Looooooong-Term Planetary Planning

Ever been in a strategy session tasked with projecting all the way out to the year 2222 A.D.?

Spoiler Alert 1: This article has no beef with who did what where, and why people fail to take responsibility for the future. Rather, the crux here is re-training our minds to plan for the prospective when’s and how’s — whether in business, life, or pleasure.

Spoiler Alert 2: Mother Earth still orbits the sun in 2222. Father Time survives — barely, because it’s an artificially contrived metric. What about people, though? What about us??

Perhaps Mother Earth will “shake us off like a bad case of fleas,” mused comic whiz George Carlin. In 1992.*

“The planet has been through worse than us. There is nothing wrong with the planet! The planet is fine.....

The people are f***ed.”

— George Carlin, “Jammin’ in New York” (April 1992) cf. youtu.be/kHyaWtTpkwo

It’s now three decades after Sir Carlin originally delivered this dire punchline. Sure enough, today’s experts finally agree: (1) People are at risk and (2) this Planet couldn’t care less about us.

Introducing #7thGen

“So why am I getting so enraged about all this nonsense? I don’t care! Am I upset about the planet? I’m gone pretty soon, I left no ‘litter’ behind. That’s your problem. I’m treating this planet like the f***ing ‘rental car’ that it is. And I’m turning it in trashed, with the bumper hanging off. F*** your insurance. F*** the environment. I didn’t ask to be here.”

—  Doug Stanhope (2012) cf. youtu.be/XCGkVyyDOcU

In his profane rant quoted here, Doug makes at least one valid point: None of us asked to be here. Fair enough. However, for those of us who aren’t ready to not be here — and who want to take part in something bigger than ourselves — read on.

The #7thGen Backstory:

The first bona fide settlers of the North American continent (not shown here) have a much more regenerative and self-perpetuating strategy than the comic’s.

“In every deliberation, we consider the impact it will have on the seventh generation.”

[Note: Lakota Nation considers one “generation” to be 100 years. So, the Lakota #7thGen would be 2700 A.D., which is unfathomably remote and unpropitious. The one-generation timeframe this article will employ is 30 years.]

The formula seems simple enough. Yet, the following calc shows how exhaustive a #7thGen timeframe can be, especially when every choice we make today is borne unto future people:

0.    Like it or not, in this paradigm "Gen Zero" = anyone reading this article. Deal with it.

Let's get this thing started: In 2019, the “1st Generation” (our 'child') is born.

1.    The firstborn turns 30, marries, and has kids (our 'grandchildren')

2.    At age 30, a grandchild has a kid (our 'great-grandchild')

3.    The great-grandchild turns 30 and has kids (our 'great-great grandchildren')

4.    Add another 30 years (our 4th Generation)

5.    + 30 years (5th Gen)

6.    + 30 years (6th Gen)

7.    + 30 years (here, the 7th Generation resets for the next #7thGen plenary)

7 generations = 210 years total timespan

#7thGen = 2222 A.D.

(The '2222' is an illustrative approximation. Plus, is easier to remember.)

The #7thGen methodology can be applied to any industry and any issue. Any time we find ourselves planning for something we will never live to see, rest assured the outcome will benefit from our prescience.

The tricky part about ultra-forward-thinking is when someone like Doug (the comedian) joins our strategy group. What to do with naysayers? Lean in to the wild west wisdom of Ned Washington, “Though they’re disapprovin’ \ Keep them dogies movin’… \ Don’t try to understand ’em \ Just rope, and throw, and brand ’em.”

Cowboy Ned meet Zero Gen Doug. Thanks.

?? Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’

“I mean, when was the last time any of us thought about who’s coming along seven generations from now?”

— Molly Larkin (Author, The Wind Is My Mother) cf. lnkd.in/eBiWyN6

In contemporary news outlets, talking heads tend to frame just about every new trend as a generational, or multigenerational, event — much like a coupon for new shoes. Few topics or issues are allowed to eternalize.

This shortsightedness is also baked in to our professional and personal lives, where decisions rarely deal with a future so distant that we don’t even get to meet its beneficiaries in person. So, the #7thGen viewpoint is difficult to encapsulate in today’s cultural economies of scale.

Harder to grasp is the concept of “rolling” time periods. That is, instead of working toward the welfare of a singular fixed point in time, we mete out a rolling period that continually renews its start and finish. At the end of the First Generation’s 30-year, we restate the #7thGen plan to adjust outcomes, fold in the lessons learned during that time, and so on.

Compared to the brittle, procedural, chronological tactics of today’s problem solvers, rolling periods are fluid and systemic. The rolling #7thGen methodology adapts to new signals constantly. It never reaches completion (a net positive in this case).

Q: “This article fixates on 2222 A.D. Isn’t that a static launch date target?”

A: “Rawhide!”

Take Action. Now.

Returning to the context of today’s Climate Crisis, now is not the time for milestones, disruption, kimonos, groupthink, or any other Billy Bullsh!t colloquialism. Get out of the bored room and do something. Anything, no matter how small, will be looked back upon with gratitude in 2222 A.D.

Put simply, we will be adored by our great grandchildren’s great grandchildren’s grandchildren (check the math?).

Not in a family mood? The dividends pay quite well for all future Great Ancestors — no progeny required (e.g., #RachelCarson, #AmeliaEarhart, #AlexanderHamilton, #AlbertEinstein, et al.).

For now, Saving-Us-from-Extinguishing-Ourselves appears to be the most pressing #7thGen application. Ergo, it is the focus of this article.

?? Got some 'dogeys' that need to be roped in to help Save Our Species? “Head ’em up!”  (Translation: Tag people in this article’s Comments section.)

?? Need help convincing someone to become a champion for the #7thGen mindset? “Move ’em on!” (Translation: Share this article with your network.)

#7thGen Reverse Lookup

Jumping back in time, 210 years ago, could anyone have predicted today’s screenagers, flying coffee mugs, and sex-robots? Such wonders may have been far beyond the imagination but let’s take a minute to salute our 1st Gen ancestors for what they issued forth in lieu of the latter bells and whistles…

The year is 1809. Battles and wars are being waged here and there, on a near-monthly basis, with Napoleon as the odds-on fav for MVP of Western Civilization carnage. Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent for a thread-making technique. Robert Fulton’s steamboat is patented. The Royal Opera House in London opens. Yawns — none of those really have that zesty #7thGen flavor, do they? Sorry, Ms. Kies, UK divas, Mr. Fulton, et al. The true spirit of #7thGen is not about shiny new stuff and/or things in which to sing.

The aboriginal #7thGen precept is about “deliberating” whether or not the ideas and achievements that we gin up today will help sustain our species (i.e., homo sapiens) for the 210 years to come.

In that vein, take a humbling look at the Class of 1809 shoulders we’re still standing on today: Louis Braille, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe, Pierre Joseph Proudhon (libertarian socialist politician), Oliver Wendell Holmes, and writer Sophia Hawthorne (ahem, the only woman on the list?) were all born in this year.

Clearly some mighty big shoes to fill, each with longstanding positive impact.

Also born in 1809 but DQ’d from the shortlist:

Kit Carson, leader of campaigns against Apache and Navajo nations, originator of The Longest Walk.

Cyrus Hall McCormick, inventor of the mechanical reaper. (At the risk of sounding unappreciative, Cyrus created a thingy, not an idea. Also, his reaper’s grim legacy may include the massive Climate Crisis footprint of industrialized agriculture monoculture-based farming.)

Spread the Word:

Our thinking, our culture, and our leadership must IMMEDIATELY pivot toward a significantly longer view of the future.

How can we help?

Add our voice to workplace chatter, town halls, and events.

Join and support local, global, civic, and professional orgs.

In any of these settings, we are guaranteed to be among very few people in the crowd who are steering the conversation from “save our grandchildren’s future” to “save our #7thGen”… Be bold. Toe the line.

The key takeaway from this article?

We already have all the technologies we need to solve this crisis.*

Now it is time to start funding and seeking a long-term framework for INNOVATION, INVENTION, and — quite possibly — our SURVIVAL.

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Kindly share in the Comments below…

Which of these is your vision for the year 2222?

?? Happy, smiling people living in harmony.

?? People trapped in a struggle for survival.

?? [Can you guess the third?]

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* Special thanks to Hunter Lovins (@hunterlovins) for her suggestion to tap into George Carlin’s comedic wizardry. For more, visit natcapsolutions.org.

Related Ben Emerson articles published on LinkedIn:

• SAVE THE low-hanging TURTLES fruit (Part 3 of this series)
• Reorganize.org —Talking is Good (Part 2 of this series)
• World Zero Cup
• Profits Will Save this Planet — Not Prophets
• WE need OUR help!
• Explainer: The Energy Opportunity

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AFTERWORD

This is article #1 in a series of 3 (see Part 2 bit.ly/reorganize2019 and Part 3 bit.ly/turtlefruit) that examine how and when to take action against Climate Piracy. The series deals with techniques that are equally applicable to all industries, markets, regions, beliefs, and systems of government.

Generationalism: The tendency for one generation to criticize another as though they belong to different classes or species. Example: The 1960s peace movement activists are no different from today’s Climate Crisis activists. They run the risk of alienating good allies and converts by pointing fingers and name-shaming. Example: As progenitor Greta Thunberg’s ‘Fridays for Future’ movement merges with countless other school strikers worldwide, their original message still rings true: “I am doing this because you adults are s****ing on my future.” Yep. Guilty as charged, dear. However, some adults are also handing out toilet paper. ?? (This article shows how #7thGen divests any individual generation’s ownership of the future.)