#Ecological Overshoot

[collapseofindustrialcivilization]

Homo Sapiens Are Working Overtime to Join 'The Great Silence'

And if it does affect the economy, we’ll find a way to                      extract a profit from it…. Driven mostly by rising global temperatures from the continued burning of fossil fuels, extreme weather events such as typhoons, hurricanes, floods, heatwaves and drought are becoming more frequent, increasing 83% worldwide in the past 20 years (as of 2020), and the costs have increased by 800%…

[ponku-po]

Busy Worker’s Handbook to the Apocalypse by Sam Hall

[faithfromanewperspective]

i'm obsessed with the idea that sustainability is nurturing. i'm obsessed with healing being healing for all of us. i'm obsessed with the way that looking after our environment so mirrors looking after our bodies and our minds. i'm obsessed with integrating this.

when i was in my late teens going through burnout and starting my enviro sci degree I remember comparing what was going on in my head with planetary overshoot. as in when we've gone through so much in one year that we've borrowed some from the future, more than used up the resources for that one year. I did that with my brain then, and I did it again now. I need to stop, I can't sustain this. we need to stop doing this to the planet, we can't sustain it.

but no one overworks themselves unless they think it's going to get them something. no one overworks themselves unless they're scared not to. unless that option might be somehow worse. i know it was for me. trying to get off the grind but when it was either that or feel nothing? I don't know what to choose. I needed to meet my needs elsewhere. same goes with the greedy exploiters of the planet, they need to be stopped, yes, but they're all chasing something. we all are. sustainability is simply meeting those needs in healthy ways.

[sataniccapitalist]

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Earth Overshoot Day: Facing the Future with Hope

[earaercircular]

Earth Overshoot Day: Why investors should be concerned about resource depletion

Research shows that by August 2, the consumption of the Earth's natural resources will have exceeded the capacity for annual regeneration. As investors, however, we are in a position to contribute to pushing back this date, by supporting the transition towards a more sustainable future.

Everyone knows today that humanity uses the Earth's natural resources at a rate that does not allow them to be regenerated. The result of a scholarly calculation, “Overshoot Day” corresponds to the date on which, each year, the consumption of resources exceeds what can be regenerated in 12 months.

According to the latest estimates from the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts report, Earth Overshoot Day is August 2, 2023 this year.[1]  In other words, our use of natural resources seems to be better controlled[2]. Lately, the situation has tended to get worse year on year, except in 2020, where COVID-19 related lockdowns pushed back the Overshoot Day date by about a month (August 22).

This report points out, however, that while the calculated date has been pushed back five days this year compared to 2022, the actual improvement represents only one day, the remaining four days being due to the integration of new data series in the calculations.

Each country has its own Overshoot Day: developed markets with higher living standards are usually at one end of the spectrum, while developing countries are at the other end. For the United States, the threshold was reached on March 13 of this year, which means that if the world's population consumed at the same rate as the United States, resources would be exhausted by that date. Qatar's Overshoot Day is the earliest (February 10), while Germany, France, Japan and the UK reached this point in May. Jamaica brings up the rear with a date set for December 2023.[3]

These indicators show that the way we use natural resources is unsustainable and that governments, businesses and investors need to act.

How investors can help push back the date

The Global Footprint Network identifies several key areas to limit our use of natural resources, including protecting biodiversity, decarbonising the energy sector and more efficient food production associated with lower waste. These areas are at the heart of responsible investing and we believe investors can make a difference, while still aiming for long-term financial returns.

More than half of the world's GDP depends on healthy biodiversity, and ecosystem degradation costs the global economy more than USD 5 trillion each year. Also, the collapse of pollinators and timber and fish stocks could weigh on global GDP by 2.3% by 2030[4].

As investors, we can seek to protect biodiversity in a variety of ways, including allocating our capital to companies active in water treatment, precision agriculture (which, while producing crops at higher yield to feed a growing population, reduced use of harmful fertilizers and pesticides) and sustainable forest management in the paper and packaging industry.

Switching to renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels together are a crucial step towards reducing carbon emissions and using natural resources more efficiently. Also, the fact that a growing number of countries are reducing their dependence on fossil fuels generates, in our view, a multitude of investment opportunities, whether they are renewable energy players or companies supplying technologies and services to the sector.

A circular approach

The “take-make-throw away” model on which the global economy is based is partly responsible for the overexploitation of the planet's resources. Instead, we should focus on “repair-reuse-recycle” – the approach that underpins a circular economy model – to keep materials and products in circulation, eliminate waste and regenerate nature.[5]

The Circularity Gap Report 2023 published by think tank Circle Economy and Deloitte[6] suggests that shifting to a circular economy model would meet needs using only 70% of the raw materials we extract today – otherwise said, without exceeding the limits of earthly resources. But there is still a long way to go, as this report estimates that the global economy is currently circular for only 7.2%.

However, the dynamic is positive. In 2020, the European Commission adopted a Circular Economy Action Plan, including measures to ensure products are designed to last longer, be easier to recycle and use recycled materials in their production when possible[7]. In March 2023, the Commission also proposed a directive on the “right to repair”[8], to make it easier and cheaper to have products repaired than to replace them. [9]

Circular solutions can solve some problems related to the way we use the Earth's resources, but also promote the reduction of carbon emissions, the protection of biodiversity, etc[10].

Potential benefits for investors and for the planet

As an asset manager, we can invest on a large scale and support companies active in key areas – biodiversity, energy transition, food and agriculture, circular economy – but also governments through sovereign bond issues.

Companies at the forefront of the transition could experience strong growth, while competitors lagging behind risk seeing demand for their goods and services erode and their cost of capital rise, while they remain under threat of change. regulations or policies such as increases in taxes or tariffs.

Changemakers and their investors are therefore well positioned to take advantage of the situation financially, while contributing to the fight against climate change and reducing our ecological footprint.

Source

Chris Iggo, Jour du dépassement : pourquoi les investisseurs doivent se préoccuper de l’épuisement des ressources, Les Echos, 17-07-2023, https://www.lesechos.fr/partenaires/axa-investment-managers/jour-du-depassement-pourquoi-les-investisseurs-doivent-se-preoccuper-de-lepuisement-des-ressources-1959687

Chris Iggo is CIO, Core Investments, at AXA IM

[1] https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/press-release-june-2023-english/

[2] Previous Overshoot Day dates – #Delay the Overshoot Day date. Using data from the United Nations and other sources including the Global Carbon Project, the Global Footprint Network calculates Earth Overshoot Day by comparing biocapacity and ecological footprint. https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/past-earth-overshoot-days/

[3] Overshoot Day by country, 2023 – Earth Overshoot Day https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

[4] Mariana Villanueva: Biodiversity Q&A: Understanding a powerful new investment theme; AXA IM Corporate https://www.axa-im.com/news-and-experts-insights/investment-institute/sustainability/biodiversity-qa-understanding-powerful-new-investment-theme#footnote12_ynt572d

[5] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/lodelcar/678781561847627776/circular-economy-a-start-to-a-new-global-economic?source=share

[6] The Circularity Gap Report 2023; https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023

[7] Changing how we produce and consume: New Circular Economy Action Plan shows the way to a climate-neutral, competitive economy of empowered consumers. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_420

[8] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/661118774058123264/repairing-electrical-appliances-is-becoming-easier?source=share

[9]Right to repair: Commission introduces new consumer rights for easy and attractive repairs; https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1794

[10] Virginie Derue: The circular economy: A potential value driver across industries, in AXA IMCore, https://core.axa-im.com/research-and-insights/investment-institute/sustainability/environmental/circular-economy-potential-value-driver-across-industries

[1emon1ime]

Dominance Hierarchy (Koba x Human!Reader)

(art by me)

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57723100/chapters/146903323

In this new world of predator and prey you are no longer the dominant species.

Rating: 18+ Pure smut. MDNI!

Warning: Non consensual, Gun Play, Interspecies Sex

There's dirt on your clothes. There's blood on your face. Bruises on your knees and grazes on your arms. There's dry soil on your skin, sticking coldly and clammy to your sweat. And there's a lump in your throat that just wouldn’t go away, no matter how many times you've tried to swallow it.

You suck in a huge breath of air and look up to the sky; the only semblance of color in a sea of green and brown. The trees that loom over you are still, the wind has left and all that's left is a cold hollow silence. Your lungs fill with cold air, and the chill hits your chest like a dagger.

You're lost.

How many hours-- How many days has it been now?

You can't even recall the faces of your parents. What they looked like, sounded like. It's been so long since they succumbed to the virus. But you-- You were still here. Somehow, you'd managed to make it this far. But... 

What was the point?

What was the point of anything anymore? You're tired, you're hungry and you're scared. So scared.

You're alone. 

And no matter how many times you tell yourself to keep going, the tears just won't stop coming.

You had been with a small group of survivors for the past year or two and while it was company; you could never really get along with them. Humans become violent and animalistic when resources were scarce. You had witnessed people kill one another for things as little as scraps of food, cannibalize one another to feed their family.

Man was only empathetic and kind when he had a a surplus of food. Now he was just as dangerous as any other predator out in the woods.

The last person you had been travelling with had died yesterday. You watched them keel over from fatigue, they just couldn't go on anymore. Hypothermia quickly set in that night and that was it. In the morning, you left her body and set out to look for an exit. You weren't even that close, death had become a constant part of your life now.

"I swear there's still game in that forest." She had said. Industrial agriculture had long collapsed, desperation had led many here, but you knew the truth. There were probably no animals left in the forest. The moment big supply chains had shut down, hoards of hungry people had caught everything, from street rats to deer. Their populations had no time to rebound. It was an endless cycle of ecological overshoot.

Perhaps not this area though.

Because there was something else, the reason you were reluctant to even traverse into this patch of forest in the first place.

The rumors . 

"They say that this area is heavily guarded," you had told her, "no one ever returns from here with their life. Least not their mental state." 

Damn it.

You should have listened to yourself. You should have stayed back.

But what was there to even go back to ? More violence and desperation? More chaos and collapse? There had to be something more out there-- something beyond the boundary. 

At this point, you probably didn't have much time left. You were growing weaker and malnourished with every day that passed. Not only that but you were completely on your own now, no weapons and no means to defend yourself. It was dangerous to stay here and it was dangerous to go back...

All you focused on at the moment was survival.

You wandered deeper into the forest, desperately searching for some relief: food, water, maybe even an old abandoned village that you could pillage for supplies. But the further you traversed, the more disorientated you became. Everything started looking the same. The trees all looked identical and the ground was so uniform that any footprints or other signs of human presence would be easily missed. Even worse, you couldn't tell which way the sun was facing. It was always behind the canopy of branches.

As you stumbled through the woods, a sudden movement caught your eye. Just ahead of you, a deer darted from one side of the path to another, sensing something that you had missed.

Rustle, rustle.

You froze, head sharply turning to the source of the sound.

You felt your heart race, the beat echoing between your ears as you turned around and felt relief wash over you when there was nothing there. A lone human girl with no weapons or defence was as easy picking as a deer. Without the safety of your community or your weapons, you were defenceless. Your species, once the apex predator of the world, free to pillage the Earth until it had been plucked bare had been reduced to a mere prey item on the menu for one of the many predators that lurked in the forest.

It felt like you had been walking for hours but it must have been a couple of minutes at the most. Your body shivered, the chill air stinging at your exposed flesh and making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

You shivered, your clothes had gotten torn up in the thick bush, leaving you even more exposed to the elements.

Was it even worth it to keep going? You had nothing left but your survival instinct kept you from killing yourself. The hope that maybe one day you would be able to escape and find a place where the virus could not spread, a place where people had not gone insane. 

Right. Survival instinct. Embedded deep into the most primal part of your brain.That part that kept you turning your head every time you heard a strange sound, or start running when you spotted a predator out of the corner of your eye. But even your ancient instincts were failing you. That rustling sound appeared again. Someone-- or some thing was following you.

Rustle .

There it was. That sound again. The movements continued and this time, you could not ignore it. Something was definitely there.

Your hands trembled and your vision blurred. You felt sick, dizzy and weak. The cold air made you light-headed and your heart was pounding loudly in your chest. The only thing you could focus on was that sound and try to make out where it was coming from.

You could hear your own breath, heavy and ragged as you tried to calm down. The sound echoed through the silence, a deafening noise. Your legs began to shake and buckle under your own weight. The ground trembled beneath you and the air filled with the sound of something moving through the trees, something big. It could only be one thing. The source of the rumors and the reason why nobody ever returned from this forest.

You were the prey now.

You were prey and he was the hunter.

Your eyes widened as a creature stepped out into the open. It was not something that you were expecting to see at all. The look in his eyes was different from any bear or lion prowling the bush. Almost as if he were sapient.

He moved toward you. A large, scarred ape, standing upright and pointing a handgun directly at your head. He was a hulking presence, a brute of an animal that was more than capable of tearing you limb from limb if he so desired. He was also far more intelligent than any mere animal, an unsettling air of cunning being his eyes as he considered you. His lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing his sharp fangs.

You stared back at him, wide eyed in disbelief at what you were seeing. So the rumors were true after all … How long had he been tracking you? Had he been waiting for you to come here so he could ambush you? What was he going to do? Your mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation but your body wouldn't move, frozen in fear. Afraid that if you did anything he would kill you instantly.

Koba's eyes raked over you in a calculating, almost clinical way. He could see the way you shuddered and trembled under his gaze. You were terror incarnate, your fear and hopelessness filling the air like a sweet fragrance. He could sense your rapid heart rate, see the way your body tensed up in a futile attempt to flee from him.

"Don't. Move." 

He spoke, voice low and raspy. Hearing those words leave his mouth threw you off. The sound of his voice sending a shiver down your spine like a jolt of electricity.

You couldn’t move– even if you wanted to.

He took a step towards you and you stumbled back, tripping over your own feet and landing flat on your ass. The ape took a second step and then another, moving slowly and deliberately. Taunting you and revelling in your fear. What a pathetic creature you were, without your community, without any defence, you were weak. An even easier catch than a mere rabbit.

He grunted as he came to a halt right in front of you, a mere foot or two from your face. Koba stared down at you with his good eye, casting daggers at your own with so much malice, and for what? What did you ever do to him ? The scars littered along his body were the first thing that you noted about him, especially the large one that ran down over his eye. Each scar told a story, you longed to know more about. What on Earth was he?

He stared you down into submission as he came within striking distance. Gaze travelling over your body, appraising your form and making your skin crawl. He gave you the ill feeling of being stalked and caught under the prowler's strong grasp.

What a monster, you thought.

"You. Weak."

‘I know .’ You wanted to say. ‘ I am so weak, so pathetic, so alone. Please just kill me and get it over with .’

But every time you tried to talk, the words got caught in your throat. All you could manage was a pathetic whine.

The ape was standing less than a foot away from you now, his scent overwhelming. He smelled of blood, sweat and earth. A primal, masculine scent that made your stomach twist and your heart beat faster.

Koba crouched down slightly so that he could get a better look at you. He tilted his head to the side a little as he watched you closely with his intense stare.

Your eyes flicked down to the weapon in his hand and you wondered if you could grab it before he shot you. It seemed unlikely.

Ever observant, he noticed the way you eyed the gun.

"Don't bother." He growled and grabbed one of your wrists, holding it in a tight grasp, hard enough to leave a bruise.

***

Many armed men had passed through this patch of forest and Koba had dealt with them before they had even reached the colony. He had picked them off one by one, like shooting fish in a barrel. He had the advantage of being able to aim at them from the tree tops, they would never see it coming. Over time Koba had honed his hunting skills to perfection. He was praised within the clan for defending the territory and being able to take down large prey by himself. Not only was it a source of pride for him but the thrill of stalking and tracking down his prey, landing that killing blow inflamed his body with adrenaline. It felt good . Especially to kill humans.

He loved the thrill of the hunt.

Most days, he would return with a deer or some other small herbivore but today he was feeling extra bold and something in the air smelled off. Koba had been plotting for months to find another human trespassing through their patch of forest and traumatize them so badly that they would never return again. 

He had not anticipated finding one so early in his daily hunt, however. A human female, no less. Most who passed through here, as rare as it was, were armed men. But this girl was weak, alone and had no means of defence. Almost pitiful, like a rabbit waiting to be caught in a snare. Her weakness made him curl up his nose in disgust.

Koba made a mental note of her direction and swore quietly under his breath. The girl wouldn't be going anywhere soon. He could have just killed her on sight, but he wanted to play out every part of the story, even the beginning. She was now his prey and he intended on playing it out perfectly.

He had already decided that he wanted to make an example out of this intruder; a warning to others that this land belonged to the apes and anyone who tried to cross it would pay a steep price.

The first thing he noticed was that she was alone. He knew instinctively what that meant. She probably came looking for someone, maybe her friend? A lover perhaps? Where there were one human there always had to be more not far behind.

***

Koba could sense your nervousness, he could smell the fear radiating off you, you were not a threat to him like the others and yet–

He didn't need to kill you to make you pay. 

You knew that something was off by how long your execution was being drawn out. Why was he hesitating? He could have already killed you easily by now but he hadn't. Why? You shuddered, imagining what sort of plans a monster like him could have for someone like you.

"P-Please don't hurt me!" You begged, pathetically. Tears were almost welling in the corners of your eyes. How did you end up in this situation? You just knew that you would end up dying here. You had somehow survived the virus outbreak but so carelessly fell prey to a bloodthirsty predator. No-- he was more than a predator, he knew what he was doing. Every move had been carefully calculated. An exacted revenge.

His hold on your wrist tightened even more. He inched closer, his face now just inches from yours. 

"Shut up, human." Your pleading had clearly angered him. "You belong to Koba now.”

Koba released your wrist and grabbed your chin, forcing you to look up at him defiantly.

"Koba?" You blinked, stunned.

He laughed darkly. Koba was on a power trip, something he had always dreamed of. Capturing a live human, alone and vulnerable making them feel all of the pain and misery that he had been subjected to. Being the one in control for once in his life. You just unfortunately had to be the one to fall into his sick plan for revenge. You had been there in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With his free hand, Koba grabbed one of your arms so violently that you felt it almost dislocate.

"Ahhh!" You yelped as you were dragged across the ground for what seemed like forever. The foliage and loose branches causing fresh cuts, tearing more of your clothes off. Your whole body ached, and every step he took made you feel as if your bones were about to break.

After a long and uncomfortable trek, Koba stopped at the base of a large tree surrounding an open grassland, he tossed you to the ground like a piece of garbage and spat at you.

You looked up at him with a mixture of anger and fear. You were shaking, your heart racing, the sound of it echoing between your ears.

"Now. We have fun." He grinned, baring his teeth.

"W-What are you talking about?" You backed away from him, scrambling to get to your feet, but he grabbed you by the hair and slammed you face-first into the tree, tossing his gun to the side momentarily. The impact made your vision go black for a few seconds.Your nose was bleeding and you could taste the coppery blood on your lips. Then, you felt something; he had tightly seized both of your wrists and began binding them together with rope.

"You humans. Think we animals. You keep us in cages. For your amusement. Experiments."

Koba spat the words with venom, his rage burning in his eyes as he pulled the rope tight as it could go.

"Please... I don't understand."

Your confusion only instigated his rage further.

"Now--" Koba leaned forward, his thick fur warm against you. "You will know. What is it like– "

He tore your clothes off, shredding the fabric, leaving you completely exposed. The last part of your humanity, gone.

"to be hurt."

You closed your eyes, tears rolling down your cheeks. This wasn't happening. There was no way that this was real. 

"No! Please stop!"

Your pleas fell on deaf ears.

Koba whipped you around so that you were facing him and he could get a better look at your naked body. You noticed him staring down your form, studying all of the details. He had never seen a human naked. Wondered why they always covered themselves with clothes. He reached out to touch one of your breasts, entranced by the way your nipples stiffened in the cold, how the microscopic hairs on your arms stood up as you shook under his large and imposing shadow.

He grabbed you by the throat and pinned you against the tree.

"P-Please, don't."

"You are mine now." He spoke through shallow breaths "And I will enjoy-- Taking you."

You shook your head, the tears flowing freely now.

"I don't want this."

"Too bad. This is happening."

Koba began to fondle one of your breasts and you backed up but he pulled you back toward him and growled. A clear warning, you understood.

“I– Ahhh What are you–!?” You groaned through clattering teeth as he began to suck on one of your nipples, squeezing your breasts, kneading the soft flesh. “--Why…”

You couldn't help but moan, telling yourself that you didn't want this but why did it feel so good? You felt utterly debased, humiliated beyond belief. This is what you had been reduced to. A plaything for this ape. But you had also been touch starved for so long and your body unwillingly began to respond to the touch.

He ignored your pleas and continued groping you. Your nipples hardened under his touch, sending waves of pleasure through your body.

Koba glared at you before scanning your entire body. He leaned in, intense stare intimidating you. So much he wanted to do. To exact his revenge. To give you the same scars that had been inflicted onto him. To make you ‘ugly’ with marks, cuts, bruises, ugly like him. Why should he have been the only one to suffer? 

He had no intention of being gentle with you.

The rage whelmed up in him and he sank his teeth into your collarbone, leaving a raw wound. You yelped, wincing in pain which he seemed to enjoy. What a sick and twisted monster, you thought. You couldn’t read him. One minute he was growling at you, revelling in your pain and the next he was almost… gentle.

Your body tensed as his hands travelled down and cupped your buttocks, kneading them, digging his fingers into your flesh.

Koba looked at you with a hungry, predatory gaze. The way that touching you in various places had you responding so positively was only making his urges stronger. Not only had Koba been frustrated by years of pent up anger toward humans but he was also deprived. He was deprived of the affection that he was due, deprived of being in control and deprived of having sex.

He reached out and caressed the side of your face, the rough pads of his fingers tracing the contours of your jaw and the hollows of your cheeks. His hand then moved lower, down to the crook of your neck, where it rested. You felt his warm breath against your skin, the heat radiating from his body enveloping you.

You could hear him inhale deeply, taking in your scent.

"Please don't..."

You could feel his erection growing larger and harder, his excitement palpable. The bulge rubbing against your belly.

Koba reached down and began to rub his large hand over your pussy.

"No. No! Please!" You thrashed to the side, almost escaping, if only it weren't for the fact that your arms were still bound and one of your ankles had been wounded in the struggle that made outpacing him all but impossible.

The ape wasn't pleased with your attempt to deny him. Suddenly, he lunged at you, pinning you to the ground and knocking the air out of your lungs.

You gasped for breath, struggling against his hold. His body was warm and solid against yours, his weight crushing you.

"Stop struggling," he growled.

You stopped, staring up at him with wide eyes and h e grinned, satisfied at how you resisted when he demanded. Perhaps you were finally starting to learn. To be obedient. 

Koba got up and coaxed you onto your knees in front of him.

A large hand cupped your chin and forced your head up to look at your aggressor. You squirmed in place, kneeling in front of him, your bloody knees shook below you, barely keeping you in position. Rope burning uncomfortably against your bound wrists. The hand let go and grabbed your hair, pulling harshly. It seemed to amuse him every time you flinched.

You looked at the creature towering above you and he snarled, showing his sharp fangs. Your eyes fell to the ground and stayed there. You were so tired and hurt, you couldn't find the strength to fight against it anymore.

That was, until something cold, hard and metal was pressed against your lips, snapping you out of your stupor.

You froze instinctively, heart hammering against your chest.

You felt the click of the safety be released as the vibrations tingled your lips.

"Open. Mouth." Koba demanded, dragging the gun across your cheek to rest firm against your forehead. He gripped the base of his cock with a steady hand and angled it towards your mouth.

Nothing felt real.

"W-What?" You asked, dumbfounded.

The gun was pushed harder against your temple. That was it, it was final. You couldn't say no even if you wanted to, you didn't need a gun pressing into your forehead to remind you of how low you were. So utterly debased and humiliated.

Koba didn't say a word, instead thrusting his cock between your lips, forcing you to stretch your jaw to accommodate his length. You felt like you could throw up.

"Tongue. Out." Koba commanded and you obeyed, sticking out your tongue.

"Suck."

You gulped, slowly bobbing your head. Your body trembled and a cold shiver ran down your spine. Terrified that he might slip up and accidentally pull the trigger. Your life could end at any moment. In some ways, it already had been.

You felt so low. So dirty. So entirely worthless and ashamed.

Steel bit into your skin as you started lapping and licking the underside of his cock, swirling your tongue around the tip.

Tears streamed down your red and swollen cheeks as Koba grunted in approval.

"Good. Keep going."

You sucked on his cock, bobbing your head up and down, trying not to gag as he thrust his hips, but not once did you stop your movements. The gun against your head wouldn't allow you to.

“That’s… it…” He moaned and nudged the gun lower on your face, stroking your bruised cheekbone.

Praise. The words were hollow, but… Praise. Praise.

You winced slightly at how he stroked your cheek with the cold metal weapon, making sure that you didn’t stop massaging his length with your tongue. Maybe if you did a good enough job, it would all be over soon and he would let you go– or kill you. Whichever came first.

He must have been close, the way he began to groan above you, breathing in short bursts, his cock fully engorged and twitching in your mouth.

You were given no warning as the gun was tossed to the side and Koba’s hands gripped tightly into your hair and he began to slam you down on his edging cock. You spluttered and gagged, but Koba paid no mind, furiously pulling you forward and backward, fucking your mouth earnestly. 

With a final set of delirious, frenzied thrusts, Koba very suddenly pulled your head back, fist still grabbing hard into your hair, a string of saliva still connecting your lips to his cock. He gripped his dick, stroking himself a few more times. Once, twice, you steadied yourself, knees shaking as if they’d give out at any moment.

Koba grunted again and pulled his cock out of your mouth, stroking it with his hand, aiming for your face.

"Keep mouth open–" He growled and you obeyed.

With a low grunt, he came, splashing his hot seed all over your face and into your mouth.

You tried not to gag, swallowing his load and looking away in disgust.

He looked down at you, smiling.

"Clean. With tongue." He commanded, his voice firm and unyielding.

You shuddered, but complied, licking his cock clean.

Your whole body felt like lead. Your shoulders were aching and your knees were screaming from kneeling on the floor. Your mind was still struggling to process everything that had just happened.

The ape laughed lowly as you finished licking him clean.

"Good human. Now, on ground. On all fours. Head down, ass up."

"P-please, I–" You uttered, uselessly.

Koba interrupted,

"Now."

"P-please...I-I can't." You stammered, "I don't want to, I..."

You tried to protest, but he was not listening. 

Koba's hand shot up and gripped your hair, yanking you roughly to your feet. You screamed in pain, tears streaming down your face as he dragged you across the floor and threw you onto the long grass.

You could feel his hot breath on your skin, nails digging into your flesh leaving fresh bruises.

"No... please..." You pleaded, "please don't do this."

Your voice was shaking, as if he cared. You knew begging and crying was useless, made you look even more pathetic to him.

Koba gave a satisfied grunt seeing you cower under him, bare and filthy. Truly lower than any animal in the forest. “What a pathetic creature”, he thought. How had he ever let himself be controlled by one of these things? They were weak and cowardly without their weapons. He was living out his ultimate revenge fantasy. No longer was it him on the operating table, no longer was he the one being beaten, inspected and abused. He had captured his prey and wasn’t letting go. And the power trip was only turning him on more. To have a weak, powerless human under his fingertip. An eye for an eye.

He mused at all of the things he was going to do to you, grinning at how you winced in terror when he wrapped one of his large hands around your neck and squeezed ever so slightly.

“You. Are so weak.”

His hand roamed lower, reaching between your legs.

You squirmed, trying to wriggle free, but he held you firmly in place.

He moved his hand, pushing his index finger inside of you and then added a second before you could even register what was happening.

"Nnng, no.."

You moaned and squirmed as he slowly pumped his thick fingers in and out of you, his thumb brushing against your clit.

You bit your lip and closed your eyes, trying to focus on anything else but the fact that this ape was about to violate you in the most intimate place.

Koba grinned and pressed his thumb firmly against your clit.

"A-Ahh!"

Your body reacted involuntarily, your hips bucking and pushing against him.

Koba watched your reaction, a mixture of amusement and lust playing on his face. He was enjoying teasing you.

Your cheeks burned with shame. How could your body betray you like this? How low... how could he possibly reduce you to this. He kept up his pace, thrusting his fingers into you harder and faster, rubbing your clit in circles with his thumb.

"S-stop." You pleaded desperately, feeling as if you would collapse under the pressure, "please... nghhhh,"

Your body tensed as his hands travelled down and cupped your buttocks. Koba began grinding his crotch against yours, the bulge of his erection rubbing against your wet pussy. No longer could you hide how aroused you were when the ape above you could see it clearly, could hear it in your voice.

"Ahh... N-No. Please, stop..."

He smirked, enjoying your pleas and desperate resistance, how you tried to deny how good it felt. He was going to take what he wanted from you whether you let him or not. He was the top predator here, after all.

You whimpered as his cock rubbed against you, the friction causing sparks to shoot through your body.

"N-not that--"

Koba ignored your cries, pushing his length inside of you.

Your breath caught in your throat, the sudden sensation of being filled by his thick cock overwhelming you.

"It hurts!"

As if he cared-- he was enjoying your pain, your screams. You were his prey, his capture, his toy to play with. 

His grip tightened, his nails digging into your flesh and leaving marks, bruises that would show the next day, if you even lived to see it.

Koba growled as he pounded into you, his cock stretching your tight hole, filling you. And with your wrists still tightly bound behind your back, there wasn't anything you could do to stop him. You weren't used to this kind of rough treatment. Time felt like it was moving in slow motion, his nails digging into the soft flesh, drawing blood. 

Koba pulled out and then slammed himself into you again. He fucked you like he had been pent up for months, releasing his sexual frustration on you. Your pussy ached and throbbed, the pain turning to pleasure. You moaned and cried out as he thrust into you, hitting a spot inside of you that felt good .

So good that you allowed a loud moan to escape your lips that definitely didn't go unnoticed. 

He grabbed you by the hair and pulled your head up, forcing you to look him in the eyes. To understand who your superior was. That you were beneath him. A filthy lowly human, only good to dump cum into.

You could hear the sound of his grunting and growling, the sound of his heavy breathing and his heartbeat pounding in your ears. You felt as if you were going to pass out, your body unable to cope with the shock and pain of being so utterly and brutally violated.

Koba continued to fuck you, his pace quickening, the sound of his ragged breath filling the air.

Your body began to shake and tremble as your orgasm built up inside you. Your mind was screaming at you, telling you to stop, telling you not to give in, but your body was betraying you, taking pleasure from the ape’s violation.

The tension inside you reached a breaking point and you cried out, the sound escaping from your lips.

Koba continued to pound into you, his grip on your hips tightening, his pace becoming erratic, his breathing becoming more ragged.

You felt his cock pulsing inside you, his seed spilling deep inside of you as he finished. You gasped and panted, the feeling of being stretched so much was driving you insane.

Your body was trembling, your legs shaking and you felt as if you were going to pass out.

Koba finally withdrew his cock from you, the sticky warmth of his cum dripping from your abused hole.

He released his grip on your hips, leaving you laying in a pool of his seed, your body quivering.

Koba stood over you, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Filthy. Human." He sneered.

At least, finally, it was over. You thought.

Until he gripped onto your hips again, pulling you flush up against himself. No, Koba's stamina was relentless. The day was just beginning. 

[probablyasocialecologist]

The richest 1% globally has been responsible for 23% of total emissions growth since 1990 (Chancel 2022). Over the past 25 years, this “polluter elite” (IPCC 2022, 524) has contributed to more than twice as much carbon pollution compared to the three billion people that comprise the poorest half of humanity (Oxfam 2020; see also Gössling and Humpe 2023). Similar inequalities are evident in the (over)consumption of other resources. Savelli et al. (2023) show that the excessive water use by elites exacerbates urban water crises as much as climate change or population growth. Additionally, maintaining economic inequality close to current levels results in a doubling of the energy required to ensure decent living standards for all, allowing all people on Earth to have their basic needs covered (Millward-Hopkins 2022). At the same time, it is now clear that those who suffer most from environmental degradation have contributed the least to it (Chancel 2020). These selective vignettes underscore a simple but powerful truth: today’s climate and broader ecological crises are, at their core, distributional crises, where excess and deprivation, overshoot and shortfall are interconnected (see also Gough 2017; Büchs et al. 2023). Despite these realities, prevailing climate research and policy, deeply entrenched in an ecomodernist, green-growth paradigm, tend to frame the climate crisis as a matter of decoupling resource use and emissions from economic growth. This is envisioned to be achieved through technological advancements (efficiency gains) and adjustments of the price system to correct market failures (internalising “externalities”). However, this techno-economic approach to climate research and policy has not only failed to resolve its own problem definition, as there is no empirical evidence supporting the existence of absolute decoupling anywhere near the speed and scale needed (Parrique et al. 2019; Haberl et al. 2020; Wiedmann et al. 2020; Vogel and Hickel 2023). Efficiency improvements and price adjustments also constitute responses to a problem framing that considers inequality at best an afterthought. As leading climate economist Gernot Wagner proclaims: “It’s tempting to want to stick it to the man. We instead need to stick it to carbon. (…) Inequality is a real (…) problem. But we can’t delay climate action even further for the false hope of solving all the world’s other ills” (cited in Harvey 2023). Such mindsets cannot provide answers to ecological crises as distributional crises.

[quixoticanarchy]

Ok I read a book on degrowth by jason hickel (Less is More) and I still need to read more but. preliminary thoughts:

I appreciate the quantification of by how much current resource and energy consumption overshoots sustainable limits, and the excoriation of the absurd demand for compound growth on a finite planet; and the book has a decent history of capitalism and the violence and dispossession it rests upon. There is some similar quantification for how proposed degrowth measures would affect resource consumption, though (understandably) piecemeal, so it’s unclear what the full impact of these measures would be vis-à-vis climate meltdown and ecological tipping points, or on what timeline the degrowth transition would have to occur.

Degrowth measures - resource use caps, a shorter work week, basic income, healthcare, income caps, re-localizing supply chains, killing planned obsolescence, moving to a shared rather than personal ownership model for things like vehicles, etc. - are broadly “good” and have been promoted and supported outside of a specifically degrowth context already, which speaks to their appeal but also their pitfalls. Implementing all these measures and more has to carry the explicit intention of improving human and ecological welfare, GDP be damned, and has to be tied explicitly to a commitment to reducing growth and capping profits; otherwise, the trap I see is attempting to enact some of these measures while keeping the capitalist edifice intact - which, as Hickel acknowledges, would spur a new ‘fix’ in which some other domain or market is forced open for exploitation so that growth can continue.

This is obviously at odds with degrowth and it isn’t anything degrowth advocates don’t know, but it seems naïve to envision states whose existence and operation are so inextricable from capitalism being capable of doing such reforms to the degree and with the ideological shift necessary. It would be suicide. Which I’d welcome, but just saying we need to tackle corruption and have more real democracy so that governments can serve people’s actual needs does not convince me that these policies could be sincerely and radically adopted by any state that exists today.

The book seems to walk a line between “degrowth is very radical since it would require ditching the demand for economic growth and probably most of the profit motive itself, which is a huge mindset and ideological shift - if not to socialism per se then to post-capitalism” and also “degrowth isn’t that radical/outlandish since what it takes is all these commonsense reforms that people already want anyway”. Sometimes the degrowth policy package sounds a lot like just welfare-state capitalism, except with resource and energy consumption dramatically scaled back, and without the economic growth imperative. So… no longer capitalism as such, but still using many of the master’s tools to retrofit the master’s house.

In principle, a world exists in which wealthy countries consume far less and the rest of the world is freer and not (or at least less) exploited. In principle, degrowth measures could help us realize that world. Saying it’s not a revolutionary process might keep some readers from being scared off, etc, but I’m left wondering then: where does the force come from to make these changes happen? Are wealthy countries and individuals and corporations going to just agree to resource caps and wealth caps and redistribution? The argument that degrowth is a kind of decolonization and requires the demise of the colonial and capitalist view of people and nature is compelling to me, but that seems to conflict with the idea that degrowth can be implemented as a set of reforms to the systems that exist now, without the messiness of revolution and without somehow being co-opted by capitalism or packaged as ‘green growth’ (which Hickel makes clear would be bad and is bullshit). The ideological shift and end to growth is the big ask here - without that, the reforms are just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic, or maybe on the lawn of the master’s house, if you will.

[collapseofindustrialcivilization]

Last Rites for a Dying Civilization

When the Black Death struck Europe in the Middle Ages, the fundamental values that held society together broke down. Husbands and wives abandoned each other and mother’s abandoned their children. This void of ethics that overtook the population is described in Boccaccio’s Decameron, considered a masterpiece of Italian prose and a documentary of life during that time. The book describes the…

[oediex]

Today is Earth Overshoot Day.

"Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year."

This means that from today on, we are living in an ecological deficit, or on "credit". We are using natural resources the earth cannot replenish, as well as accumulating waste the earth cannot deal with, "primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere". We are using 1.7 earths every year.

The date of Earth Overshoot Days is slowly climbing forward more and more:

While what we should be doing is pushing that date back the other way. If we want to reach the IPCC goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030, which is required if we are to limit global warming to 1,5°C, we need to push Earth Overshoot Day back by 19 days for the next 7 years.

World Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Footprint Network (where the above graph is from), an international non-profit research organisation that provides data, insights, and tools for decision-makers to understand the ecological limitations of our world so that they can make informed decisions for a better future.

One of the best things you can do as an individual is going vegan, because meat and dairy products tend to emit more greenhouse gasses than plant-based foods. It is truly one of the most effective ways for you as an individual to have an impact on the environment.

A friendly reminder here at the end that veganism is a doing what is “possible and practicable” for you - this includes access to foods, allergies, health issues, mental health issues, etc.

[saddayfordemocracy]

August 2 is Earth overshoot day 2023 !

Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) marks when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate during that year. 

Today is Earth Overshoot Day 2023, the Earth Overshoot Day calculated every year by Global Footprint Network using data from National Footprint and Biocapacity Accountswhich indicates the official depletion of renewable resources that the planet is able to offer within a year.

This means that today, August 2, humanity has already “finished” all the resources that Nature produces in an entire year and is starting to go into debt. Humanity, with its over 8 billion inhabitants, consumes in excessive quantities, beyond the natural regeneration (and reabsorption) capacities of the planet.

In 1973 Overshoot Day fell on December 3: we were just a few days over our annual budget. In 2003, September 12, in 2013, August 3. The date has always been getting ahead and our ecological debt has grown.

Globally we are consuming the equivalent of 1.7 Planets a year, an ominous figure that is expected to rise to two planets by 2030, based on current trends. In the last 5 years the trend seems to have stabilized, but it is difficult to establish whether this is due to the slowdown of the economy or to decarbonisation efforts. However, the reduction of our “debt” to the planet is still too slow. To achieve the United Nations IPCC goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 (compared to 2010) it would be necessary to move Earth Overshoot Day forward by 19 days per year for next seven years.

According to the WWF there are many solutions that can be adopted at the community level or individually to have a significant impact on the type of future we invest in: for example if we used energy from 75% renewable sources we could move the Overshhot day by 26 days ; halving food waste would save 13 days.

“If up until the 1960s humanity was more or less in balance, the date has moved from year to year up the calendar, to arrive today at the beginning of August. This means that humanity has been in ecological overshoot for over 50 years and the debt we have accumulated amounts to 19 years of planetary production, i.e. what Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate in 19 years. The burden of this debt, which is set to increase, is starting to reduce economic options. The loss of biodiversity, the growing unpredictability of the weather and the depletion of groundwater are just a few symptoms. But overcoming itself is not inevitable. Constantly living beyond the physical possibilities of our planet is a limited possibility in time, we risk an ecological disaster: the goods and services that are the basis of our societies and economies are all produced by functioning and healthy ecosystems. We now have many targeted solutions to reverse the overexploitation of resources and support the regeneration of the biosphere in which we live”.

[climatecalling]

Ecology tells us that many species overshoot their environment’s carrying capacity if they have temporary access to an unusually high level of resources. Overshoot declines when those resources return to more stable levels. This often involves large-scale starvation and die-offs as populations adjust. Access to fossil fuels has allowed us to temporarily overshoot biophysical limits. This lifted our population and demands on the biosphere past the level it can safely absorb. Barring a planned reduction of those biosphere demands, we will experience the same “adjustments” as other species. One advantage humans have over other species is that we understand overshoot dynamics and can plan how we adjust. This is what the degrowth movement is attempting to do. ... Humanity exceeds its fair share of natural resources by more than 50%, and likely needs to reduce this demand by 70-80% to operate within carrying capacity. Those with greater wealth are responsible for a disproportionately large share of overshoot. ... The climate crisis is seen as a problem requiring a solution rather than a symptom of overshoot. The problem is generally formulated as looking for a way to maintain current lifestyles in the wealthy world, rather than reducing overshoot. The ecological perspective accepts that we exceed biophysical boundaries and emphasises the importance of reducing energy and material consumption – regardless of how the energy is provided.