Let's face it, 1.5 is dead. And unless a miracle happens, we'll shoot past 2 degrees in the next ten or fifteen years. After that, with climate feedbacks, tipping points, and cascading effects, 3 degrees of warming or even higher is probable by the end of this century.
That can mean only one thing. A collapse of our fragile, tenuous, global industrial civilization. It might happen gradually, it might happen suddenly, but it will happen and it will be catastrophic.
Our rulers know about this. And yet they've chosen to do nothing. Or, actually, they've chosen to go all in, pushing for increased consumption, stronger economic growth, and even more fossil fuel use — because it's incredibly profitable. 💵 💵 💵
So, what can you and I do?
Jem Bendell says our best choice is to accept what is happening to our world, embrace the collapse, and turn our efforts toward what comes next. He says: "We’re going to collapse into community, and what we can play for is what we find there when it’s all we have."
➡️
... Show more...Let's face it, 1.5 is dead. And unless a miracle happens, we'll shoot past 2 degrees in the next ten or fifteen years. After that, with climate feedbacks, tipping points, and cascading effects, 3 degrees of warming or even higher is probable by the end of this century.
That can mean only one thing. A collapse of our fragile, tenuous, global industrial civilization. It might happen gradually, it might happen suddenly, but it will happen and it will be catastrophic.
Our rulers know about this. And yet they've chosen to do nothing. Or, actually, they've chosen to go all in, pushing for increased consumption, stronger economic growth, and even more fossil fuel use — because it's incredibly profitable. 💵 💵 💵
So, what can you and I do?
Jem Bendell says our best choice is to accept what is happening to our world, embrace the collapse, and turn our efforts toward what comes next. He says: "We’re going to collapse into community, and what we can play for is what we find there when it’s all we have."
➡️ archive.ph/gOMp6
#History #Economics #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange
Adam Hunt
in reply to fionag11 • • •I am really happy Canada Post is on strike once again, as it is saving me tons of time not having to clear out the piles of junk mail they deliver each week. It is also saving my municipality money not having to pay to recycle it all.
Canada Post loses $1M a day normally so this strike is saving the taxpayers a lot of money in subsidies.
If I was CEO of Canada Post I would offer to seel the entire operation to the union for a dollar.
fionag11 likes this.
fionag11
in reply to Adam Hunt • •Is it actually saving money..don't they still have costs but now no revenue?
Not sure how that works.
In the good old days we used to have those "no Junk mail" stickers to put on mailboxes. I don't have one anymore but nevertheless seem to have made it onto a "do not receive" list and haven't had flyers for years, not even the local stores. Of course there is still the addressed junk mail like banks trying to get me to sign up to credit cards and charity appeals.
Adam Hunt
in reply to fionag11 • • •The vast majority of their costs are union wages which are now being saved, so overall the losses go down when the post office is not working.
I have to admit that since the previous four strikes I have just totally stopped using Canada Post for anything I can possibly avoid. They have never provided a reliable service in the past 20 years. It is a waste of money mailing anything
A couple of examples from my own experience:
I used to mail in a cheque annually for my house insurance premium and always a month early too. One year I got a call from my insurer letting me know that my insurance had lapsed four days earlier, because it was not paid. Canada Post had lost the cheque and it never showed up, ever. I moved paying that bill online, in fact I moved paying all my bills online. Canada Post just loses mail all the time.
A few years back I sent a gift of some books to my grandson by mail. His father went to the PO to pick it up but they would not give it to him, because it was addressed to his son instead. So he brought in his son, who was three at the time
... Show more...The vast majority of their costs are union wages which are now being saved, so overall the losses go down when the post office is not working.
I have to admit that since the previous four strikes I have just totally stopped using Canada Post for anything I can possibly avoid. They have never provided a reliable service in the past 20 years. It is a waste of money mailing anything
A couple of examples from my own experience:
I used to mail in a cheque annually for my house insurance premium and always a month early too. One year I got a call from my insurer letting me know that my insurance had lapsed four days earlier, because it was not paid. Canada Post had lost the cheque and it never showed up, ever. I moved paying that bill online, in fact I moved paying all my bills online. Canada Post just loses mail all the time.
A few years back I sent a gift of some books to my grandson by mail. His father went to the PO to pick it up but they would not give it to him, because it was addressed to his son instead. So he brought in his son, who was three at the time. They wanted to see ID so he showed his birth certificate and the names matched. The postal clerk said he had to see photo ID or no package. Three year olds don't have photo ID so they refused to give him his package. They sent the package back to me. I made a formal complain which the Canada Post ombudsman investigated. The ombudsman said it was one of the worst cases of not following their own rules and just plain rotten customer service they had ever seen. I got a full refund and a written apology. I had to deliver the package myself though, 12 hours round trip.
I won't use them any more.
debo likes this.
fionag11
in reply to Adam Hunt • •Wow! yes, I think it has been mismanaged for years and it's a shame.
It's so much easier to pay bills online now that was inevitable.
The package rate starts so high for even the teenyist item it really discourages one from sending anything. I understand it costs money to move items but really wonder if they could drum up so much more business and economies of scale with a cheaper rate..I don't know.
Another crazy thing: Apparently there are agreements between nations on rates for moving each other's mail, and China's rates still reflect its previous status as a developing country not the major economic powerhouse it is now. So that's why you can order gizmo's from Chinese ecommerce sites for less than the cost of a parcel delivery within Canada.
Adam Hunt
in reply to fionag11 • • •That all makes sense.
I don't see any easy fixes for Canada Post's woes. I remember many of their past failures while trying to move into new areas. Some years ago they offered an email serve as "the last email address you will ever need to sign up for" in two year it was gone. Then there was their e-billing service, where they would open you mail and scan your bills and email them to you. It was a good thing no one took them up on that one, although I got lots of paper junk mail from them trying to sell it.
Now the union wants them to get into stuff like banking??? There is no trust there, so that would be another big #fail.
fionag11
in reply to Adam Hunt • •Actually some outlets already offer financial services. This surprised me but it is a thing. My sister works part time at the post office in the village of Salmo, BC and it was one of the things she had to learn to do when she started (the training was really poor because apparently they can only show the trainee how to do this when a customer comes in to request it, which is rare...hmm) But this post office is still open during the strike because it's a different union and the financial services is the only thing they have to do these days, besides tidy up the office....
I like the ideas the postal union put forward because - well despite current shortcomings, I think we do need to have a postal service, but the present situation is unsustainable and some vision is needed. Adding new purposes to existing infrastructure and jobs would probably still need to be subsidized, but would give the taxpayer more value that might lead to savings elsewhere. eg. Checking in on elderly people might enable them to stay in their homes longer.
I remember the "Vault", cloud storage t
... Show more...Actually some outlets already offer financial services. This surprised me but it is a thing. My sister works part time at the post office in the village of Salmo, BC and it was one of the things she had to learn to do when she started (the training was really poor because apparently they can only show the trainee how to do this when a customer comes in to request it, which is rare...hmm) But this post office is still open during the strike because it's a different union and the financial services is the only thing they have to do these days, besides tidy up the office....
I like the ideas the postal union put forward because - well despite current shortcomings, I think we do need to have a postal service, but the present situation is unsustainable and some vision is needed. Adding new purposes to existing infrastructure and jobs would probably still need to be subsidized, but would give the taxpayer more value that might lead to savings elsewhere. eg. Checking in on elderly people might enable them to stay in their homes longer.
I remember the "Vault", cloud storage that was offered and then discontinued. Why? Who knows what goes on behind the scenes. Probably ideas that were set up to fail for some perverse reason.
debo
in reply to fionag11 • • •fionag11 likes this.
Adam Hunt
in reply to fionag11 • • •They really need a whole new business model, because the current one is just failing badly.
I am not a fan of Maxime Bernier, but he has a policy of privatizing Canada Post. That may be the only way to save it, but I always ask "who would buy it?" I can;t think of anyone other than CUPW. I mean UPS or FedEX might, but only to shut it down.