From Modern Presents to Ancestral Futures
The Futures beyond the climate and leadership crisis.
PRESENT DAY: 10 MAY 2024 — RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL
I had something different planned for today.
But, things don’t always go as planned.
I'm Brazilian, and the South of my country is completely underwater.
We are living in the middle of a cataclysmic period, for our planet and our species. We are watching tipping points tip, from the eye of the storm.
Today, I wish our Red Delorean was real so I could go flying to Rio Grande do Sul. To help people get out of the lake, where once was their home.
Unfortunately, this is not an extraordinary, isolated event. This is one in a series of cataclysmic extreme weather events worldwide.1
We have thrived for too long on the basis of unnatural and illogical principles. The fact, we have succeeded at such a huge scale in our own game, is our biggest threat. Most of us still believe in the "success within this game” and they ferociously pursue it, denying anything else.
The problem with this game — that some call economy, others capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or whatever suits you — is that it's simply detached from reality.
— Oh, but which reality?
— The finite, equilibrium-seeking, circular reality of nature.
Our planet's reality.
Our extractivist and overconsuming society has grown too big to keep neglecting the consequences of such an unsustainable pace.
“Humans are accepting the humiliating condition of consuming the Earth. The orixás, as well as indigenous ancestors and those from other traditions, established worlds where we could experience life, sing, and dance, but it seems that the will of capital is to impoverish existence. Capitalism wants a sad, monotonous world in which we operate like robots, and we cannot accept that.”
― Ailton Krenak, Ancestral future
Let's go to the last Back from the Futures [BFTF to you] to have a glimpse of our collective perception of the Futures ↓
From our last time hop to 2017. We can see a clear dissonance between our expectations and the most probable reality.
But why?!
As the meme goes: Every disaster movie begins with a scientist being ignored.
Diving into the current calamity in Rio Grande do Sul, we can see what is happening globally in a microcosm. Let's jump to Brazil in [2014] 🚗💥⏳
Dilma's government commissioned a study called Brasil 2040: scenarios and adaptation alternatives to climate change.2 It was a series of reports presenting dramatic results, including the rise of rainfall in the South.
The study was realised by different research institutions and after 3.5 million Reais invested, it had Climate Adaptation measures and proposals. The problem is that the study was shelved and to this day, it is not readily available online.
The issue is, that politicians worldwide CANNOT say they are unaware. On the contrary, half of them use this knowledge to gather votes, instead of acting, while the other half denies it, actively undermining any environmental agenda.
As we've seen in Rio Grande do Sul's tragedy. The governor has loosened or eliminated almost 500 environmental laws in 2019. Did not invest in adaptation nor the maintenance of the existing infrastructure. Now people suffer and the same is true in other places worldwide.
Politicians sign the Paris Agreement, go to the COPs, WEFs, and read the reports, but in the end, keep their trajectories as if they are living in the 1800's in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. As if, breathing coal and digging oil equals progress or worse, that the paradox of Infinite Green Growth [2021] is real.
As Futurists and Strategists, we need to look into the Futures to inspire action.
We need to break free from failing leaders, induced limiting beliefs, and the pre-determined narratives of the future, pushed by Western media, technocrats, and corporations. Where they win and we all lose.
So what do you say about imagining an inspiring Desirable Future?
“Indigenous children are not educated, but guided. They don't learn to be winners, because for some to win, others need to lose. They learn to share the place where they live and what they have to eat. They have the example of a life in which the individual counts less than the collective. This is the indigenous mystery, a legacy that passes from generation to generation. What our children learn from an early age is to put their hearts into the rhythm of the earth.”
― Ailton Krenak, Ancestral future
For the next 2 minutes together, I'd like to take this experience one step further.
Hop on to my Delorean and let's go to [2050]!
26 years from now. 🚗 💥⏳
This is not any future. This is our Ancestral Future!
3Imagine that society has acknowledged the wisdom and the importance of indigenous cultures. Connecting it with modern science and technology, we did get the best of both worlds. Look how food and medicinal gardens are blooming, making it harder and harder to find a grass field.
Big corporations struggle not to split their businesses because of anti-monopoly laws, nature capital taxes, and environmental laws, like the recognition of Nature as a person...
Now, close your eyes and imagine what such a Future looks like for you.
Where are you in this setting? What else do you see in this future?
…
. . .
. . .
Describe what that Future looks like in the comments!
Help to create a better future. Imagining is just the first step ↓
See you in the Future!
I'm Victor Mascarenhas, the time traveler in charge of the Red Delorean. I have 15+ years of experience leading strategic projects in more than 10 countries. When not writing here, I help organizations and individuals through Strategic Foresight and Sustainable Innovation.
Not sure what to do next? Let's figure it out ↓
Inspired by the book of the same name Ancestral Future. Written by Ailton Krenak, the first Indigenous person elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
A minha irmã fez um trabalho a interpretar Krenak. Giro como aqui tem uma abordagem semelhante mas tão diferente! :) grande leitura!