Financial Collapse & Coronavirus: a Catalyst to Usher in the Regenerative Renaissance
We’re either experiencing a global breakdown or breakthrough… or more likely, both.
Coronavirus is getting far too much credit for our economic woes
The reality is that our global economy was heading towards a crash, and well before the Corid-19 virus ever hit.
Converging economic crises
That 1.5 trillion the Fed is creating could wipe out all student loans, support free healthcare or give every single person in the U.S. an all-inclusive month-long vacation to stop the spread of corona virus ($4500 USD). Instead- Citizens will get a measly $1200.
Note: This decision was made in a matter of days, no vote, no open discourse, just 1.5 trillion dollars printed and dumped into the financial markets to further prop up those who have already benefited the most in creating this crisis.
This crisis is being exploited by the wealthy to further grow their wealth. Wealthy business owners get millions in tax breaks while small businesses and the working class suffer.
“For those earning $1 million annually, a tax break buried in the recent coronavirus relief legislation is so generous that its total cost is more than total new funding for all hospitals in America and more than the total provided to all state and local governments,” -Sen. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
Let’s take a look at some facts.
- 12 years of central banks pouring money into the stock market has created a massive bubble that is beginning to burst.
- We witnessed the biggest single day drop in stock market history.
- Globally political systems are failing and people are rioting. People across the globe are losing faith in our legacy governance systems.
- Rumors of WW3 keep surfacing as the status quo’s solution to economic downturns.
- Chaotic political environments emerge such as the US assassination of a beloved Iranian general.
- Income and general inequality has reached record highs.
- Debt has reached record levels.
- The oil war between Russia and the Middle East is propelling this financial crash as energy companies are heavily indebted and likely won’t make it through (paving the way for regenerative energy generation).
- Our current system responds with potential bail outs of indebted oil companies so they can keep shale gas (the most environmentally destructive and unprofitable oil) production going.
- This is on top of the ~$5.2 trillion USD humanity spent subsidizing the oil and gas industry in just one year (keeping it artificially competitive with renewables).
- Then finally to kick start this transition, a global virus has stalled economic activity, slowly putting the world into hibernation and paving the way for an overdue recession/depression.
The worst part is — this pandemic is going to disproportionately effect the most vulnerable among us, the poor and the elderly.
Converging ecological crises
Now let’s look at the climate facts.
- Extreme climate is setting new records each year — more wildfires, more heatwaves, more floods.
- Over 1,000,000 species at risk of extinction with extinctions happening daily.
- All the while humanity is accelerating pollution, creating ever more waste each year, rather than slowing down the destruction and pollution.
This list could go on for a depressingly long time, but that is not the point of this article.
The Silver Lining: this virus is only the beginning
So far what this pandemic has taught us is that we have the ability to mobilize globally to address challenges — (pollution has dropped dramatically in just a few weeks!) humanity is cancelling events, shutting down shops, changing their plans and shifting behavior.
“This crisis shows that it is possible to slow down intelligently while enhancing the global consciousness. That’s amazingly powerful to think that such a shift is possible in such a short period of time. Even the air quality pollution in China couldn’t resist to this transition, it almost disappeared in only 50 days!” — Alex Prate
What the Coronavirus is teaching us is that global coordination is not only possible — but it’s already happening. We just need to redirect this energy and momentum towards the real opportunity.
Whole systems transformation
“We’re facing the biggest crisis humanity has ever encountered… the scale and the speed of it defies belief… It’s perfectly clear that the existing political system and economic system is not fit for purpose… We need to create the biggest movements there have ever been.” -George Monbiot
“While there have been loud shouts from the environmental front for years PLEADING for mass change for the very state of our survival on this planet, they have been largely disregarded as humanity’s desires maintained priority over the discomfort of those changes.
Change comes with the unknown, which sparks fear deep in our being and ignites our survival instincts. We’ve seen a stagnant response of rejection concerning the threat of our livelihood on this Earth…until now!
The reflex to the panic of the spread of this virus has shown us what happens when society responds and takes action from the desire to remain alive. We CAN make the changes we didn’t think we could before. We CAN reduce emissions and contribute less to the immense pollution of the planet. We CAN shift into a new way of living. We just have to respond and it seems like we’re needing to respond whether we like how we got here or not! Maybe we can harness our love for being here, being alive and living on this planet to shift into the next paradigm.” — Cece Heart
Quarantine or cocoon | Isolation or transformation
As the world goes into quarantine we can use this time to slow down, rest, rejuvenate, heal and transform.
“Don’t just do something, stand there!” — The White Rabbit
Read this article on the potential severity of this pandemic. Just use this opportunity to stay home and prepare.
“If the economy is tanking because we can’t constantly push ourselves to go go go go go, and instead we are spending time at home with loved ones, healing the sick and focusing on what’s truly valuable, then this is a serious wake-up call to the way we are living our lives” — Nila (Phi) McCann
Our options: Fight, flight, freeze, faint or rest, relax, mobilize and co-create
The time to transition is now… We’ve been waiting for a clarion call for decades — this is it!
The most important question we can ask right now…
What does the world we transition into look like?
Is this new world going to be driven by fear, separation, exploitation, lies, manipulation and warfare.
Or, one guided by unity, peace, regeneration, transparency, connection and co-creation.
We can keep using the systems we inherited at birth, or we can go about co-creating new ones. The choice is y/ours and this breakthrough we’re experiencing could be just the catalyst needed to spark this transformation.
Enter the Regenerative Renaissance…
In medieval times the Bubonic (Black) Plague led to the Italian Renaissance.
The standard model suggests this was the beginning of the end of the “dark ages” and the start of the enlightenment.
This may have been true for a minority, but for the majority the dark ages never ended.
As the saying goes, history tends to repeat itself.
Years from now humans may look back and call this time the end of the dark ages, the end of an age where humans were so divided and conflicted that we were destroying ourselves and the very planet we depend on.
Future humans will ponder the insanity and study how we got here…
Yet, this was also the age of the Regenerative Renaissance where for the first time in recorded history humanity could and did collaborate on a planetary scale!
This is an incredible time to be alive. Humans may look back and wish they could have been part of this transition — wishing they could have been here to experience and take on these global crisis, building the foundations for the new world!
Fortunately for us, we’re living in this transition and we can decide what the future holds for us and our children, by building more thriving and resilient communities.
We can decide if the Regenerative Renaissance starts now, and ushers in the true age of global enlightenment!
Let’s make 2020 the golden decade
This “breakdown” could be a breakthrough where all people finally have a direct voice in our financial and political systems. Where our collective wealth is redirected towards the healing of our communities and our planet over corporate bailouts and war.
This transition doesn’t have to be scary and it wouldn’t take much to create a system that works better for us all. Some people in the 0.1% of wealthiest people get defensive when they hear about economic transformation. But, they need a livable planet too — and our dominant system isn’t cultivating one.
A proposal for a regenerative financial system
More articles on how Coronavirus can lead to whole systems transformation:
This movement is about solidarity and cooperation on a global scale never before seen. Once we come together we’ll already be living in the more beautiful world we know is possible.
