints, detention centers, and surveillance—are used to violently control the movements of migrants as they
do Palestinians. These tactics of control, brutality, and dehumanization are now widespread.

This convergence of technology, surveillance, and global injustice is a reminder that the very systems built to control and exploit are increasingly visible—and increasingly interconnected. What remains to be seen is how these systems will be confronted, and whether we can build a future rooted in freedom, justice, care, and collective action.

Radical Social Engineering

Tech billionaires and crypto magnates have poured significant money into politics and think tanks, making their influence more public. Big Tech, which emerged from the Military-Industrial Complex, and the billionaires behind it, envision dismantling the current political and social order. Their goal is to build opt-in, blockchain-based "network states," borderless communities, and privatized cities that function like corporations, governed by digital social contracts and AI. These cities and countries could be decentralized and even created from a computer.

Some examples of these network states include Patchwork, Prospera, California Forever, and Praxis.

These plans rely on the dissolution of local communities and the crumbling or deliberate fragmentation of nation-states, facilitating massive power grabs and privatization. This would allow for radical social engineering and experimentation, free from laws or regulations, and guarded by powerful robot armies.

The Tech Billionaires aim to overthrow the old order and remake the world.

Curtis Yarvin has been a mentor to both Peter Thiel and US Vice President, JD Vance, both of whom advocate for Yarvin’s ideas. Peter Thiel has also long mentored JD Vance, and also donated / spent approximately $15 million dollars of his own money to secure JD Vance’s Senate seat, as well as orchestrated the endorsement from Donald Trump for JD Vance to be his running-mate for Vice President. The $15 million was the largest ever donation in American history for a Senate candidate.

A disturbing elitism and supremacist contempt for the general population runs through these visions, and it’s essential to recognize that none of us are exempt from this disdain. In the same way the poor and those of the Global South don’t matter to these people, you don’t either.

Peter Thiel’s company, Palantir, not only supports Israel’s military systems but is deeply embedded within the US administration. Palantir software is used by the Department of Defense, the CIA, Homeland Security, the FBI, ICE, the US military, and international law enforcement. Thiel is also a major funder of Pronomos Capital, a company focused on building network cities globally.

Google’s new chip, Willow, is capable of solving computational problems in mere minutes—problems that would otherwise take a classical computer millions of years. Meanwhile, Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov’s 2045 Initiative aims to transfer human consciousness into artificial bodies by 2045 to achieve cybernetic immortality.

AI currently operates in a regulation-free zone, and the questions that arise are critical…

Who will control this technology? Who profits most from it? How will humanity be treated in this new reality? Who will govern these cities, and will the rest of us be included? As technologies like Project Stargate and AI-driven systems in Gaza raise concerns about ethics, surveillance, censorship, and breaches of privacy, we must ask: Will these advancements exacerbate or solve our global crises?

Will our governments and the Tech Billionaires release technologies that could provide clean, abundant energy, or will they use them against us? Will they develop models to mitigate climate change, and who will ensure compliance? How do we ensure that these technologies benefit humanity and respect the Earth?

What needs to be in place for Big Tech to be held accountable? Will new technologies level the playing field for humanity, or will power remain concentrated in the hands of the few? If power is decentralized, what mechanisms will ensure this?

As we undergo this radical transformation, who will write the story of our future? Will we evolve spiritually and socially enough to confront abuses of power and use these tools responsibly? Will we reclaim the power we’ve surrendered?

Toxic Leaders, Predatory Leaders

If these leaders and groups can bypass establishedinstitutions and protocols, or condone atrocities like burning babies alive in Gaza for 15 months, or deny you life-saving medical treatments, do you really believe they care about you?

If they can poison the Earth, contaminate our food, water and air, commit ecocide in the Amazon, and perpetuate wars and environmental destruction, do they care about the conditions necessary for life and planetary well-being? Do they care about the threshold points?

Their actions make it clear: they are not concerned with the planet’s future, soil quality, air, or the survival of the Earth’s ecosystems, or human beings. Their wealth shields them from the reality they’ve created and the millions they’ve harmed and that they continue to harm.

They spend vast amounts on PR campaigns to character-assassinate or smear their opponents into submission and muddy the waters so we can’t think straight and take them on. Counter-revolutionary measures like ramping up censorship, militarizing the police, passing questionable legislation, rigging the courts, and promoting "divide and
rule" strategies are part of the agenda.

Has their wealth contributed to global well-being? According to Oxfam’s January 2025 report Takers, Not Makers, the wealthiest 1percent in the Global North extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South in 2023. In 2024, billionaire wealth grew three times faster than in 2023, highlighting a pattern of wealth extraction, not creation. These elites
monopolize, cannibalize, and exploit—they are not helping you or me.

Since Donald Trump’s election alone, Elon Musk’s net worth increased by $170 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg’s grew by nearly $41 billion. This wealth surge reflects an ongoing pattern of profit extraction from the global economy, not a contribution to the common good.

Troubling, too, are the elaborate "apocalypse-proof" bunkers and private island fortresses built by these elites. Companies like SAFE specialize in constructing these shelters, complete with moats to keep humanity away. Their obsession with space exploration and colonization further illustrates their detachment from the planet they are destroying.

As author, social activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein recently stated, these elites are prepared to "torch" the planet for
profit, and some view the end times as an opportunity for salvation. They believe they are the chosen ones who will survive the collapse, leaving the rest of us behind. Their wealth allows them to act as if they are gods, insulated from the consequences of their actions.

These elites are playing a “winner-takes-all” game, fully aware of the crises they have accelerated. Many are convinced that the worse things get, the more likely they are to be saved while the world burns around them.

In times of crisis—whether manufactured or natural—policies are implemented to sell off national assets, public infrastructure, and natural resources to private investors at rock-bottom prices, transferring wealth from the people to the elites. This is disaster capitalism in action.

As Naomi Klein (in her book, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism”) and others have documented, these elites view the planet as expendable, and their vast wealth shields them from the devastation they have caused.

The question is: when the collapse comes, where will the rest of us go, and who will ensure a future that prioritizes humanity and the Earth over profit and control?

A Staggering Conglomeration

Billionaires, oligarchs, plutocrats, tech billionaires, andtransnational corporations have amassed unparalleled power through a vast network of think tanks, lobby groups, academic institutions, military and police forces, international economic sectors, secretive dark money networks, political apparatus, media conglomerates, legislation, and government allies. These entities collectively shape political discourse and wield influence, often by sponsoring political figures or even orchestrating removals of those who stand in their way.

The power they’ve consolidated rests on a paradigm of domination and greed that has reached a deeply entrenched stage. This is a realization about a group of individuals with extreme wealth, influence, and power, who, rather than upholding ethical or moral principles, actively pursue their own interests at the expense of the common good. Their actions primarily serve their own agenda, rather than protecting the national interest or the well-being of ordinary people.

This massive consolidation of power has led to the creation of an increasingly dystopian environment for the majority, leaving vast swathes of humanity in despair. Broken individuals, struggling to survive in a world stacked against them, are tossed aside in many parts of the world, even in so-called "first world" countries.

And worse still, this all happens using the taxes we pay.

The corrosive influence of money in politics means that leaders, elected to represent us, often reflect the interests of the powerful entities that funded their campaigns. These leaders become figureheads, owned and constrained by the same lobby groups, corporations, weapons manufacturers, and other powerful actors that fund their positions. These groups seamlessly switch sides and play both ends when it suits their interests.

It is essential to understand that these powerful elites have no allegiance to any particular nation or its citizens. They have no loyalty to the protection, stability, or success of a country’s people, its economy, or its environment. Their loyalties are entirely global, and their allegiance is to capital and power, not to countries as we traditionally understand them. This will be less as borderless, networked communities, states and nations take shape. In the same way they exploit and sacrifice people and environments overseas, they harm you and pillage your laws and resources in
countless ways. And why? Because they serve themselves, not the people. Because the progress they envision doesn’t always include humanity or morality.

For them, it is no longer about upholding laws, protections,or regulations. It is about tearing down all limitations, regulations, and restraints in order to plunder what was once protected—privatizing everything in sight to build their tech-driven utopias, states, empires, and escapes.

This stark declaration highlights their readiness to engage in the most drastic measures for their own gain, revealing the ruthlessness of their approach. The balance of power is increasingly tilted in their favor, and the rest of us are left to pick up the pieces.

So Now What?

While the current situation is undeniably challenging, it is essential to understand that these interconnected issues - inflation, deregulation, job insecurity, tech control, genocide, homelessess, climate devastation, inadequate health, trashing of International Law - are driven by the same powerful entities across the globe. These issues are not isolated; they are the result of systemic forces and global elites who exploit these crises to further consolidate their power.

However, in the face of these crises, there is an opportunity to act. We must come together, be organized, connected, and ready to seize the moment. The ruptures happening in society offer a unique opportunity for collective empowerment and for new, more inclusive narratives to emerge.

This process, although jarring, is also liberating. The escalating crises and the blatant demolition of existing systems force us to awaken, adapt, and create. We no longer have the luxury of ignorance. In this void, we have a choice: Will the future be shaped by autocrats and tech billionaires, or will it be shaped by humanity?

Societal change was always inevitable. Whether fast or slow, empires and systems have always risen and fallen throughout history. What remains relevant to the new world will endure, and the rest will transform or simply be no more. Now is a critical time. The raw energy and potential of this collapse can fuel new alliances, new stories, and new ways of organizing.

The age of instant information allows us to know what is happening and, accordingly, to shape the raw power that is unfolding. Like during times of revolution, we now have greater agency to act and shape the evolution of society.

What Matters Now for We, the People?

So, what matters now is deciding what we value and what we will stand up for in the face of this chaos. As the elites and powerful lobby groups try to consolidate more power and control, it is essential to ask ourselves tough questions about our lives and how we want to shape the future.

We must reflect on:

• How we feel about surveillance and AI in our lives
• What rights and institutions matter to us
• How we will discern truth from propaganda
• Whether our jobs or skills will be replaced or dehumanized by technology
• How we will resist autonomous weapons, robot surveillance, and dehumanizing systems
  

Inaction and denial send the message that we are willing to be left out of this process. If we want to resist this power grab, we need totake intentional steps:

• Be aware of what is happening to avoid being sidelined
• Strengthen our resilience and nervous systems
• Focus on what truly matters
• Be non-compliant with harmful systems
• Connect with others across races, classes, and backgrounds for mutual support and empowerment
  

This is a collective effort, and it will come from thepeople, for the people, and in solidarity with the Global South who are alreadyawake and aware.

Together, we rise by:

• Awakening from apathy and complicity into greater love, empathy, empowerment
• Grounding ourselves with personal tools like meditation, healing practices and otherprac tices that support connection, presence, health and stability
• Liberating ourselves from centuries of harmful belief systems
• Developing new stories of freedom, thriving, hope, justice, and sustainability
• Committing to humanity, the Earth, and all its inhabitants
• Developing a spirituality that does not condone abuse but opens us to healing and justice
• Building resilience for the long road ahead
  

Now is the time to resist harm, fight for our rights, andcreate systems that prioritize life over profit.

We can:

• Educate ourselves and others about our interconnectedness with all living systems
• Stand up for the rights of others and the Earth
• Protect ourselves and others from violence and exploitation
• Heal, build community, and create structures based on respect and reciprocity
• Empower mutual aid networks and create safety nets outside the predatory market
  

We are not alone in this struggle. Across the world, millions are already awake and others are awakening to the realities of what’s happening in our names, with our taxes, and to the Earth. We come from all walks of life and we rise.

Whether we're journalists, artists, healers, doctors, students, workers, or environmental activists, our collective power is growing. Spiritual leaders, local organizers, farmers and technologists each bring unique perspectives, skills, and actions that are essential to this global movement. Indigenous peoples, refugees, and the dispossessed, whose voices are often violently silenced, extremely critical and vital in shaping a just future and determining the paths forward.

Together, we are united in our shared vision fortransformation.

A Global Movement

Around the world, decentralized networks are already growing: independent media, grassroots organizations, unions, and communities are mobilizing, and have done for years. In solidarity, we can push against the system, boycott goods, break monopolies, and reclaim the power that rightfully belongs to the people.

This is not a time to be polite or wait for approval. We can act now to create these decentralized solutions—local food markets and systems, community-owned energy, cooperatives, and alternative currencies. By harnessing the power of technology and connecting with like-minded individuals, we can create a new world based on freedom, justice, cooperation, and sustainability.

The powerful elites may have their wealth, surveillance and kill systems, bunkers, and escape plans, but they are not invincible. As we’ve seen in Gaza, they care not for the lives of the people they exploit and kill, but the people of Gaza are resilient and steadfast. They teach life, ingenuity, community, endurance and joy amidst deep suffering and pain.

We can claim that we do care about one another and we care about the future. And in that care, there is immense motivation, inspiration, strength, resilience, adaptability and creativity…. when we care enough.

We have the full capacity to defeat these sinister forces and groups.

Conclusion

In this moment, remember that we are not alone. We are part of a global movement, numbering in the millions, united by our shared desire for justice, freedom, and care for the Earth. This is a time for clarity, action, and transformation. It is time to stop the denial, escape, and magical thinking. We must embrace our power and step into the future with intention, action and togetherness.

It is time to make a real shift in consciousness. It is time for us to rise.

In the next piece I will go into what more we can bring to this moment in terms of strategies for change, solidarity, practices, empowerment … and how my work is taking shape and who it is for.

(c) Fatima Bacot All Rights reserved