Driving around Byron Shire I’ve been oohing and ahhing at the stunning display of poincianas and native Illawarra flame trees this year. There have been more flowers and intense colours than I’ve ever seen before.
Everything seems to be flowering more intensively. Even the cicadas sound louder. The number of sharks chasing huge schools of fish in the bay even made international headlines and a friend in the UK kindly wrote suggesting I stay out of the ocean.
Is all this abundance some kind of stress-induced flourishing before an ecological collapse, or have there just been ideal growing conditions for some species?
What’s in front of our eyes can sometimes be deceiving when we lack the wisdom of observation over many seasons. Despite the profusion of flowers for instance, there do not appear to be many bees or insects around to pollinate them.
I was trying hard not to be too grinchy, but it must be said it has been a tumultuous year in many ways with tectonic shifts taking place, literally and figuratively. So many people’s lives have been upended by ongoing wars and climate-related disasters. Many have died prematurely and there will be generations of traumatised people as a result.
The geopolitical situation is tense. In the wake of America all but tearing up the NATO alliance, the heightened spectre of world war, like the ones previous generations fought, was raised by NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte. He is warning that Europe is Russia’s next target and they need to prepare for war.
In the shifting global order, and emergence of spheres of influence and bloc-based powers, Australia’s strategic alliances are also being tested. Some would argue we’d be better off distancing ourselves from America and tearing up the AUKUS pact, but that isn’t on the cards. It is a conversation we need to have as the Indo-Pacific sphere of influence shapes up and we prepare to host US and UK nuclear-powered attack submarines rotating through Australia from 2027.
Perhaps like the rest of nature we’re also in a kind of shock-induced state, reeling from such global events, as we arrive at the baubles and Bing Crosby end of the year in what seems like a blink of an eye.
I had to laugh when I arrived for a recent medical appointment – I thought I’d been teleported to the north pole. The waiting room was entirely decked out with giant images of snow-covered mountains, trees, and log cabins with people sitting inside around a fire clutching hot chocolates like they were warding off frostbite. There was even a life-sized cardboard fireplace recreated under the counter, complete with red flames and orange logs and Santa paraphernalia.
The incongruency of the scene with the outside temperature nudging the mid-30s, was enough to induce a menopausal hot flush. Maybe they couldn’t afford air-conditioning and were using the power of suggestion to keep us cool?
Surreal incongruences might be an ongoing theme I’d suggest. It’s that time of year when we perform ‘happy families’ while many people are quietly dying on the inside from grief and loneliness and holding their breath waiting for the whole thing to be over.
It’s also the consumption month, when our eyes are often bigger than our bellies, and our desires grow increasingly out of sync with our wallets. Many have mentioned to me ‘they’re not doing presents this year’ because of tight budgets and a feeling of wanting something more meaningful.
Capitalism really seems to have finally shot itself in the foot. We’ve never had greater access to so much stuff, yet wealth inequality means most people can’t afford it. Many can barely afford to live and pay for the basics right now.
In the true spirit of Christmas, let us be sure to spread love, inclusion, and acts of kindness to those that feel even more isolated and disconnected at this time of year.
Meanwhile the global economy is sliding into what economist and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has described as technofeudalism. Competitive markets are giving way to private ‘cloud fiefdoms’ run by big tech corporations. You know their names, the ones sponsoring Trump’s gaudy ‘ballroom’ addition to the people’s White House.
These tech bros have turned us into ‘cloud serfs’ by intensifying our dependence on their services while they mine our data. We’re becoming so digitally embedded we depend on them in the same way medieval peasants depended on feudal lords for land and protection.
Now that we’re standing at the precipice of AI inveigling its way into all facets of our existence, things are about to get a lot more intense. AI will change everything, even calling into question the nature of reality.
In the battlefield of our imaginations, we’d be well placed to meditate and better understand our minds and build constructive narratives for the type of world we want: one we where we help others and find joy through togetherness.
• Jo Immig is a former advisor to the NSW Legislative Council and coordinator of the National Toxics Network. She’s currently a freelance writer and researcher.
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