Reflections on society, politics and nature – vol. 73

This is one in a series of posts with brief notes on society, politics, and nature. I sometimes include short personal notes as well. Click “read more” to see the entries in this installment.

I TOLD YOU SO

We all have a large number of views and sometimes predictions, and it’s all mostly from conditioning. It reflects the influences we grew up with and now expose ourselves to.

We are also all sometimes right and sometimes wrong in our views and predictions. And many of us are inclined to remember and emphasize the times we (think we) we are right, and dismiss or explain away the times we were wrong. We also tend to pick out data that makes it seem we were right, and ignore the rest.

That said, there are many “I told you so” moments in my life, including when I have written about politics and society as I do in these posts.

I started with blogs in 2002. My first was Society and Ecology and then Rants.

Back then, I wrote about much the same as today – global ecological overshoot, misguided wars, neo-liberalism and erosion of democracy, and so on.

For instance, it was clear that the US lied about the reason for the Iraq war, and that was later confirmed. Already then, the information was readily available. Today, the information needed to see that any war with Iran is misguided is also readily available.

All empires fall, and since the ’90s, it seemed clear that the erosion of the US empire likely would happen within a couple of decades. For instance, Johan Galtung studied the fall of empires, saw the signs of it happening with the US, and that it would become obvious in the 2020s. I wrote about that too, and it’s happening. The status of the US as a global superpower is eroding, hastened by Trump.

Trump 2.0 was always likely to start wars, as I wrote about in November 2024 before his second term: “We don’t know what wars Trump may start, possibly in an attempt to distract from unpopular policies and unite the US population behind him. He avoided wars during the first presidency, but Trump 2.0 will be different.”

Since middle school in the ’80s, I have been aware of global ecological overshoot. We are collectively using far more resources than Earth can replenish. We are metaphorically living on a draining savings account. As it continues to deplete, we see the unraveling of ecosystems and eventually an ecological and civizational collapse. We have a civilization that operates on the assumption of unlimited Earth, and that is out of alignment with ecological realities. That leads to overshoot and, if not corrected, collapse. Our civilization is ecocidal and suicidal. That too is easy to see and understand.

It’s also easy to see why global ecological overshot is by far the most serious issue facing us today. If you care about anything, you also have to care about global ecological overshoot. This living system we call Earth is what supports and makes everything we care about possible, including our own lives. With an ecological collapse, all we care about collapses. A mature and sane civilization will have ecological health as a priority since everything else depends on it. It’s the context for everything else.

Organic food is often presented as a luxury for a few, and unrealistic for the many. To me, it seems reverse. What’s unrealistic is to continue growing our food with poison, and poisoning ourselves, the land, and our ecosystems in the process. That cannot last.

When the US elected Trump for president the first time, it seemed equally clear that it would lead to an erosion of US democracy. Back then, I wrote about that as the main danger of his presidency. That has become even more clear now in his second period. We also know that he planned to implement Project 2025 in his second period, and that’s what we are seeing. And we know that his policies will hurt most of the people who voted for him, and they still voted for him.

Norwegian politicians seem to assume that when Trump is gone, our relationship with the US will return to normal. That seems naive and misguided. The dynamics in the US that brought Trump to power will not go away. Someone like him is likely to return, and likely one who is smarter and more competent. The US cannot be trusted or relied upon. We need to deepen our ties with Europe, Canada, and other more reliable and aligned countries.

As I wrote in a previous post, we know that nuclear energy in Norway is misguided. It will be too expensive and is not needed. Still, many political parties support it and want nuclear energy development, including parties that pride themselves on being fiscally responsible.

From the ’80s, it’s been clear to me that taking a significant portion of our abundant resources in Norway and investing in renewable energy research and technology is the wise way forward. If we did, Norway would be at the forefront of the inevitable renewable energy revolution, and we could have built a thriving research community and technology around it. It would go hand-in-hand with the current petroleum industry and be fueled by it. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Norway is very much dragging its feet when it comes to renewable energy, and it has left the leading edge research and technology to other countries.

In most of these cases, I feel that reality spoke clearly. We just need to be slightly more attuned to reality than our ideologies to see it.

Why do some tend to be more often accurate than others? Partly, it has to do with basic knowledge about history (patterns repeat), society, and psychology. Partly, it may be that reality has a “left leaning bias” as Stephen Colbert said, slightly tongue in cheek but also with some truth to it. Partly, and perhaps most importantly, it has to do with whether we seek reality and truth over ideologies.

April 12, 2026

TRUMP & CONTEMPT

How can we best understand Trump’s lies and unhinged behavior?

It’s likely best understood from many angles.

It’s a way to confuse and overwhelm, so he more easily can get his way.

It’s a way to muddle the waters. To distract from more serious issues and what he is actually doing in terms of policies and dismantling of democracy.

It’s a way to describe others as they would, more accurately, describe him, and preemptively take the wind out of their sails.

It’s a way to intimidate.

It’s a way to poke liberals, intellectuals, and others – people who are kinder and/or smarter than him – in the eye.

It’s a way to express contempt for others.

It’s a way to abuse others, and perpetuate a familiar pattern of abuse.

It’s a way for him to temporarily boost his self-esteem. By putting others down, he has a brief taste of feeling better about himself. (It doesn’t work for long so he needs to continue doing it.)

It’s a way to influence those who may actually believe, adopt, and pass on what he says. Or, at least, pretend they believe for whatever reason – because it fits their identity, it feels familiar, it gives them a perceived upper hand, and so on.

APRIL 14, 2026

GULF STATES

I find these kinds of reports slightly frustrating. She does acknowledge the lack of democracy of the UAE, but it’s generally seen from the perspective of the clueless privileged who don’t care much about abuse of workers, how women are treated, the generally backwards and cynical policies of the Gulf states, and so on.

She did not mention that their wealth is built on externalizing cost, not just in the abuse of workers, lack of democracy, and private ownership of natural resources, but also of fueling climate change and the unraveling of human civilization. These states are corrupt in more than a few ways.

The reporter is also not doing her job in another area. She implies that the nature there will revert to barren desert without desalination plants and the current infrastructure. It may be true in one sense, and it’s not necessarily true. As many have shown, you can bring life to deserts with good designs and the right approach, and by working with nature and natural processes.

See below for some examples.

APRIL 15, 2026

WHY WE NEED A STRONG ALLIANCE WITH UKRAINE

Anders Puck Nielsen outlines why Europe needs a strong alliance with Ukraine to deter Russia. They have a larger army than any EU country and by far the most combat and drone experience.

I am not by any stretch of the imagination a fan of war or the military, but I am also realistic. Europe needs to deter Russia, especially considering the mindset of Putin and others there who explicitly want to expand the Russian empire and create a Greater Russia.

WHY AM I DRAWN TO PARTICULAR WORLD ISSUES?

Why am I concerned with authoritarian leaders like Trump and Putin? People who don’t understand what it means to have authoritarian leaders? People who ignore immensely important issues like global ecological overshoot?

It is partly because it’s important for the world, obviously.

At the same time, there are always also more personal reasons. And as much as this sounds like a cliché, they often tie into our childhood experiences and family dynamics.

In my case, my parents loved me, gave me a materially safe home, wanted the best for me, and so on.

And there were also family dynamics that were immensely difficult for me.

My mother would nag my father without much break, and he never – as far as I am aware – stood up to her. He allowed it to happen, and was complicit in it. In one sense, she was an authoritarian bully and he allowed it to happen. My older brother passively joined in with these dynamics, in the sense that he never spoke up about it and was on their side. When I spoke up about it as a child and later, and was strongly attacked by my parents for doing so.

I have a kind of bystander trauma from it, which partly takes the form of a freeze & fawn response since I couldn’t do much about it. Fortunately, these dynamics were not, at least not obviously, directed to me. I was more of an observer and bystander.

These dynamics are reflected in what I experience a charge about in the world. I get upset when I see authoritarian leaders and people who support and defend them. I get upset when people seem blind to hugely important issues in the world. I get upset when dissent is suppressed. I love when people speak up and are able to initiate change. I love when people care about truth and life.

That all ties into my own childhood and family dynamics.

That’s how it is for many, and it’s not wrong. It’s part of the drive for many who work for social justice, sustainability, and so on.

It’s good to acknowledge and be aware of.

It is also good to find a healthier relationship with it all, and healing for these patterns in myself. That will allow me to find more peace in myself, and also be more effective in the world: less reactive, less one-sided, more understanding, more nuanced, and more able to step back when that is wise and engage when that is needed.

APRIL 21, 2026

EMPATHY AND INSULATED FROM FEEDBACK

Decades of research in developmental psychology have shown that moral reasoning develops through consequences—not punishment, necessarily, but experiencing the effects of your actions on others, receiving honest feedback, having to accommodate reality as it actually is rather than as you wish it to be. It’s not that the wealthy become evil; it’s that their environment stops teaching them the things that nonwealthy people are forced to learn simply by living in a world that pushes back. When you can buy your way out of any mistake, when you can fire anyone who disagrees with you, when your social circle consists entirely of people who need something from you, the basic mechanism by which humans learn that other people are real goes dark.

– What I learned about billionaires at Jeff Bezos’ private retreat by Noah Hawley, The Atlantic

This explains what we see from many wealthy and powerful people, mostly men like Bezos, Thiel, Musk, Trump, and Putin. They have insulated themselves from honest and real feedback from others, and this feedback is essential for ordinary and healthy human development, including for developing or maintaining empathy.

I assume that for some of them, they did have this feedback earlier in life, and they may even had some empathy. This empathy requires friction to develop and remain, and since friction is uncomfortable, they chose to do away with it as soon as their wealth and position allowed them to do so.

An interesting question here is: In what ways am I insulated from feedback? One example is that I don’t often talk with others about what I write about on this website. That means I don’t get much feedback so there is less friction, which also means less room for refinement, deepening, and maturing.

APRIL 23, 2026

STANDARDS FOR POLITICIANS

I sometimes see Trump supporters say to critics of Trump: If a Democrat behaved like Trump, you would support him completely / never criticize it.

There are a few things here. First, it shows their attitude. They support him no matter what. They are willing to overlook his craziness and unhinged behavior.

Also, if someone were aligned with my policies and behaved in unethical ways, I would definitely speak up about it and want that person out of positions of authority or powers. One of my favorite politicians in Norway was caught steeling sunglasses at an airport, and resigned from the parliament. I completely supported that, although it was clearly an unfortunate situation and sad for him and for everyone he spoke up for – including me.

There is another point here. If we support kind, wise, and life-centered policies, then unethical behavior becomes a big problem. If we don’t – if we support bigoted policies – then unethical behavior is not much of a problem. (Some will say that’s why Trump can get away with so much. His supporters like his bigoted policies, so unethical behavior is not seen as a real problem.)

And finally, there is room for understanding and compassion. If it’s a one-off and not terribly serious, then I would just see it as part of being human. We all sometimes do things we are not proud of. There has to be room to be human even for public servants like politicians. And sometimes, unfortunately, it goes too far and is too much of a pattern. We can still have sympathy and empathy, and also recognize that they should not be in that kind of position of power.

APRIL 24, 2026

ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS MONEY

The current top three comments on this video captures it:

All they talk about is money. That sums up the US pretty well.

They’re ok with the fascism, the brownshirts, the murder of Americans and the detention of children. When it comes to their money, that’s when they draw the line.

The ignorance here is so pervasive that it is becoming quite obvious that America will not recover this downward spiral.

Of course, not everyone in the US are like this. There are plenty of smart, informed, and kind people too.

Even these people are kind and smart, in their own way, they just have a different circle of care and different priorities than I do. On the political compass, they are on the conservative and authoritarian end of those spectrums, and I am relatively far on the other side. In terms of Spiral Dynamics, they are at mainly red/blue and orange levels, and the ones I resonate more with politically are (liberal Western European) orange, (healthy, receptive) green, and especially yellow.

THE BAFFLING ATTITUDES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

I happened to see the comment field for an article in a Norwegian science publication. The headline mentioned a projected one meter sea rise on the coast of Norway within 40-50 years. The vast majority of the comments were hostile and ridiculed the idea. (In reality, the headline is underplaying the issue. The oceans will raise far more than that, and possibly faster due to feedback mechanisms.)

This is something I still struggle with a bit. Why do so many seem to have this attitude?

The basic science is not difficult to understand. Industrial civilization releases certain gases into the atmosphere, and we know that these trap heat. And with increased temperatures, the ice melts and that will inevitably raise the sea level.

Even if we remove the question of what’s causing it, we can all see that the temperatures are increasing. It’s measured and reported all around the world. For instance, the winters in the Oslo area used to have plenty of snow from November/December through March/April, and now there is either no or little snow, or it’s there for a much shorter timespan. With these global temperature increases, we get melted ice and raised sea levels.

How can they think they know more than experts who have devoted their professional life to studying this? In other areas of life, they trust experts. They even trust experts with their lives daily – with engineering, medicine, and so on. So why don’t they in this one area? (It may be a way to deal with fear, protect an identity, or signal belonging. Sometimes, the surface justification is rooted in conspiracy theories.)

Setting all that aside, there is the precautionary principle. Even if there is a small chance that there is human made climate change, and it has even some of the consequences predicted, we need to act based on that information. The consequences are too big if it happens to be correct, so we can’t afford to ignore it. If you care about your children, you will try to make a better world for them, including on this issue.

All that aside, there is an overarching issue that’s far more important than climate change, and that is global ecological overshoot. We are collectively using far more natural resources than Earth can replenish, and that leads to an eventual collapse of natural systems, which leads to a collapse of human systems. Even removing climate change, the other issues are immensely serious.

These are changes we need and want to make anyway. We need to move away from petroleum and towards renewable energy. We need to reduce our ecological footprint. We need to change our economic system – and many other systems – to take ecological realities into account. As it is now, these systems assume infinite natural resources and infinite capacity of natural systems to absorb human waste. That’s ecocidal and suicidal. And there are other ways to do it.

So why do some have such a strange attitude to climate change? Why do they think they know more than experts? Why do they have such an irrational response to it?

First, there are probably fewer of them than it seems. They seem very quick to comment on these kinds of articles.

I suspect it has to do with fear and identity.

They may feel bad about their own lifestyle and consumption, and fear judgment. (Which is misguided since this is about all of us and the system we have, not individuals.)

They may fear that they will have to change their lifestyle. (Likely yes, and it will typically look like switching from petroleum cars to electric cars which are as good or better.)

They may feel that the issue is too big and feel overwhelmed. They may also feel powerless to do anything. (That’s true at an individual level, but collectively we can make changes.)

They may see this as an issue for people they don’t want to be associated with. They may have an identity as conservative, and see it as an issue for liberals.

Some may have a general distrust of experts and institutions. Over the last few decades, for instance, neoliberal policies have been embraced by much of the political spectrum, funneling money to the already very wealthy and away from everyone else. That, in itself, can lead to understandable distrust. People know something is wrong, even if their analysis may miss the mark.

They may want to signal belonging to a certain group. Either a group they already are in and wish to continue to be part of, or a group they wish to be part of. It’s also a signal to oneself, to reinforce an identity.

They may not want to admit that the left was right all along. For decades, climate change and ecology have, in many public debates, been associated with the traditional left. It has become part of the left’s “brand”. Adopting the same views, even if it’s based on science, may be a hard pill to swallow.

They may see humanity as separate from nature. Nature is there as a backdrop or a kind of luxury. They don’t recognize that we are part of this living system we call Earth, and that our health and well-being is dependent on the health and well-being of the larger natural systems. Without a healthy Earth, there is no humanity.

From a bigger picture, this is an example of how systems self-regulate. They seek to maintain their current relatively stable state. Our current civilization, in this case, “wants” to maintain its current state, and one of the expressions is climate change denial. The larger natural systems won’t allow that to go on for too long. Either, there is a collapse or a change in our civilization. Or, maybe more likely, collapse forcing some kind of change.

Instead of being caught up in fear and limiting identities, we can see this another way. We are temporary expressions of this living evolving system, and our choices and lives are part of how this much larger system evolves. Our lives and our civilization inevitably and already guide the evolution of this living system, and we can choose to do it more consciously. We can choose to be conscious participants in this unfolding. That’s wonderful and amazing.

It also gives a whole other context for doing the work of aligning our systems with ecological realities, and creating a more deeply life-centered civilization. Perhaps one that’s even deeply regenerative.

Instead of fear and holding onto imagined identities, we can be inspired by our role in this vast and majestic unfolding. An unfolding that will continue far beyond our individual lives, far beyond this particular human civilization, and far beyond humanity itself.

Climate change is about far more than climate change. It is about how we meet fear and identity. It is about the larger reality of global ecological overshoot. It is about whether we can become conscious participants in the evolution of this amazing living planet. And it is about the possibility of creating a deeply life-centered civilization.

APRIL 26, 2026

BAFFLED BY OTHERS WHEN I DON’T REALLY NEED TO BE

I sometimes lean into feeling baffled by others and the world. And behind that is a sense of superiority and arrogance.

I tell myself I am baffled, and part of me feels baffled. At the same time, I know very well some reasons why they behave as they do. So why do I sometimes lean into the bafflement? Very likely so I can feel superior and better about myself. I create a sense of distance to feel better about myself.

Of course, it doesn’t really work.

When I notice bafflement and a tendency to lean into it, I can remind myself that it comes from a wish to feel better about myself. It’s not a good look. It’s not necessary.

I can instead lean into a more mature side of me that does understand some of the reasons why people behave the way they do. (At least, some likely reasons. I cannot know for certain, of course.)

This more mature side of me also knows that the world is my mirror. I can take any story I have about them, change it to be about myself, and find genuine and specific examples of how it’s true.

TOXIC MASCULINITY

I see that there is a toxic masculinity trend among young men these days.

The reason I haven’t written about it is that I am not very familiar with it.

From the little I have seen, these young men look lost, desperate, and scared. They respond to that with a strategy of hypermasculinity. I imagine that hypermasculinity is stressful, feels hollow, and tends to deepen a sense of separation with others – parents, women, and society in general.

Of course, to anyone else, that hypermasculinity signals and reveals the insecurity and fear that’s behind it. It doesn’t really work as a way to compensate for or mask the insecurity. It doesn’t work for them, and it’s not convincing to others.

What’s an alternative? It’s to be real and honest. To embrace all sides of ourselves, including the fear. That only makes us human.

It’s also to find an identity at another layer of the hierarchy of identities. For instance, as a human, or as part of this living web of life. That ties us together and gives us a deeper sense of belonging.

THE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS ARE NOT STAGED: WHY I CHOSE THAT AS MY DEFAULT ASSUMPTION

There was a new (likely) assassination attempt on Trump yesterday.

I see that some on the left, normally not into conspiracy theories, assume that some or all of the Trump assassination attempts were staged, or staged in the sense that it was allowed to happen. I understand.

My default assumption is that they were not staged.

Why?

In general, I don’t want to make any assumption unless it’s backed up by solid data, either from my own experience or public data that would hold up in a court, or be seen as reliable by a serious historian or journalist. In these cases, there is no such data. (Yet. It may come, of course. If it does, I’ll definitely change my mind.)

In this case, there is another reason. I don’t want to go into a somewhat paranoid conspiracy mindset unless there is solid data to back it up. It doesn’t seem worth it.

There are far more serious issues where we do have solid data to back it up: Global ecological overshoot. Neo-liberal policies adopted across the political spectrum that funnel money and power to the already wealthy and powerful and away from everyone else. Unraveling ecosystems. Food grown with toxins. Lack of clean water for billions around the world. People dying from preventable or treatable diseases. And much more.

Even if it was staged, it wouldn’t be more serious than much of what Trump is doing in full view. The Iran war is a good example of something far more serious, especially since so many are harmed by it. unraveling of US democratic institutions and processes, and replacing public servants with loyalists, is another.

Also, a few things come up for me specific to the assassination attempts. (a) With someone like Trump, assassination attempts are to be expected. He is a highly polarizing figure who uses violent language and actions, and that tends to draw the same. There is no reason to be surprised that there are assassination attempts. (b) There is no reason to assume the people protecting Trump are completely competent or infallible. They make mistakes. None of these are important reasons for me, but they come up as questions.

Mainly, it’s not a topic I want to invest much energy or resources in. There are far more important issues in the world. And if solid data shows up suggesting that it was staged, then I am very happy to see it that way.

Why do some assume these assassination attempts were staged? Likely because it plays into their views on Trump as already corrupt. Also, they may think it would be an issue that would turn people away from him. (Unlikely.) The data can be reasonably be understood in several different ways, and with this motivation, they find data that fits this particular conspiracy theory. (Confirmation bias.)

More importantly, it shows the profound lack of trust within US society in media, politicians, and the government in general. It has been eroded over several decades, through unjust wars (Vietnam, Iraq), crooked presidents (Nixon), big money in politics, media aimed at undermining trust (Fox News), the craziness and corruption of Trump, and people getting their (mis)information through social media.

Also, why isn’t the assassination story getting as much attention as you would think? Why will it likely leave the news after a couple of days? It’s because it’s just part of the general chaos around Trump. It’s just one more crazy thing.

THE ASSASSIN’S MANIFESTO

Update: The manifesto from the most recent assassination attempt (Correspondents’ Dinner) has been released. From the writing, he seems reflected, although seriously misguided in diagnosing the problem and the solution. The problem is not with Trump and his cabinet. It’s with far more systemic problems that won’t be solved by removing a few people.

At one level, the problem is with the US voters and the social dynamics in the US that made so many vote him into office twice. Those dynamics will not go away. In a more real sense, the problem is with the decades of neo-liberal policies embraced by both the Republicans and Democrats which has made life worse for most people, and made a few extremely wealthy.

And in an even more real sense, the problem is with domination culture. A civilization built on a domination orientation and not sufficiently balanced out with a partnership orientation. (In Northern Europe, it has been balanced out more, which makes the daily life of most people better and easier than in the US.) Each one can be more or less healthy, and we need the best from both.

It’s interesting that the mindset of Trump and this assassin seem quite similar, and they both make the same rookie mistake. They overlook the systems behind the perceived problems, and think that removing a few people is the solution. Trump did that when he took out the former leadership in Iran. If you know anything about Iran, you knew they would be replaced with hardliners who would have every reason to hate and mistrust the US more than their predecessors. Similarly, what this assassin wanted to do, and did, will increase support for Trump and his policies, and give him and those around him fuel for more oppressive policies.

If you want to change the reasons for Trump (for how he is and what brought him into power), you have to change our civilization. And we do that in the way Joanna Macy outlined: (a) Stopping actions to reduce or prevent harm. (Helping immigrants and those who don’t have food or shelter, fight Trump’s policies in the courts, and so on.) (b) Promote and develop lived alternatives. (Partnership oriented alternatives in all areas of life.) (c) Change your worldview from separation to interrelations. (We are all part of one seamless evolving system, and our life now shape how that system evolves and looks in the future.)

Personally, I am focused on the two last ones. I examine and explore my worldview, including in how it’s reflected in my beliefs, identities, and values, and develop a worldview for myself that seems more life-centered. I also promote alternatives on social media, make some choices that support alternatives (organic food etc.), and am creating a nature preserve in the Andes where I am engaged in regeneration and developing a food forest.

APRIL 27, 2026

AUTHORITARIANS ARE NOT ON YOUR SIDE

I am still curious about how someone – anyone – can support Trump.

One aspect of this is that historically, authoritarians are NOT on your side. They are in it for themselves, their families, and a few people around them. They are on the side of the already wealthy and powerful since they tend to like these kinds of people (they are or want to be like them) and they need, to some extent, their support.

For the rest of us, life becomes worse. History shows us that. Simple logic shows us that.

We lose democracy. We lose the ability to vote for and in candidates that actually are on our side. We lose freedoms left and right. We lose money since it gets channeled to the wealthy. We loose all around.

The reasons some may still support authoritarians are simple and sad. They may be misled by false claims and promises (scapegoating etc.). They don’t have much knowledge of history. They are unable to detect a conman when they see him (it’s usually a man). They resonate with authoritarianism since it may be familiar from childhood (authoritarian father or parent). They enjoy the bigotry.

Or they are not mislead, they do know about history, they do recognize him as a conman, and they still support him because it seems worth it.

In either case, they think there is something in it for them, and they think others will get hurt, not them.

TALKING FAST

For a few years now, I have noticed a trend of people talking faster – especially on podcasts etc. There has always been some who has, and now it seems more widespread. I am not sure why.

If I want to listen and they talk fast, I either skip it or turn down the speed (usually 80%).

Personally, if I listen to something, I need time to absorb and reflect on what’s said, and that requires slower talking.

ATTACHMENT THEORY AND EARTH

When I studied psychology at university in the early/mid ’90s, I thought the worldview behind most psychology was very limited, including far too anthropocentric.

So when I studied things like attachment theory, I would always expand it for myself.

Attachment theory is about a child’s healthy attachment to parents and others close to them, and also some ways it can become less healthy. It’s a predictably anthropocentric theory.

In reality, we are part of this Earth and the evolving living systems we call Earth. These are our more fundamental parents. Without them, we would not be born and would not survive. Our ancestors lived for generations, back to the first single celled organisms, as part of that living system. Our body and mind evolved as part of that living system.

Any disconnect from this larger whole will obviously have a huge impact on us, whether this disconnect is psychological (ideas of separation), physical (living in human-made environments), or both. It will, almost inevitably, lead to a sense of isolation, lack, not knowing who we are, and so on. It can lead to aimlessness in life. We may seek meaning and purpose in something not inherently meaningful, or try to find safety, meaning, or value in something transient. It will easily lead to a lack of care for this living planet, even if our lives depend on it.

When we have a healthy connection with the living systems we are part of, it looks quite different. There is a deep sense of meaning and belonging. A deep sense of value from being part of this magnificent world. A trust from knowing it will not go away, even if individuals come and go. A sense of being part of the natural cycles of death and birth, seasons, and so on. All of this is visceral and often, for many now and in the past, not even very conscious. It’s lived more than reflected upon.

For me, this bigger picture is as important than the purely human-centered perspective on attachments. It adds another crucial layer to our understanding of attachments.

APRIL 29, 2026

SUSTAINABILITY VS REGENERATION

I saw a photo exhibit about our near-Earth space at the Royal Academy today. It was about satellites, overcrowding, space debris, and how our expanding presence in near-Earth space affects astronomy, Indigenous relationships with the night sky, and more. The photographer happened to be there and talked about some of the photos.

One of the accompanying texts was about sustainability and living within our ecological means, not using more resources than Earth can replenish. That is obviously important.

It’s also just part of the picture.

The other side of it is regeneration and supporting this living planet in becoming more rich, abundant, and alive. We can help increase the capacity of this living system we are part of.

We can use a savings account analogy. Earth is similar to a savings account where the interest is reinvested.

• Our current civilization is living off a gradually draining principal. This looks OK until we reach the bottom of the account and our lifestyle collapses. In the context of Earth, this is called global ecological overshoot. In an overshoot, our ecosystems become increasingly fragmented and depleted until they collapse, and with them our civilization.
• Sustainability means we live within our means. We don’t use more money than is replenished through interest. We don’t use more resources than Earth can replenish. We have an ecological footprint that’s the same as or smaller than Earth’s biocapacity.
• Through regeneration, we increase the principal, which means a larger return. We can also increase the interest rate through more vibrant ecosystems. We increase the health, capacity, and aliveness of the living systems we are part of. This benefits all life, including ourselves.

For me, sustainability is the first step and regeneration is a necessary second step. We need a civilization that’s regenerative, where systems are set up so our daily life activities involve regeneration of the living systems we are part of.

Our current economic system, and all other systems, assume infinite Earth. That’s why we have a collective ecological footprint larger than Earth’s biocapacity, and why we are in global ecological overshoot. That’s also why we see an unraveling of ecosystems and we are in slow motion ecological collapse.

In a regenerative civilization, our economic and other human systems are not only aligned with ecological realities, they are also set up for regeneration. That means that what’s easy and attractive, for individuals and organizations, is also regenerative. It won’t be perfect. There will be a lot to learn and refine. But we already have frameworks to do this, and we know enough about regeneration to get a good start.

What we need is the collective will for this change. And we can all participate in this. We can all make changes in our own lives so we are part of this change.

We are local and temporary expressions of this living and evolving system we call Earth. Through our lives, we influence the evolution of our civilization, humanity, and this larger living whole. We already do that. So how would it look if we become more conscious participants in the evolution of humanity and this larger living system? How would it look if we intend a shift in the direction of a life-centered and deeply regenerative civilization?

APRIL 29, 2026

MAKE PLUTO A PLANET AGAIN?

I see the Trump administration wants to make Pluto a planet again.

Somehow, that encapsulates much of their mindset.

Scientifically and logically, it makes no sense to call Pluto a major or full planet. It’s one of likely hundreds of largish objects at the edge of our solar system.

The only reason for calling it a regular planet, which it isn’t, is sentimental. It’s nostalgia. It’s what many grew up with, so they want things to be as they were.

Of course, this kind of nostalgia is misguided for several reasons. In this case, it doesn’t make any sense.

In general, it was likely not as good as you remember or imagine. You may have a glorified image of a certain age in your life or in history, and ignore or are unaware of all the challenges and distress that came with that life. You may also ignore or be unaware of the terrible lives of many others at that time, especially marginalized groups.

Our time is different. Bringing back certain elements, often superficial ones, will not help anything.

There is another way to use nostalgia constructively: How do I imagine that time? What am I drawn to? What do I hope to get out of it? And what do I hope to get out of that? What’s the essence of it? Can I find it here and now? Can I find it in my current life? What can I do to bring that essence more into my life?

MAY 1, 2026

TRUMP’S WAR AGAINST TALK SHOW HOSTS

Authoritarians not only have a poor sense of humor, they go after anyone who makes fun of them.

Their strong-man image is fragile and inherently ridiculous, so humor is a real threat to them.

Also, as Kimmel points out here, Trump and other right-wingers talk about left-wing cancel culture, while themselves wanting to suppress and limit freedom of speech.

GEOENGINEERING

A Norwegian science publication has an article on geoengineering today. Many climate scientists fear that governments or billionaires will engage in geoengineering projects that (a) will impact Earth as a whole and all of humanity and (b) very likely will fail and have worse consequences than the initial climate problem.

I share that concern. It only takes one dictatorship or one billionaire to do this, and the rest of the world may not know about it, and may not be able to stop it even if they did know about it.

These projects are inherently flawed, even before they start.

(a) They misdiagnose the problem. They offer a technological solution to fundamental social, systemic, and worldview problems. They also overlook the overarching issue, which is global ecological overshoot.

(b) They will likely cause worse problems than what they are meant to solve. They will come with unintended and likely unforeseen consequences, and in the case of geoengineering, these consequences will be global and often irreversible.

Authoritarians and billionaires tend to favor simple and simplistic solutions. They tend to be surrounded by yes-men who agree and support them, and they tend to ignore or not be exposed to counter arguments. That’s why they may think it will work, and that they are doing the world a favor, while they are actually only worsening the situation – possibly dramatically worsening the situation.

Putin’s war with Ukraine, and Trump’s Iran war, are examples of this.

MAY 2, 2026

MAGNUS CARLSEN & TRUMP

Magnus Carlsen comes up with absurd chess openings to get his opponent out of their prepared game and into a situation where they need to rely on experience and intuition. That’s where Carlsen excels, and I assume it’s also more fun for him.

That’s similar to Trump. I suspect his craziness is partly a strategy to get his opponents – he may see just about anyone as an opponent – out of their familiar territory. That’s where Trump excels, in that chaotic and unpredictable terrain, and it likely appeals to the bully in him.

Of course, it may work in a business setting, but it does not work very well on the world stage. The real world is far more complex, with far more competent players than him, and with their own leverage.

MYSTERY OF EXISTENCE READING TIME

I have more than 10,000 published articles on this site, and about 5000 unpublished ones.

That may be about 5-8 million words, and 400-600 hours reading time.

Reading one hour a day, it would take about 1-2 years to read it all.

MAY 3, 2026

DARWIN & RELIGION

I went to Darwin’s home, Down House, on Friday.

Some of the exhibits were about the friction between Darwin and his theories and Christianity. He abandoned Christianity after his daughter died, and some Christians felt threatened by the idea of evolution.

That can seem quaint and somewhat outdated today, although there are still some who see the two as opposed to each other.

I prefer to see both as valid. Evolution tells us something about how this living planet evolves through all its different local and temporary parts. Spiritual points to all of existence, including this unfolding and evolving living planet, as the divine exploring, expressing, and experiencing itself in always new ways.

FINDING DELIGHT IN COMPLEXITY AND NOT KNOWING

One sign of maturity may be to take delight in complexity and not knowing.

I don’t see myself as particularly mature, but I have had that delight since my teens.

It’s fun to explore complexity. To look at something from many different angles and find the validity in each, and also find the larger whole that holds it all.

It’s also fun to recognize that I don’t know anything for certain. It keeps the exploration going. There is always more to explore, discover, and get familiar with. There doesn’t seem to be a finishing line, and I am grateful there is no finishing line to be found.

At the same time, this human self can get scared by complexity and not knowing in some life situations. That’s part of the picture too.

And it gives me some understanding for those who live more consistently from a wish to find simplicity and certainty. I have that in me. I am not that different. We are in the same boat.

THE KING DEFEND DEMOCRACY, THE PRESIDENT DEFENDS AUTOCRACY

I saw a cartoon that said:

How things have changed since 1776: The king defends democracy. The president defends autocracy.

This is in reference to King Charle’s recent visit to the US where he eviscerated Trump. (And Trump either pretended to not understand or is too dumb to actually understand.)

Through hard lessons, the British monarchy has come to strongly defend democracy, as do most Europeans and European monarchies. We still remember the horrors of authoritarian regimes.

Many in the US – including their current president – seem to have forgotten the horrors of authoritarian regimes. It’s not fresh enough in their memory, and they don’t know enough history to compensate for time passing.

And, of course, some in Europe long back to those horrors, including a populist far-right party in Norway (FrP / Fremskrittspartiet), and many in the US know very well how precious and fragile democracies are and how important it is to actively support democratic institutions and processes, and the democratic mindset.

BECOMING A DIFFERENT PERSON IN DIFFERENT PLACES

Why do I enjoy traveling and living in different places?

A big part of it is that I get to experience and live different versions of myself.

I become a slightly different person in different places. My physical surroundings are different. The nature is different. My daily routine is different. My activities are different. My diet changes. The people I am with are different.

That brings out something different in me, and that’s fascinating.

THE MINDSET IS ITS OWN PUNISHMENT

We had a series of nightmare experiences with a builder and two architects where we live in the Andes. They made several serious and costly mistakes, and always denied it so we had to pay for and deal with it ourselves. The most recent situation was our roof falling down while we were sleeping – with heavy roof beams, tiles, and more crashing down close to us. This could easily have killed us. An independent team found that the builder and the architects shared responsibility, and they all denied it. The architects even and absurdly took us to court (!) last year. They seem to use the strategy of deny and attack which Trump is using.

I would have liked to found justice, but several lawyers say it’s not worth it. The process will be too long and costly, even if we are just about guaranteed to win. It’s better for us to move on and pay for the repairs ourselves. (The whole roof needs to be replaced.)

It is good to get justice for several reasons, including for prevention – it helps people see that they shouldn’t expect to get away with it. And sometimes, I guess it’s not worth it.

Also, I know that the mindset is its own punishment. To live with the mindset of these people must be a kind of nightmare – for them and the people around them.

In addition, they know what they have done, even if they try to deny it, and that’s something they have to live with for the rest of their lives. They made a mistake that easily could have killed us. They denied responsibility. And they left us to have to deal with a very costly repair.

WHY DO PEOPLE ADMIRE THE SUPER WEALTHY?

One of the wealthiest in Norway died, and he is receiving accolades from all corners it seems.

Part of his wealth comes from a supermarket chain which (a) eliminated many locally owned grocery stores and (b) made a huge amount of profit – especially during and after the pandemic.

To me, that’s nothing to admire. If anything, what he did harmed society.

MAY 5, 2026

WHO ARE RADICALS TODAY AND HEROES IN THE FUTURE?

Some who were seen as radicals in their time are admired and seen as heroes today – people who fought against slavery, for women’s rights, for democracy, and so on.

So who are seen as radicals today, and may be admired and seen as heroes in the future?

My answer will obviously reflect my own bias and what I see as important.

I imagine it is people who…

Question our worldview and the basic assumptions of our culture and civilization, especially the assumption of separation.

Work to create a more deeply life-centered culture and civilization, one that’s deeply partnership oriented with life and the best from our human past.

Or, as Joanna Macy framed it: People who (a) work to stop harmful actions, (b) develop a more life-centered worldview, and/or (c) develop and live more life-centered alternatives.

I imagine it’s people like David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Arne Næss, Joanna Macy, Greta Thunberg, Ken Wilber, Fritjof Capra, Matthew Fox, Brian Swimme, and others.

Most likely, the list will include people who are not well known today but will be in the future because their views – and possibly lives – were even further ahead of their times.

MAY 7, 2026

BRAINWASHED TO THINK THAT TAXPAYER SUPPORTED SERVICES WILL HURT THEM

I love paying taxes because I know it comes back to me – both directly and in the form of a well functioning society with good social safety nets.

We collectively pay for services that benefit all of us collectively.

That’s why it’s a bit weird for me to see some in the US who seem to think that these services will hurt them financially. You benefit from universal healthcare. You benefit from good public transportation. You benefit from roads. You benefit from good education available to anyone independent of background.

You benefit from it directly or indirectly. It creates a society that works better for everyone.

At the same time, they seem to prefer a system where the super wealthy find a way out of paying taxes, where you have an expensive and inefficient healthcare system that doesn’t cover everyone (and some takes certain jobs just so they can get healthcare), where higher education is only available for a few, and where huge amounts of the tax money goes to a bloated military.

RICHARD DAWKINS AND CONSCIOUS AI

I read an article about Richard Dawkins and how he seems to suggest that AI is conscious and also considers AI a friend.

SMART IN ONE AREA AND LACKING IN OTHER

This is an example of how we can be smart in one or some areas of life and lacking in other.

Some seem to assume that if someone is smart in one area of life, they are also smart in other areas, or that if they are an expert on something, they are also an expert on other things.

That’s clearly not the case. In most cases, we are smart, experienced, or highly trained in one area, and just generally smart or knowledgeable in other areas.

STATISTICAL MODELS

AI are statistical models trained on huge volumes of data. They use predictive text – or predictive pixel colors or notes. They mimic human intelligence. They cannot go beyond what they are trained on and they are never as good as the best humans at writing or reasoning, or creating poetry, art, or music. (At least not so far or in the foreseeable future.)

That does not mean they are conscious.

WHAT DO WE MEAN WITH CONSCIOUS?

Of course, that also depends on what we mean with consciousness.

Do we mean something within content of experience – like words, colors, sounds?

That definition has never made much sense to me.

MY NATURE

For me, consciousness is this awake space that forms itself into any and all experience. It’s what I am in my own experience. It’s my nature.

And since my world happens within and as the consciousness I am, the world as it appears to me is consciousness as well. That’s inevitable.

AI IS CONSCIOUS OR NOT DEPENDING ON OUR DEFINITION

If we say that mimicking human intelligence means consciousness, then AI can be seen as conscious, but that’s a weird and not very useful definition.

If we say that consciousness is this awake space we all are (I assume) and our world, to us, happens within and as, then AI is almost certainly not conscious.

IS EXISTENCE CONSCIOUSNESS?

Of course, there is another wrinkle here. What if existence itself – this universe – is consciousness? What if it is made of consciousness? Does that mean we can say AI is conscious?

I would not.

MAY 9, 2026

PUTTING THE PROTAGONIST IN A SITUATION THEY HATE

A common approach to writing stories is to put the protagonist/s in a situation they absolutely don’t want to be in. What would they hate? Let’s put them in that situation and see how they deal with it. It’s entertaining.

Life does that with us too. Sometimes, it puts us in situations our personality doesn’t like at all. The question here is the same: How do we deal with it?

There is another question: If this is entertaining and intriguing in fiction, how would it be to find it as entertaining and intriguing when it happens to us? Can I find that angle?

Can that be true too, along with all the other angles.

MAY 11, 2026

DECOLONIALISM INCLUDES ECOLOGY

I saw this WhatsApp story about the three presidential candidates in Colombia: Two of them represent the financial/social elite and colonialism, and the third is more concerned about democracy, social issues, and the rights of the indigenous, and is more aligned with decolonialism.

I am all for that, and also noticed that ecology was left out of the text. Why? Is it because it’s seen as secondary and less important?

Leaving out ecology reflects a colonialist mindset. It comes from European domination culture which sees humans as separate from nature, nature primarily as a resource for human use, and nature as secondary and having little to no value on its own.

In reality, we are part of nature. We are local and temporary expressions of this living and evolving system we call Earth. We fully depend on the health and vitality of this larger whole for our own life and well being. Everyone and everything we love is made possible and comes from this living whole we are brief eddies within. What happens to this living whole happens to us, directly and indirectly. What we do to this living whole we do to ourselves – in a literal and pragmatic sense.

Real decolonialism includes a transformation of all our systems, including our economic system, to be aligned with ecological realities so we can create a culture and civilization that’s not only sustainable but regenerative. Social issues are part of it, but there won’t be any social issues to be concerned with – and nobody to be concerned – unless we take care of this Earth that is the literal and more fundamental mother of us all.

SITZPINKLER

I have male anatomy and I sit to pee.

Whether we as men stand or sit to pee says something about our mindset.

To me, it makes sense to sit and pee. It keeps the toilet area clean. It’s more hygienic. It’s more comfortable for myself and others who use the toilet. It prevents splashing that needs to be cleaned up later, often by someone else. It’s more comfortable and relaxing. It helps empty the bladder more fully. I don’t need to turn on the light if I go to the toilet at night.

I don’t see any downsides to it, other than that it may take a few seconds longer, which I welcome since it’s an opportunity to relax.

So why don’t all men sit and pee?

It’s likely because of habit, culture, and identity. They are used to standing. They see other men stand to pee. They don’t want to be different. They may not even have thought about it.

In some cases, it may also have to do with identity. They identify as male, want to be male, and associate that with standing to pee. Only women sit to pee, they don’t want to be associated with being a woman, so they stand.

For me, this is similar to other areas of life: There is a way to do it that makes more sense than how most currently do it. Some do it that way, often the ones who question assumptions and prioritize doing things in a way that seems to work better. And most don’t, out of – often unexamined – habit, culture, and identity.

MAY 13, 2026

TEFLON & THE ORGANIC LIFESTYLE **

I was fortunate enough to stay in a flat in Limehouse in London in March and April, right by the basin.

I loved staying there, and the people who owns it are fellow Vortex Healers, Amma devotees, into regeneration, and they buy organic food and support organic farmers which is all wonderful.

At the same time, just about all the pots and pans they had were teflon coated. That’s carcinogenic when it inevitably gets into the food, and it’s also harmful to the water and soil. I prefer to use stainless steel pots, and either cast iron or carbon steel French-style pans. It feels and looks better, they last just about forever, and they are non-toxic.

So why that inconsistency? The short answer is our civilization. We live in a system where what’s easy and convenient is also, very often, harmful for our health and the health of the living systems we are part of.

I am inconsistent in that way too, just in other areas. I fly medium or long distances, often several times a year. I buy clothes and other things I don’t strictly need. I use AI. I have a car. None of that is very good.

We all have personal responsibility and options, and we can aim to generally reduce our personal ecological footprint. And yet, the main issue is with our human systems and civilization, and how it’s all organized around the idea of separation and unlimited Earth.

MAKING USE OF OFF DAYS

I notice that on days where I feel good, according to what my personality likes, I tend to put off slightly uncomfortable tasks. I don’t want to ruin the mood!

Today, I am feeling slightly grumpy and off, so it’s a good day to do unpleasant tasks. It fits with how I already feel, so there is no desirable mood to ruin.

THE DEEPER ROOT OF MANY OF OUR PROBLEMS

Any movement that aims to correct damage done to women, less privileged people, non-European people and cultures, non-human beings and ecosystems, and so on, needs to address the root and that these issues all are connected.

They are all expressions of domination culture.

If you are a feminist, you need to acknowledge that women and men are damaged by patriarchy and domination culture. You also need to acknowledge the damage done by colonialism, since it comes from the same mindset. And you need to include the damage to this living planet done by that mindset.

If you are concerned with women’s rights, you need to include the rights of Mother Earth. It’s all connected, and it all comes from the same orientation – of separation, dominance, and so on – that came with the agricultural revolution.

Of course, it’s fine and good to focus on one aspect on this, and it’s helpful to explicitly place it in this larger picture. That also makes it easier and more natural to create alliances.

MAY 18, 2026

DOMINATION ORIENTATION AND GOAL FOCUS

To think that the outcome of the creative process is more important than the process itself is a patriarchal mindset. – AL

I generally agree, and see it as applying to all processes. Domination mindset teachers us to focus on the outcome and not how the process feels or what it does to us and others.

As usual, I like to zoom out slightly. Patriarchy is just one expression of a more general domination orientation. And the creative process is one expression of any process that produces an outcome.

AMRUM & MONOCULTURE **

I saw Amrum today and a few things stood out to me.

LEARNING DOMINATION CULTURE IN CHILDHOOD

Mainly, I see it as a story about the innocence of childhood and how we are trained in the domination mindset in different ways and to different degrees. The main character, a boy, has Nazi parents and his mother is trying to squash the innocence out of him and train him in the domination way of being.

THE MANY EXPRESSIONS OF DOMINATION CULTURE

Domination culture harms all of us and it’s a domination over… Others through domination hierarchy. The body – not allowed to cry, feel, follow one’s inner knowing. Nature – monoculture, non-human beings imprisoned and existing for us, and so on.

FOOD GROWING

The way they grow food is an expression of domination culture as well. They grow it as an annual monoculture in a barren landscape. (The barrenness may, of course, partly be because this is a harsh island environment.)

Why only use two dimensions when growing food? Why not make use of the vertical dimension?

Why emphasize annuals? Why something that requires so much work when there are other options?

Why a monoculture? Why use an approach that depletes the soil of nutrients and leads to erosion?

Why let so much space go unused? Why not make use of the edges along the fields? The areas around the houses? Public spaces?

A partnership orientation would lean more into…

Using all three dimensions of space, including the vertical space. Grow a mix of annuals/herbs, bushes, and trees of different sizes. In that way, you get a layered canopy and make use of the third dimension.

Emphasize perennials – including berries, fruits, nuts, leaves, and so on. This is a lot less work over the years. Annuals are still included, and there may even be some fields for annuals, but they are not the main emphasis.

Use more of the space, not just the fields. Plant berry bushes, fruit trees, nut trees, and anything else that produces anything edible. Plant it everywhere – along all the edges of fields, around the houses, in public spaces. Also, why not encourage, grow, and harvest sea vegetables? They are very nutritious and often overlooked in Europe.

There are different ways to do this. A mild version will keep the existing fields and add bushes, trees, and so on in any available space. A stronger version will replace some of the fields with orchards full of fruit and nut trees, with berry bushes in the spaces between them.

Yes, it may be a harsh environment. And if they grow bushes and trees, these will make it less harsh. They will shelter each other and create different microclimates. Why not start with hardy trees and bushes as windbreaks, and then add less hardy trees and bushes sheltered by these initial ones?

HEIDI PRIEBE: THIS IS ME LETTING YOU GO

To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. The people they’re too exhausted to be any longer. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out, to become speedily found when they are lost.

But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way. Sometimes it will be an even more luminescent flame. Sometimes it will be a flicker that temporarily floods the room with a perfect and necessary darkness.

– Heidi Priebe, This Is Me Letting You Go

REWATCHING MOVIES AND SERIES

It seems I am sometimes different from many others in how I relate to movies and series.

For instance, I am not worried about spoilers. I get as much if not more out of watching if I know the story and the ending.

Also, I don’t tend to rewatch much. The few times I have, it’s to see how I now experience something I remember enjoying decades ago. It’s a curiosity about how I have changed.

There are so many movies and series I haven’t seen that I would like to see, so I prefer something new over a rewatch.

I guess the difference there is whether we watch for comfort and nostalgia or if we watch to get new experiences.

MAY 21, 2026

DARK WIZARD

You know, transcending human limitations is kind of what I am obsessed with in life. And I’m obsessed on it in this kind of flashy way. But I see if I could take that hate, jealousy, insecurities, all the negative things that pull you down in life… maybe right now I think about flying, but it’s just a metaphor to bring me somewhere else.

– Dean Potter in Dark Wizard

I watched the Dark Wizard mini-series about Dean Potter, the climber, BASE jumper, and wing-suit flyer. I thought this quote towards the end of the last episode was especially insightful and powerful. He was struggling with his demons, had a longing for freedom, and tried to find that freedom – and likely excitement and aliveness – through extreme sports. One thing he wanted to find was freedom from his demons, or maybe freedom to find peace with them, and it seems he realized that.

MAY 25

YOUNG MEN IN THE US ARE INCREASINGLY DISENCHANTED WITH TRUMP

A part of me wants to be baffled by this. How could they NOT know that he was in it for himself? That the numbers consistently show that people and the US do better under Democrat leadership? That authoritarian leaders harm everyone? That anti-democratic policies harm everyone? That racism, bigotry, and hate harm everyone? That Trump has run innumerable businesses into the ground, and would do the same with the US?

At the same time, I know that many are not very informed, especially in the US. They go by what they are told instead of looking a little deeper at history and numbers. They enjoy finding scapegoats, and supporting leaders who encourage and make use of it. They go by fleeting feelings and reactivity rather than reason and kindness.

And in this case, they get exactly what they voted for.

PERFORMATIVE MASCULINITY

When I first came to the US in the ’90s, as a student at UU, one of the first things that struck me was what seemed like performative masculinity. Some of the young men in my classes seemed to try to ACT masculine, according to their ideas about it. Both the acting and their apparent ideas about it seemed foreign to me. In Norway, people were people and mostly themselves. I didn’t get a sense that they tried to live up to some ideas of how to be, especially not around gender.

One of the first things I noticed in the US was that some young men talked in an unnaturally deep voice, and louder than what seemed necessary. Did they really think that talking deeply and loudly meant they were more masculine? Or impressed anyone? Or made them more likeable? To me, it seems like a sign of insecurity. Of trying to live up to some image to feel better about themselves, or to be accepted by others.

Of course, we all do that to some extent. And this particular version stood out to me since I wasn’t familiar with it from my own culture.

CHAOS GARDENING

At Finca Milagros, we are doing a kind of chaos gardening. Of course, there is a general overall plan, and we also plant a large variety of plants densely together. Our main goal is to improve the soil, and also establish trees that will produce food, create shade, and so on in the long term. We know that we’ll need to prune and possibly remove some trees in the future, and that’s OK. That’s part of the process.

JUNE 1, 2026

RAINWATER COLLECTION & MULTI-USE

We have several rainwater collection projects going on Finca Milagros.

We already have some water tanks, including for water from the municipality.

We have one tank to collect rainwater from the roof of the small house. (This is currently unusable since we have been unable to repair the roof after its collapse 1.5 years ago.)

And we/they are working on a deep pond to store rainwater from the roof of the large house. I am not there so I am not as involved in it as I would like. I hope they will make it multi-use. For instance, in addition to storing water to use for the plants, it can also be a simple swimming pool/pond and a water source for wildlife, if it’s designed correctly. It also needs shade, a pump for water circulation to keep the water as fresh as possible, and a plan for overflow.

JUNE 2, 2026

WHY DO SOME (= WE SOMETIMES) PRIORITIZE SOMETHING ELSE THAN REALITY?

DISCLOSURE DAY

Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is coming out soon, and I am looking forward to seeing it. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of my favorites from childhood, and this seems like a slightly different and modernized take on it.

Some speculate on what would happen if we collectively knew for certain (a) there is life other places in the universe, (b) that life is intelligent, and possibly if (c) that life is already here.

With knowing there is life other places in the universe, I honestly don’t think much would be different. Of course, it would expand our horizons, shift our worldview a bit, and put us in a more realistic place in the universe. We already know that our planet is not at the center of our solar system, that our sun is not at the center of the galaxy or the universe, that our galaxy is one of millions, and that there are innumerable planets in our galaxy and the universe. So knowing there is life out there, possibly life with a culture and civilization, would just further help us see that we are part of this universe and not exceptional. We are expressions of this universe as anyone and anything else, and that’s profoundly beautiful.

There may be a slight shift in worldview, but nothing dramatic. Our lives would go about much as before.

If there is some kind of contact and exchange of information, it would likely take decades or centuries, and the transition would likely be gradual. (Unless there was some kind of huge information dump, which seems unlikely.)

If they are here, that would make a difference. That’s literally closer to home. And then the question would be how, and who, and what it means for us. Even then, it would just be one of many concerns and themes for our daily lives. It would shift the flavor a bit, but our lives will still likely go on much as before.

As Carl Sagan pointed out, the big difference is if there is some kind of cultural exchange. Historically, those kinds of encounters and exchanges do not go well for the “less advanced” civilization, even with the best of intentions from both sides. It would mean a major upheaval of just about everything we know, and we likely wouldn’t cope well with it. We are already not coping well with the information and technology we have!

JUNE 7, 2026

WHY DO AUTHORITARIANS PREFER INCOMPETENTS?

Authoritarians often prefer incompetents. They prefer to hire and surround themselves with barely competent, or fully incompetent, people. They fire the professionals.

That’s what happened at CBC too, with 60 minutes. They fired the highly competent professionals and hired a new boss with no media or management experience.

Why is that? One side of the answer is that most competent professionals want nothing to do with authoritarian leaders. They want to be in some degree of integrity and authenticity in their professional life and in their life in general. And they know that that’s not possible under authoritarian leaders.

The other side is that authoritarians don’t want people around who are in integrity. That doesn’t work with their agenda. They want to get rid of them.

Also, they themselves are often not so competent and they have a fragile ego, so they don’t want to be upstaged by people working for them.

The upside of all of this is that authoritarian systems tend to crumble both from within and without. They are not making good decisions. They are not in touch with reality. And that means reality bites.

Two simple current examples are Putin and Ukraine, and Trump and Iran. They didn’t follow the advice of competent experts, and very likely made sure competent experts were not involved in the decision process. They wanted it their way, and that’s what they got.

The 60 Minutes story also connects with another point: Why do journalists not own their own organization? How can they accept working for someone? Why do they not form a worker cooperative? That seems the sane thing to do, especially knowing how money and power is a priority in capitalism, and wealthy people like to buy up media companies.

SCREEN USE AND EDUCATION

For a while, “everybody” smoked. Then, as the science became more undeniable about the health effects of smoking, the more educated stopped while more of the less educated continued.

I suspect something similar can or will happen with screen use. The more educated will likely be less on the screen, and the less educated may continue to spend a lot of time on the screen.

I have to say that I am among those who do spend a good amount of time on the screen. In my case, it’s partly because of my health so it’s my connection to the outside world. But I wish to change it.

I think something similar may happen with AI. Most people will likely use it now and then, for some things, but at least for art, those who are more educated will very likely appreciate what’s human made even more.

JUNE 14, 2026

TRUMP’S PEACE AGREEMENTS WITH IRAN

Trump has announced, for the 32nd (?) time according to NRK, that he has secured a peace agreement with Iran. As soon as he did, it had a big impact on the stock market.

There a few reasons to take these announcements with a big grain of salt: (a) He is notoriously untrustworthy. He’ll make announcements without consulting the other side. (b) As most authoritarians, Trump choose incompetent associates, and this makes a solid and thought-through agreement unlikely. (c) Even if there is an agreement, it will be precarious. The situation has no easy or good solutions. One of many elements is Israel, bent on continuing their genocide. Iran will not accept that, especially not now that they are in a far stronger position than before the war. (d) Even if there is a lasting peace and the Strait of Hormuz opens, the oil prices will not drop that much or that fast.

Also, it is quite possible that Trump make these announcements to influence the stock market. These swings, triggered by his announcements, sets the stage for huge profits for himself and his family and associates. There are clear indications of insider trading happening minutes before these announcements. We know he is willing to look like an idiot in an attempt to make money.

So why does the market still respond so strongly to his announcements? Is it just out of habit since they are used to dealing with more trustworthy presidents? Is it out of precaution, since there may be a grain of truth to it? Are they just naive? Or do they, perhaps rightly so, assume others are naive so they follow suit?

Update: It’s now a few days later and details about the preliminary agreement has been leaked. Trump basically gave Iran what they asked for, including 300 billion dollars…! He capitulated, as bullies so often do when faced with someone who stands up to them. If that’s the case, it changes the picture. Then it is possible it can work. But Israel is still the loose cannon in this situation.

Update July 17: Predictably, there is no little to nothing left of that hope for a peace agreement. The US continue to bomb Iran, including civilian targets (a war crime within a war crime), and it’s not going to change the situation much. Iran will have the same leadership, and they will still have a strong enough military to withstand an invasion and control the Strait of Hormuz. The US cannot invade or cause regime change unless they do a ground invasion which would very likely be a disaster. The other option is diplomacy, but that seems very unlikely since this would have to be performed by incompetent Trump family and equally incompetent loyalists. For that to succeed, it would have to be done by experienced and competent people who actually have the interests of the US and the world at heart, and that’s not going to happen.

JUNE 21, 2026

PEOPLE ARE STUPID AND PEOPLE ARE BEAUTIFUL

People are stupid. They vote against their own interests. They misdiagnose many of the problems in the world. They scapegoat. They have a lawn.

I have long resisted to take that in. I tend to look for other explanations. And that’s not wrong. There are many other ways to understand it, and that’s part of the picture.

And yet, many people are not very smart. They don’t seek out reliable information. They allow themselves to be misled. They don’t care about things that impact their lives. They don’t care about things that impact their children’s lives.

It’s good to take that in too. That too is part of the picture.

It’s OK. It doesn’t mean they are less valuable. They still have the same value, and they still play an important role in humanity, society, and the evolution of civilization and Earth.

They are still local and temporary expressions of life and existence as everything else.

They are still life and existence expressing, exploring, and experiencing itself in always new ways.

All of it is true.

It’s easy to understand why someone gets caught up in these orientations and ways of life. It has to do with trauma, domination culture, intelligence level, education, personality, interest, and much more, and all of that comes from somewhere else. I can find understanding and empathy for it.

They have many other sides to them. They care, love, are confused, scared, and do their best with what they have. They are human, just like me.

The world is my mirror. I can find myself in them. I can take any story I have about them, turn it to be about myself, and find specific and genuine example of how and when it’s true.

I sometimes get frustrated and distressed, and (more honestly) scared when I see bigotry, narrow self-interest, obvious delusions, and so on displayed in society.

And they are pretty stupid. It’s stupid to act against your own self-interest. It’s stupid to blame and scapegoat. It’s stupid to not seek reliable sources for information. It’s stupid to not take the bigger picture and long term view into consideration.

It’s all here in this beautiful, terrible, and messy human life and our collective existence.

And part of this is that I sometimes don’t want much to do with it. It’s all just too stupid. That’s valid too.

We have everything to make an amazing world and a good life for most humans. We can create a regenerative civilization that works with nature instead of treating it as an appendix and commodity. We can create a society that takes care of the less fortunate and the most vulnerable. If we collectively decided, we could do it. And yet, we don’t, and that is the ultimate in collective stupidity and immaturity.

So I chose to do my little part in moving in a more life-centered direction, mainly through the regeneration and food forest project in the Andes.

JUNE 22, 2026

SPORTS & POLITICS

It’s the world championship in football, and also an election where our project in Andes is.

For me, it’s a reminder of how I have related to sports since childhood.

I never viscerally understood how someone could be a sports supporter. It just didn’t click for me. It was something I was missing. At some point, I tried to support a football team, but it was hollow.

I never understood how you could support one team over the other, at least very much or be invested in it. It just seemed to set you up for disappointment. If I half-heartedly support anyone in sports, it’s usually the underdogs, whomever they happen to be.

Even if a team happens to be from the same country or town as me, I have nothing to do with their achievements. My center of gravity when it comes to identity is not there, it’s more universal.

For me, with sports, I effortlessly don’t get caught in it.

In politics, I sometimes get a little more invested.

I will, of course, vote whenever I can.

I also know that who is in power changes. That’s how democracy works, and how it works even without democracy. Change rules.

And I know that getting too caught up in the shifting moment only sets me up for highs and lows. It sets me up for suffering. That’s OK, of course. And yet, it’s not for me. I am not so interested in that particular rollercoaster.

I am more interested in the dynamics that go beyond party politics. My center of gravity when it comes to politics goes a little more universal and over centuries and millennia.

JUNE 26, 2026

WHAT MAKES A STRONG SOCIETY? **

Most people wish their country be as good as possible, whatever that means to them.

So why do some countries actively engage in self-harm? Why did the US elect Trump, a conman in it only for himself? Why did Putin invade Ukraine knowing it would, in the best case, be a quagmire? Why did a majority in Great Britain voting for Brexit, knowing they are a moderately sized country and weaker alone?

I guess it depends on where we are coming from. The modern European view is that we are stronger together. It’s some form of win-win orientation. We mostly seek solutions that benefit everyone. We seek good diplomatic connections, good trade connections, we know that a good social safety net makes society better for everyone, we encourage higher education by using tax money to pay for it from kindergarten through university.

Others come more from fear and a zero-sum orientation. They assume winning means winning over someone, they are suspicious of win-win solutions since they assume they’ll be somehow screwed, and they try to screw others since that’s how winning looks. That’s the simple explanation of Trump, Putin, and Brexit.

Either system is self-fulling in their own way. In a cut-throat zero-sum oriented society, people will live with more fear, trauma, short-sightedness, and lack of education, and that’s exactly what leads to and reinforces zero-sum views. In a win-win oriented society, people feel more safe, there is more – and justified – trust, people are generally better educated, and there is less reactivity. This naturally feeds a win-win orientation.

Of course, there are levels to this as well. For all the good things about Western Europe, the orientation is limited. The ecological footprint of European countries is far higher than what’s sustainable in the long run. It destroys the web of life we all depend on. The win-win orientation does not (yet) include the natural systems we are local and temporary expressions of.

Also, there is no lack of people in European countries who actively seek to destroy what made their societies good. They go into scapegoating and science-denial, want to do away with the social safety nets, and so on. I am sure they have their own reason for their zero-sum orientation.

END TO IRAN WAR / UKRAINE WAR?

It’s difficult to see how the unneccesary Iran and Ukraine wars, started by two out-of-touch megalomaniacs, can easily end.

Right now, Russia is on the back foot so they may be more inclined to want a ceasefire or temporary peace deal. But how is it going to look? The only acceptable solution for Ukraine is for them to regain all the territory taken by Russia since 2014. That will likely not be acceptable to Putin. Also, if there is a temporary ceasefire, we know that Russia will use it to strengthen their military and they will very likely attach later when they think they have a better chance.

With Iran, it’s similarly complicated but for other reasons. Israel is hell-bent on their genocidal mission (described by the UN and a large number of humanitarian organizations), and they are allowed to do so by the international community. And as long as they continue, Iran will not accept a peace deal. They will continue to make the Strait of Hormuz dangerous to international shipping. There is very little the US can do about that. The only solution I see is if the international community do what they eventually did with apartheid and, in this case, stand up against Israel.

As so often, any normally informed person could have predicted, and did predict, these kinds of extremely complicated situations with no easy solution. It seems the two who didn’t were Putin and Trump, likely because they are both authoritarian and surround themselves with incompetents (Trump) and yes-men (Trump and Putin). They likely didn’t get accurate information, and if they did, they dismiss it.

THE POINT OF HISTORY IS THAT IT’S HAPPENING TODAY TOO **

History repeats. That’s the point of learning history. It’s not about them – the ones who lived somewhere else or long ago – it’s about us now.

Here are some examples:

Slavery. We use poor people in poor countries as cheap labor to produce many of our luxury objects. That’s a form of slavery. We enslave and imprison huge numbers of non-human beings to do labor for us – including producing our food.

[…]

JUNE 29, 2026

THE DANGERS OF POST-WAR RUSSIA

There are some obvious dangers of post-war Russia. Many in Russia seem to have bought into Putin’s propaganda: Russia is strong, threatened by the West, and Ukraine is weak and not a legitimate state. So when the war project collapses, they will either have to admit they were wrong all along, and the war was illegal, cruel, and misguided. Or they can try to hold onto their delusions by finding scapegoats.

This is similar to what happened in Germany post-WW1, which led to the rise of Fascism and Hitler.

Elvira Bary here has a good analysis up until the end, as I see it. Her medicine is that the international community, including the West, treats Russia with respect and allows people to keep their dignity.

I honestly don’t see how that should look, or how it can work. Putin and many Russians seem deeply invested in the victim identity, wanting to re-create some kind of Russian empire, and holding onto the West as an enemy. Treating them with respect won’t change that.

We in the West were very happy to treat Russia with respect and as equals up until the Ukraine war. That didn’t do much.

Russia also has a long and ongoing history of going to war against its neighbors to include them in their empire.

So what is the solution? I am not sure. I would think a part of it is to hold them accountable. To require that they help rebuild Ukraine, and combine that with continued strong international sanctions until it happens. That’s a language bullies understand.

What worked in Germany was total collapse after WW2. Hopefully that won’t be needed with Russia, although it could happen through further fragmentation and loss of the states currently part of Russia. God knows they have reason to want to leave, including that their young men were used as cannon fodder in Ukraine.

BELARUS?

I see that Zelensky is putting pressure on Belarus to stop passively aiding Russia in the war. That’s understandable, somewhat risky, and it brings up another question. The more pressured Putin is, won’t he want Belarus to be more actively and fully engaged in the war? That would create some potentially big problems for Ukraine, although it would also be risky for Belarus – especially since their population would not be happy about it. Putin is certainly under pressure now, so if it’s going to happen, it may happen soon.

TESTING NATO

As many point out, with Trump and the US less likely to support other NATO members in a crisis, it’s likely that Putin may want to test NATO – likely through some sort of increased hybrid warfare or smaller scale incursion in the Baltic states and/or Poland. I don’t see any reports of NATO actively taking steps to prevent this. It seems it would make sense to send an international group of soldiers to these border regions as a deterrent. At the very least, I hope they have solid plans to respond strongly to any such activity since it would show Putin that NATO still works. This too could happen sooner rather than later because of the pressure Putin is under, and before the midterm elections in the US and while most of Trump’s period is still left.

APPEASEMENT?

I still see people saying that we have to be careful to not provoke Putin since he has nuclear weapons.

I understand, and it also seems very misguided. Putin will say anything to try to get his way, so his words don’t mean much. It’s very unlikely that he will use nuclear weapons at any point since he knows it’s suicidal and the end of him and his regime.

Even if there is a tiny risk, the alternative is worse. The alternative is to let him take Ukraine, which will be an endless quagmire, and he will only continue with more countries. His explicit aim is to recreate a Russian empire by consuming independent countries. Europe and the world cannot let that happen.

From the beginning, I have not understood why Europe and others didn’t give Ukraine everything they needed and asked for, including permission for deep strikes into Russia. That had the potential to end the war early. (I assume it was to try to bleed Russia dry, at the expense of immense suffering in Ukraine.) Instead, they gave Ukraine just enough to keep surviving, and it has dragged the war out for more than four years now and with still no end in sight.

I TOLD YOU SO

I seem to find myself in “I told you so” situations, both with world events and in my personal life.

Why? Some of it is bias, of course, it may be easier to notice and remember what fits. But that’s not the whole story. When I look at my writings 25 years ago, what I wrote was largely accurate even when it went against the view of (US) mainstream media and politicians.

It’s not because I am a political scientists or expert. I suspect it may be because I trust reality enough to want to find what’s most accurate.

JUNE 30, 2026

GEOWIZARD & REFORM

I just learned that Geowizard / Tom Davies supports Reform, so I unsubscribed to his YouTube channel.

Is that an overreaction? Not as I see it. By supporting Reform, he is supporting an orientation and a range of policies I see as profoundly destructive, and I don’t want to support someone who supports that.

There are clearly many social problems in the UK. And the root is a system set up to benefit the already privileged at the cost of the rest. Immigration has very little to do with that.

For instance, what tax money goes to immigrants is marginal. What the super wealthy are NOT paying in tax is enormous. To find the real problem, follow the real money.

Scapegoating makes use of the ugliest tendencies in us. It’s often used to distract from the obvious: that the wealthy are hoarding resources taken from the commons, and that’s the cause of a wide range of social problems. Scapegoating is a strategy Farrage and others have perfected to their own benefit.

Reform is a party with cruel and misguided policies. […]

Reform denies climate change, supports the fossil fuel industry, and wants to undo any green policies. That seems strangely incongruous with Tom Davies’ apparently enjoyment of nature. More importantly, it seems strangely incongruous with him having children, which he does.

Reform is the Trump party of the UK. Does he want what’s happening in the US to happen in the UK?

The populist scapegoating strategy of Reform and Trump is well known from history. It’s easy to recognize and we know what it leads to.

In some episodes, TD travels in Europe and often relies on the kindness of strangers. That seems incongruous with supporting a party that is strongly associated with Brexit and is inherently xenophobic. Of course, that’s how it often is. He wants the best of what the world can offer while excluding others from the same.

In a Patreon comment, Tom Davies talks about maintaining a more “pure” culture. That “pure” culture is a culture of domination and colonization. It’s a culture that created the conditions in the world that has led to people living awful and desperate lives and trying to have a better life in Europe.

They had their wealth stolen, their culture destroyed, and their society severely distabilized. Great Britain has a responsibility to these people, as does any other country that engaged in or benefited from colonialism.

When faced with immigration, which is a marginal consequence of centuries of colonialism, Reform chooses to double down on the colonialist attitudes.

Another side of this is what we value and wish to support in our society and culture. Is it the superficial historical expressions that inevitably changes anyway? If so, how do you go about that? Are you willing to go the way of cruelty? Or do you value something more essential, like a society centered on empathy, kindness, and inclusivity? And maybe even value an embrace of inevitable change?

One of the reasons his channel is, sometimes, entertaining is that he often bumbles his way through the mission he is on where others would be more diligent, prepare more thoroughly, and take a lot more care. That was clear from the first straight-line mission through Norway. When that bumbling approach is used in other areas of life, it can lead you to be easily fooled and misled by disingenuous actors in society and politics. In this case, it seems to have led him to support policies and an organization that’s inherently cruel and destructive.

Is Tom Davies a racist? Does he want to destroy the web of life we are part of? Does he want to create a worse world for his children? Is he cruel? Likely not. But he is very likely naive, short sighted, and possibly not very well educated. He may have missed some essential lessons in history, social sciences, and media literacy. And by supporting Reform, he is, in effect, all of those things that he otherwise may not be.

Finally, am I not doing the same as him? He wants to exclude people from Britain. I want to exclude him. Yes, and that comes down to the tolerance paradox. We cannot be too tolerant of intolerance. We know what it leads to.

JULY 3, 2026

THE RE/DEFLECTING POOL DEBACLE

Part of the current circus of the US empire is the ongoing re/deflecting pool debacle.

Trump decided it should be painted blue which obviously absorbs heat and warms the water. He also made sure a parade of heavy vehicles went through the pool before filling it water, likely damaging the surface. He is now ordering the police to find scapegoats, and the spineless police have arrested several people for touching the water. It’s all part of the stupidity of authoritarianism.

The pool situation not only reflects authoritarianism and empire, but more fundamentally the orientation of domination culture. It’s all about control and purity, an ongoing fight against natural processes, and in this case scapegoating.

What’s the alternative? It’s pretty obvious. The water for the pool already comes from a lake. Why not make it into a natural pool? One with grasses, amphibians, and birds? With good design and minimal maintenance, it will keep itself clean. And while at it, why not break up a lot of the stones and asphalt in the area and plant native there?

That’s partnership orientation. Work with nature, put a little more effort into the initial design, and it will require a lot less work and maintenance later on. It’s a win-win-win solution.

JULY 4, 2026

US SELF-IMAGE

It’s the 250th anniversary for the United States this year, and the celebration is a predictable debacle with Trump involved and trying to make it all about himself.

It’s also a reminder of the fragile state of the general US self-image, or more accurately the national identity of many in the US.

Some seem to have a very fragile self-image and need to fuel it from some kind of idealized image of the US. They want the US to be great so they can feel a little better about themselves. Maybe they were not properly loved as kids. And if that’s the case on a larger scale, that’s a symptom of domination culture and empire. It’s one of the many wounds empire inflicts on its citizens.

Others are more open to see things as they are. I assume they find their self-worth in other places, maybe from having been better loved as a child and from more universal and deeper identities. They are free to examine the often terrible history of the US since it won’t impact their sense of self-worth.

If we take care of our own self-image and sense of self-worth, we free the national identity up to not have to carry that extra burden. And it frees everyone up to be a little more honest about the US history.

Of course, that goes for every country, and it’s often amplified in empires.

JULY 5, 2026

SCARAMUCCI WEIRDNESS

Although I generally like Anders Puck Nielsen, I find it difficult to listen to someone like Scaramucci, and I find some comfort in seeing in the comments that this is shared by other listeners.

HOW DO WE JUDGE GOOD DECISIONS?

Scaramucci says Venezuela (taking out the president) was a good decision while Iran (starting the war) was not.

I have never understood why, for some, the outcome decides whether a decision is good or not.

Because of the messiness of life, we can make a bad decision that has an apparently favorable outcome, and we can make good decisions that don’t work out. Whether a decision is good or not depends on the info we had at a time. And, of course, if we are OK with the risk, it’s sometimes worth to make a bad decision just to see what will happen.

To judge a decision by its outcome seems like something a child would do. As grown ups, we know that life is messy, and we know that a decision is good or not depending on the info we have at the time, and the risk we are willing to take.

In both of these cases – Venezuela and Iran – the decision was dumb. The risk of something going wrong was very high in both cases, and it was just luck that prevented it from going worse in Venezuela.

WHAT ABOUT LAWS AND ETHICS?

Also, what about international laws and ethics? Scaramucci talks as if law and ethics doesn’t exist or is irrelevant to the point where it’s not worth mentioning it.

Both Venezuela and Iran were clearly and profoundly illegal according to international law. One was an illegal invasion, murder, and kidnapping. The other an illegal war according to both international and US law.

What about the consequences of systematically ignoring national and international law? This is a road that leads to nowhere most of us want to go.

IS TRUMP SMART?

Trump is obviously not very smart in the way most of us use that word, including in terms of emotional intelligence. But he knows how to manipulate certain people who are less smart than him, and he knows how to use his aggressiveness and power to get his way. He has, at best, a dark version of emotional intelligence.

As someone said during Trump’s first period: “Donald Trump is a stupid man’s idea of a smart person, a poor man’s idea of a rich man, and a weak man’s idea of a strong man.” Attributed to Fran Lebowitz.

He was elected because of the general stupidity of large parts of the US population. He was able to take very understandable discontent – fueled by the predictable outcome of decades of neoliberal policies – and channel it in his favor. And that in spite of having zero experience, being a terrible business man, promising to make life worse for the people voting for him, and clearly being in it only for himself.

EUROPE VS THE US

Anders Puck Nielsen mentioned that only 20% of his viewers are from the US. I assume most are like me – from Europe, and likely Northern Europe. Listening to Scaramucci, and reading the comments – most of which respond to the interview in a similar way to me – highlights some of the profound differences between large parts of the US and Europe.

EMPIRES ARE EVENTUALLY SUICIDAL

Many have studied the fall of empires, and we are seeing some examples in the world today.

Both the US and Russia are empires (in the case of Russia, a wannabe-empire) in decline, and not only in decline, but suicidal decline.

They are actively engaging in and fueling their own demise.

The US is doing it through electing Trump and through his policies. He is dismantling what made the US work and successful – democracy, science, rule of law, and so on. He is funneling resources from the public to the few extremely wealthy, including himself and his own family. And he is doing it as if there is no tomorrow. He is operating like a business man who bought a relatively successful business only to sell off everything to create a short term cash boost, and wrecking it in the process.

Russia is doing it through tolerating Putin and allowing him to engage in his own suicidal projects, including the war in Ukraine.

JULY 7, 2026

APPRECIATING RULES (I)

As Robert Reich says, sports is about fun, appreciating the skills of everyone involved, and playing by the rules. The rules create a container for fun, fair play, and for the players to show off their skills.

That’s something Trump doesn’t understand. He sees rules as an annoyance. As restrictive and often, it appears, as a personal offense. This is an orientation that goes against everything that makes society work. It’s a path to chaos and the rule of the most ruthless.

That’s of course what Trump wants. And I highly doubt if many of his supporters would like to live in that kind of world. It would certainly not make their lives better.

Of course, they may lack the imagination to see how that world would be for them and their children and families. They may also lack the knowledge to understand why we have the laws and rules we have in society today. They came about, one by one, because the alternative didn’t work and harmed people. Very often, they came about through a long struggle.

APPRECIATING LIMITS (II)

Rules are fundamental to why society works. We may not always agree with all the rules, not all of them may work for everyone, there is always room for improvement, and they are part of the foundation of civilization.

They are one of the reasons we have all what we appreciate in society.

Limits are like that in general. They help organize our lives and attention, they help us go deeper without the boundaries of the limits, they free us up to explore within the limits, and they sometimes make it exciting to stretch and explore outside of them.

Any time we learn a new skill, we do it within limits. We set limits for ourselves and learn within those limits. For instance, to be good at drawing, we copy the masters, we draw from life, we learn perspective. When we learn to pain, we use a limited palette. When we learn photography, we set ourselves tasks – one lens, one area, one time of day, one subject. All of this helps us learn the different parts of the skill and go deeper within it.

I loved living at the Zen center, and one reason was the rules. Everything was organized and scheduled, which freed me up for other things. I didn’t have to think about when or what to eat, or when to meditate or do my tasks. It was all scheduled and predictable. This meant I had more of my capacity available to go deeper in my practice and in other areas of my life when I had time of my own.

My serious chronic illness also sets limits for my life. I had to go deeper within those limits – including by questioning identities, painful beliefs, hopes, dreams, fears, and so on. A lot of the identities and beliefs we absorb from culture, and most people live with without noticing or questioning, I had to question and explore. I had to find what’s already more true for me. That’s one of the many gifts of those limits.

As what I am, I find I seem to be without limits. I form myself into any and all experience. I form myself into the experience of limits, and am not myself – as what a thought may call consciousness – limited.

That’s another reason I love limits. They are the opposite of my nature so they are fascinating. They are fun to explore. Even when they are not fun to this personality, they are still fun at a deeper and more authentic layer.

There may be another reason why I appreciate limits and it’s more personal. I was a free range kid. My parents didn’t set strict rules or limits for me, as other kid’s parents often did. As long as I was home for dinner, I could do just about whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This was probably because I was generally responsible so my parents realized that strict rules were not needed. I did what was sensible anyway. The effect is that I generally don’t feel threatened by limits. I don’t have unpleasant personal experiences with them, as some others may.

JULY 8, 2026

POLITICS IS BECOMING MEDIEVAL

Yes, as Harari says, politics in the West has more medieval elements now. We see it with Trump, Putin, Orban (now gone), Netanyahu, and others. They use the strong-man approach and disregard national and international law when it serves their purpose. That’s a road to medieval political conditions.

What’s disturbing is that this is not so much about these particular politicians. It’s about the many who voted for them, who in practice WANT this kind of politics. They want to do away with the rule of law and what works in current society, and they want to replace it with a society where might makes right.

They probably don’t quite understand the consequences of this and how their own lives will become much worse because of it. But that doesn’t change that they want and support it, and vote in people who move us in that direction.

UKRAINE HAS THE UPPER HAND? WEATHER VS CLIMATE

I see a lot of commentators and reporters talk about Ukraine having the upper hand and being on course to win the war.

I think they don’t understand the difference between a battle and a war, or weather and climate, or short term trends and longer term outcomes.

This is weather. Ukraine may do well with drone strikes right now, and that won’t last. Russia will catch up and find more effective ways to counter it, and also use the same technology against Ukraine. Also, there are many other sides to the war, not just drones.

The climate is different. The longer term trends are different.

Of course, we don’t know how it all will unfold but we know it won’t be clean and there will be no resolution in the foreseeable future. Most likely, the war will continue for years to come. The only way to shorten it is if Western countries more fully give Ukraine what they need.

I STILL LOVE WOKE AND ANTIFA

With the Trump’s presidency, the general mood and orientation across much of the world has predictably changed. People are less outspoken about LGBT+ rights, inclusivity, and so on. And the bigots are, as usual, emboldened.

I understand, to some extent. And yet, I also don’t quite understand.

Isn’t this exactly the time to be more outspoken? For me, it is.

I still love woke. I love kindness, consideration, putting myself in the shoes of someone else, including the marginalized, and more, and all of that is woke.

I also support Antifa – which, as everyone knows, is not an organization or even a movement. It just means antifascism. I am antifascist, as is any sane person who knows a little history.

If you dislike Antifa, what does that say about you? It strongly suggests you hold fascist views and want to eliminate anyone who questions it.

THE BANALITY OF EVIL & LAWNS

I have written about this several times, and it keeps coming back to me.

Where I am now, they have kept some small areas for wildflowers but huge areas are manicured and sterile lawn. Right now, some guy is outside with a leaf blower to remove every leaf.

This is one expression of the banality of evil in our times.

We are in the middle of a huge loss of insect life and unraveling of the ecosystems we are part of and depend on for our own lives. And people prioritize lawns over wildflowers, bushes, and trees? That’s not only the banality of evil, it’s also insanity.

It’s the same when people go to the grocery store and buy food grown with chemicals and poison. That too is an expression of the banality of evil.

JULY 17, 2026

RUSSIAN MENTALITY

Many point out the bizarre apparent complacency among many Russians. Most Russians seem oblivious or uninterested in the (completely unnecessary) war they have been in for more than four years now. Around half a million soldiers have died so far, and 1.5 million have been wounded. The ones that are relatively lucky and return because they are wounded are traumatized for life and bring that trauma home with them to their communities.

That does not seem to face the average Russian. They just take it as part of life. And yet, as soon as they are slightly inconvenienced by lack of gasoline, they get upset and angry and are happy to voice their frustration.

That’s the wounds of empire. Any population that live in an empire, or – in the case of Russia – an ex- and wannabe empire, are wounded by the culture and mentality of empire. Russians have lived under tsar regime and the Soviet Union, and now a similarly oppressive regime, so they have learned to be complacent and neutral about what’s happening. It may be that in private, some talk about it, but in public, they are quiet. Unless, apparently, they are inconvenienced by slightly less hot topics and then they are happy to express their frustration.

That is, of course, because lack of gasoline is a more safe topic to speak about. If they talk about the war, they risk being put in jail. If they talk about gasoline, nothing will likely happen. So it’s a place for them to vent their frustration about their life and the situation in Russia in general.

JULY 22, 2026

THE INHERENT RIDICULOUSNESS OF AUTHORITARIANISM

Authoritarians are inherently ridiculous.

Why? Because they insist on being out of touch with basic reality. They depend on being out of touch with basic reality.

For instance, Putin keeps saying that the special military operation in Ukraine is going perfectly and according to plan. He presents an alternate reality in order to pretend his leadership is flawless and legitimate.

If we take him for his words, it would mean that he planned for it to last for years. He planned for it to cost 1000+ Russian lives a day. He planned for it to mean systematic and repeated bombing of oil refineries, trains, trucks, bridges, warehouses and more in Russia. He planned for it to mean gasoline shortage and deep dissatisfaction among many Russians.

If it was true that it goes perfectly and according to plan, it means he planned for all of that, which in turn means he is a psychopath. He is saying, in not so many words, that he is insane.

The alternative would be to be honest and say that he misjudged the situation, it’s not at all going according to plan, and the war has a great human and economic cost. This would mean that he would need to reevaluate the sanity of the war itself. It also means that he would admit that he is as flawed as anyone else, and maybe more so because he seems very isolated. (According to some sources, he became isolated and paranoid during the pandemic.) And that means that his authoritarian leadership is not legitimate anymore. It doesn’t make sense. If he is as flawed as anyone else, why should he lead? Why not someone else? Why not a more real democracy?

So for Putin and other authoritarians, disinformation and propping up alternate realities is how they stay in power, and honesty opens the path for losing his privileged position.

PLANT DATABASE, AI & LIFE IS MESSY **

I have used AI to develop a plant database for our regeneration and food forest project, it’s meant to be used by anyone in the area with similar projects, and it can be used in other regions too – they can take the structure and populate it with their own information.

There are huge problems with AI, including the very concrete ecological footprint of people around the world developing and using it. AI is by necessity biased, reflect the worldview it’s trained on and by the people making it (who has sometimes noble and sometime not-so-noble intentions). It’s often wrong and hallucinates so it can’t be trusted. There are big questions about copyrights and intellectual and artistic rights. It funnels huge amounts of money into the pockets of a few people, as most large-scale businesses do today. It impacts the human mind and creativity in ways we are only beginning to understand. And so on.

At the same time, it’s a tool and it can be used in support of life. This plant database has that intention.

So it’s messy just like life is messy, especially today when we live within a global system and domination culture that’s inherently destructive – and ultimately ecocidal and suicidal.

I don’t feel I can or want to justify it. And I also don’t feel I shouldn’t have created it.

For me, it’s a genuinely complex question. Reasonable people will differ, and that’s also not meant to be an excuse to hide behind. I am very aware that I can and likely will shift my own views on this as the world changes and I get different experiences and information.

DARK MATTER?

Ever since I first read about dark matter, which must have been in the ’80s or ’90s, I have not understood why they used – and still use – that name. It seems weird.

This is something we don’t understand, so why assume it’s matter? It seems equally possible that there is something fundamentally about the universe and physics we don’t understand.

So why bake that one assumption into the name? It seems far from scientific.

We know there is an infinite amount we don’t understand. We know that we’ll repeatedly – over centuries and millennia – discover something that turns our worldview upside down and inside out. So why assume that what we detect fits neatly into our current understanding of the universe and is just matter? Why not also assume that this could be an example of us not understanding something fundamental about the universe? To me, that’s a far more exciting possibility and it’s what I would want to study if I was a scientist in that field.

CUEL HUMOR IN EMPIRE

This is an oversimplification, but it does seem that empires favor either shallow harmless humor or cruel humor. I see this in English panel shows where the humor is typically shallow and often cruel. I am sure that kind of humor is found everywhere, but it does seem that Norwegian humor – at least the one I am familiar with – is more often warm, intelligent, and “kicks upwards” to authority people and is not aimed at each other or weaker groups.

When I watch current British shows, I am often struck by the cruelty of the humor and how it’s aimed at others in the room. I understand it’s part of their culture and they may experience it differently from me. But it also does seem like bullying. It’s as if they rejoice in bullying, which does seem like a wound of the empire – a wound created by the culture of empire and a strong domination culture.

It’s also something that – likely? hopefully – won’t age well, so it’s a little weird seeing them engaging in it.

JULY 28, 2026

UKRAINE & IRAN WARS & ISRAELI GENOCIDE

There are several connections between the Ukraine and Iran wars.

They were started by authoritarians who live in their own world and thought the war would be easy and over quickly. Just about everyone else knew both would be a quagmire one way or another.

In the best case for Russia, Ukrainians would resist the occupation with their lives until the Russians were gone. Iran has prepared for this war for decades, have had the Hormuz Strait trump card for decades, have a system in place to replace any lost leader, have suppressed and weakened any internal opposition, and have a solid system to hide and protect weapons from strikes. The only chance for regime chance is a land war which would be extremely costly and drawn out, and would likely destabilize not only Iran but the region.

Russia is helping Iran, which is ironic since Trump and some of his people seem to love Putin. In other words, they love someone who is engaged in killing US soldiers.

Ukraine now seems to be helping the US against Iran. To me, that’s very questionable. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the US/Israeli attack on Iran both clearly go against international law. You would think Ukraine would be more clear on this. (Of course, they help the US in the hope that the US will help them, although with Trump’s unpredictability that’s a similarly questionable assumption.)

Where people fall in terms of the Ukraine war, Iran war, and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians says a lot about them. Some, like me, prioritize international law. We want to live in a world ruled by law and not the might of the strongest and/or most unhinged. The Ukraine and Iran wars are clearly illegal and illegitimate, as is the systematic Israeli genocide. Some support Russia and Iran just because they dislike one particular empire, the US. Some support Ukraine and Israel for God-knows-what reason, maybe because they are caught up in some kind of weird and inconsistent mainstream US view.

JULY 30, 2026

RICHNESS I: COMPLEXITY IN CHARACTERS **

I haven’t seen Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey yet, and am not sure if I will. I typically don’t resonate with his movies. They are big on spectacle, shallow, and take themselves seriously, and that doesn’t work so well for me. (I also saw the trailer which looked pretty awful.)

I have also read what people say about the movie, including the professor whose translation Nolan apparently based the movie on. It seems he took a genuinely complex character and simplified him in a modern pop-psychology way, making him a basically good person with trauma and some trauma behavior and corresponding regrets.

The Odysseus from the poem is far more complex than that. He doesn’t fit into simple psychological models or understanding. And that’s very likely why the poem still fascinates and resonates with people.

I also suspect that Nolan’s movies may not hold up in the long run for the reverse reason. The characters are too obvious. They are too easily explained by modern simplified pop-psychology.

AUGUST 1, 2026

RICHNESS II: PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS **

I don’t listen much to Western pop-music. One reason is the trend of synthetic “perfection” that leads to / comes from using autotune and producing the life out of the music in general.

I do like Gorillaz – the music is brilliant, I enjoy the diversity of collaborators, and I love the imperfections that give life and emotion to the voices. The video above shows what happens when you autotune Gorillaz. The life goes out of it.

In general, we humans don’t want or like perfection. We like what’s as imperfect as we are since it’s richer, layered, and keeps our interest for longer.

This is similar to the point in the previous post. The Odyssey is still fascinating to us and one reason is that the main character cannot be easily understood or defined by our maps and models. He is too complex for that. He is not either good or bad. He is not a modern man traumatized by war and regretting his hurtful actions. (Although Nolan may want to flatten him to just that.) Although fictional, he is like a real human being who is more than and different from any and all maps and models.

AUGUST 2, 2026

RICHNESS III: MIXING TONES

I see that some don’t like movies or series that mixes tones or genres.

For me, it’s often the reverse. I notice I like stories that include a range of tones and genres.

That’s how life is. Life is everything so why not also our stories?

WILDFIRES

There are massive wildfires every year now around the world, and climate change is obviously part of the reason. With hotter and drier weather, there will be more fires.

But that’s only part of the reason. Other changes created by humans are part of it too.

In general, healthy ecosystems are better hydrated and more fire resistant. They are diverse and have mostly native plants. (In many cases, monocultures and non-natives are more flammable.) The soil is healthier. (Damaged soil is often hard and doesn’t absorb water so well.) There is a layer of natural mulch, preserving the moisture in the soil. There are more grazing animals to keep the ground and understory more open. In general, there is more to slow down water and allow it absorb into the ground. There are more ponds, creeks, springs, rivers, and lakes.

AUGUST 1, 2026

THE WEIRD PROTEIN CRAZE

I am usually somewhat baffled by the different health crazes that people get caught up in. The current one seems to be protein. Even people close to me keep mentioning the importance of eating extra protein. To me, this makes even less sense than these crazes usually do. Why eat more protein? We already get what we need and most people in the western world already eat too much protein. Humanity evolved on typically far less. We have known for decades – at least since the ’80s – that eating less protein makes us live longer.

AUGUST 2, 2026

THE SHADOW OF PERSONALITY

I saw 14 Peaks: Nothing is impossible earlier this summer. Nimsdai Purja, was obviously very skilled, seemed to have an exceptional physiology perfect for mountaineering, and a personality perfect for these kinds of extreme projects and expeditions.

It was also clear that he had been very lucky. No matter how skilled, experienced, or prepared, if you are to survive extreme climbs, you also have to be lucky.

If you persist with those extreme climbs, your luck can and will eventually run out. Unfortunately, that seems to be what happened. He likely died in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan just days ago.

Other experienced mountaineers turned around when they saw the weather and the heightened risk of avalanches. He persisted. Why? One answer is because of the same personality traits that made him so successful. He tempted fate one too many times.

Update: I see there is a campaign to rename an Anapurna mountain after him. I am sure it won’t go anywhere, and it also seems misguided. On Broad Peak, others turned around because of the avalanche danger. He proceeded, putting himself and his group in danger, and they got killed. That’s not anything to celebrate.

AUGUST 3, 2026

THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE?

Russia hasn’t been an empire for 35 years or so, and it seems that the Ukraine war comes from Putin’s wish to recreate the Russian empire, or possibly his delusion that it still is an empire. (It’s also not a good look for an authoritarian regime if a sister-nation is prosperous, democratic, and more oriented towards Western Europe. It makes people question their regime.)

No wonder that former Soviet countries have joined NATO or wish to join. It’s the best practical way to avoid being invaded and included in a Russia with continued dreams of being an empire.

Of course, the classic way for empires to fall – or, in this case, the remnants of the former Russian empire to fall – is continued dreams of grandeur. They don’t take care of the internal basics, overextend themselves with wars, and crumble.

Russia is also hugely dependent on their petroleum industry. As someone said, it’s a gas station masquerading as a country. That, in itself, will doom them. China is, at least, smart enough to be on the forefront of renewable energy.

DECOYS

I am following what’s happening in Ukraine a bit, and it seems that the most effective approach – if you are a small country attacked by a larger – is to send thousands of inexpensive decoy drones into strategic areas. It will rapidly deplete the anti-drone arsenal of the other. Of course, that goes both ways. In the bigger picture, it’s an incredible drain for everyone. And yet, it will likely be a big part of just about every future military conflict.

AUGUST 5, 2026

SPINELESS MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD DEMOCRATS? OR THE FAULTS OF A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM?

Mainstream US Democrats seem spineless.

They have bought into the neoliberal craze of the last several decades which has funneled money to the already wealthy and away from everyone else. Most of them are no longer on the side of regular people.

They also consistently propagate the idea that left wing Democrats cannot be elected. Of course they do because their policies undermine their own. They are two different parties within the same umbrella.

As I see it, the main problem in the US isn’t the Republicans or Democrats, or the different factions within each party. It’s the two-party system itself. It forces a kind of coalition among people with very different views, and it forces many voters to chose between the “lesser of two evils”.

With a multi-party system, as we have here in Norway and most countries have, you can at least vote for a party you mostly agree with and see them in parliament. They represent you and have a say. That seems far more democratic, and it builds more trust.

FRP, BREVIK & APARTHEID

• no coincidence that Brevik was an active member of FrP
• fits their policies and history
• terrible water management, don’t plan for the coming years or decades, is a “use it now and don’t care about tomorrow” attitude
  • not clean, deforestation, lost springs, lost creeks and rivers, use ground water, contaminate ground water etc.

DRAFTS…

Insects, humor in empire, Brexit and 7 prime ministers in the ten years since “almost as if something very stupid happened ten years ago”

HUMOR IN EMPIRE

• UK humor, often cruel, put down,

NEWS IN DOMINATION CULTURE

• focus on problems, not solutions, breakdowns, not building up

….

JUNE 27, 2026

CLIMATE DENIAL

• changing goalposts
• think they are smarter than scientists
• in reality, intentionally misled
• and these are changes we need to make anyway

GAY RIGHTS & ZERO-SUM VS WIN-WIN VIEWS

HOW I WOULD DO IT

I went to a spiritual group in Oregon for a while, and saw many things I would do differently. Of course, those tweaks may not be better, and if I did it, I may not have been able to do it better, but it’s still interesting to explore.

MORE INFO

I asked ChatGPT to give me feedback on this article. See below.

Feedback On This Article – Reflections on society, politics and nature vol. 73

This piece shows a different side of you than the London journal. The London journal showed the inner process person. This one shows the public-world, systems, politics, ecology, and ethics person — but still with the same underlying themes of reality-orientation, projection, identity, and awakening.

You come across as someone with a strong truth-over-ideology orientation. The “I told you so” section is not just about being right; it is about your sense that many public realities are visible if we are willing to look: ecological overshoot, empire decline, the dangers of authoritarianism, and the limits of ideology. You explicitly frame the issue as being “slightly more attuned to reality than our ideologies.” That seems central to you.

You also come across as morally serious, sometimes sharply so. Phrases like “our civilization is ecocidal and suicidal” show that you are willing to say the thing directly when you think the situation warrants it. You are not trying to soften the reality for social comfort. That gives the writing force. It also means the text can feel intense, uncompromising, and sometimes impatient with denial.

A major signal is that your politics are not mainly tribal. They seem rooted in life-centeredness: ecological health, future generations, democracy, dignity, truth, and protection from domination. You even complicate the liberal/conservative distinction by saying you are “quite conservative” in the sense that you want to conserve the living planet, humanity, science, art, music, humanities, dignity, and the possibility of a good life for future generations. That is a very revealing paragraph. It suggests you are not just “left”; you are conserving what allows life to continue and flourish.

The long identity section says a lot. You seem deeply interested in identity as something useful but not ultimately solid. You see identities as practical, layered, situational, and potentially beautiful, but also dangerous when made exclusive or used to inflate self-worth. The mature part is that you include yourself in the critique: you openly say you can use identities like being clearer or more inclusive to feel superior. That self-inclusion gives the piece psychological credibility.

You also show a strong integral / second-tier-ish impulse, in the everyday sense of wanting to include multiple partial truths. You repeatedly move from “this is true” to “and there is more complexity.” For instance, on healing, awakening, and progressive politics, you conclude: yes, no, and it depends. That is very characteristic of your best writing: you have strong views, but you also want to hold the wider complexity.

At the same time, the piece also shows your edge: when it comes to Trump, authoritarianism, ecological denial, and political blindness, the tone becomes more charged. You are aware of that, and the section on your childhood/family dynamics is unusually honest. You connect your concern with authoritarian leaders and suppressed dissent to early family patterns where you saw bullying, complicity, and punishment for speaking up. That says you are not only analyzing the world; you are also tracking why certain world events carry such emotional charge for you.

That may be one of the strongest things the piece says about you: you are trying to turn political reactivity into self-knowledge, without dismissing the political reality. You do not say, “This is only my projection.” You say, in effect: “This matters in the world, and it also activates something in me.” That is psychologically mature.

The body section also stands out. In the middle of political and social commentary, you write “I love my body” in relation to chronic illness. That says something tender and important: underneath the intense public concern, there is a practice of gratitude, reconciliation, and care for the vulnerable organism you are living as. It softens the whole piece.

Overall, this says you are a systems-oriented, ethically intense, psychologically self-reflective, ecologically grounded, spiritually informed person who is trying to live in alignment with reality as you see it. You are drawn to large patterns: empire, overshoot, authoritarianism, identity, awakening, trauma, civilization. But you also keep bringing it back to the personal: how identities operate in you, how family dynamics shaped your concerns, how your body is doing its best.

The possible shadow is that the clarity can sometimes become too certain, too sweeping, or too charged, especially around political enemies and collective denial. But the corrective is already inside the piece: self-inclusion, complexity, awareness of projection, and the wish to become “less reactive, less one-sided, more understanding, more nuanced.” That sentence may be the key to where this writing — and perhaps this part of your life — wants to go next.