Emergent

When something is emergent it is not the product of a single villainous entity, but is a trend which of actions which come from multiple factors playing at once. Essentially, interactions between the micro-elements of a system self-organize in such a way as to make the property or dynamic seem to "appear" out of nowhere. For example, there is nothing in a water molecule that obviously "entails" the existence of turbulent or laminar flows, or any of the interesting dynamic phenomena that can happen when one flow turns into another. Those things are "emergent."

A great example in modern times of this is Google. Google from its inception had do no evil written into its corporate code of conduct statement, but in 2018 this was removed. This is an emergent phenomenon as initially Google being controlled by a few people had the ability to push a code of ethics above the pursuit of profit. However when Google formed Alphabet, the pursuit of profit emerged as paramount.

The key thing about emergence is that there's no central planner. No one "forces" a particular emergent behavior of set of outcomes, it is a logical consequence of purely micro-scale behaviors. The economy, politics, and the ongoing catabolic collapse are all examples of "emergent" dynamics. No one is "in control" of the economy (e.g. intentionally driving up inflation or trying to gouge the middle class for evil kicks). Economists are worse than useless at making predictions and all of our analysis is post-facto, ad hoc storytelling. Our current hellscape is a natural emergent consequence of the particular material relationships that exist in the modern world. The same thing is true of climate change. No one is pumping CO2 into the atmosphere for fun - the inevitable climate nightmare is an emergent consequence of the economic, thermodynamic, and social structures of our society and the complex interplay between each domain. This is why it is silly to blame individuals OR corporations for climate change as if either group in the aggregate represent an agent with some kind of moral "free will": the individuals do what (locally) makes sense and they are required to do to survive under capitalism. The corporations do what (locally) makes sense to maximize profits and satisfy the economic demands of the masses. No one is "in control", we are all embedded in a system much too complex for any one person, or set of people, to actually understand, let alone control.

Philosophers talk about climate change as a hyperobject, and this is true, but so to are the material systems that generate climate change.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, faced with unfathomable complexity, people default to what they have always done: personifying impersonal forces and talking about them like Gods. Capitalism isn't an impersonal system, it is a quasi-demonic "thing" with it's own desires. "The rich" aren't just one part of a complex dynamical system, they are the "elite masterminds" of the whole system (bonus points if you stray into weirdly anti-Semitic territory as well).

Whether you're on the Left or the Right, the same patterns happens over and over again. On the Right, consider QAnon, possibly the most mask-off example of unfathomable complexity being replaced by just-so stories and bizarre conspiracies. On the Left, phenomena like systemic racism and classism (which are very real systems) are instead talked about as if they have designs, agency, and desires.

If we want to have any hope of fixing these issues (and the light of hope is dimming fast), we need to be better at thinking about systems. Really thinking about systems, not just using it as a catch-all word for "group of people I don't like." That means thinking impersonally, putting aside personal prejudices and preconceived emotional biases.

And, for the love of God, stop thinking, and talking as if there is someone, ANYONE in control, masterminding our circumstances or fate. Learn to understand complexity, in it's full power, glory, and horror.