Green Without Illusions
The planet’s tired.
The air’s thin.
The rivers are drunk on chemicals.
Everyone’s talking about “carbon,” like that’s the whole story. It’s not.
The problem isn’t just molecules in the sky — it’s habits, power, and comfort.
The world’s choking on good intentions sold in recyclable packaging.
Justice isn’t charity:
You don’t fix inequality by handing out subsidies to the same people who caused it. Justice isn’t another payout; it’s co-ownership. If you’re going to rebuild housing, let the tenants own a piece. If you’re cleaning up land, pay the people who live on it to do it. Otherwise, you’re just polishing the same old chains.
The culture problem:
Most Greens want cleaner streets, but they still want their holidays in Bali. The math doesn’t work. You can’t buy redemption in organic cotton. Stewardship isn’t a brand — it’s a lifestyle that bleeds a little. Teach kids to repair things, not just recycle slogans. Give them a shovel, not an iPad app about climate.
Power never dies it just rebrands:
The corporations that sold the old poison now sell the new cure. Same lobbyists, different logo. If you don’t break up monopolies and lock the lobby doors, the “green transition” becomes another IPO. Real change means local grids, local food, local hands. You don’t democratize the future with stock options.
Global honesty:
Europe bans dirty mines, then buys the cobalt from kids digging in mud. America shames plastic, then ships its waste to the Pacific. The hypocrisy stinks. If your green deal kills someone else’s river, it’s not green it’s colonialism in pastel colors.
Measure life, not numbers:
Forget carbon dashboards. Measure what breathes: soil health, river clarity, quiet at dawn. And measure what hurts: asthma rates, food miles, burnout. If people aren’t healthier and nature isn’t wilder, you built the wrong paradise.
The moral test:
Anyone demanding sacrifice should show scars. No leader with three cars should talk about less consumption. Every rule that bites the poor first is a failure of imagination.
The Compass:
Cleaner rivers. Softer air. Slower noise. Fewer ads. More birds.
That’s the revolution.
The rest is press release.