Waking up with a start - the shutters are rattling madly.
Very quickly, I hear a hailstone… two… three… and then all hell breaks loose, it’s deafening. I check the time - 01:50. It gets louder still. Groggy with sleep, I get up and go to the window. And fear grips me. I feel it in my stomach. I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t even make up what’s happening in front of my eyes - it’s all going so fast, it’s all so messed up - rain, wind, hail, wind, rain. Faster, stronger, and then stronger still.
I’m telling myself that I’m safe, in my warm home, in Switzerland, that nothing can happen to me - but it’s not working. I feel fear pulsating through my body, and an urge to cry.
Fear, when I realize that this is what my future will most likely look like. Downpours. Storms. Lakes and rivers bursting their banks. Uprooted trees. Devastated crops. Weather alerts, again and again. The sirens of fire brigades. Fear, when I think of the desolate world starting to materialize before my very eyes.
Fear too, when I replay the images of the last few days in my head: the town of Lytton in Canada destroyed by fire, the forest fires in California, the floods in Belgium and Germany, the famine in Madagascar, the record heat in Death Valley.
And the urge to cry. Out of fear, but also in the face of so much injustice, incomprehension and powerlessness. I feel so overwhelmed. Can we still avoid the worst? What can I do so as not to become resigned? What can I do, alone in this flat, to remedy this disaster in any way? And, in the face of this catastrophe, where can I find the energy to fight and act?
The storm has gone as quickly it came, the hail has given way to rain. I go back to bed, my body shaken by emotions, my head full of questions. But I also feel a truth downing on me with clarity: faced with the magnitude of the task, the only solution is to rebel - and to do so en masse.
And why? Because the worsening of the current climate crisis depends on the speed with which society is transformed. And how fast society is transformed depends on how many people demand it, and won’t take no for an answer. So let us unite. Let us meet in Zürich on October 3rd, and refuse to move until the government tells the truth about the existential danger we face.
And until then, let us draw together from our fears, our tears and our powerlessness the strength to act and rebel. For our own survival and that of the entire planet.
Maria, rebel in Zurich
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Do you find these lines relatable? Feeling anxious about the ecosystem collapse and climate breakdown is in itself quite rational, given their very negative effects on human well-being. This is called eco-anxiety
There are two ways to overcome it: talking about it, and acting.
The more we talk about the climate catastrophe, the more we will find the strength to fight it!
Turn your anxiety into action and gather people around you. Mobilise your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. Tell them about the disaster and the rebellion in October as an event with historic transformative power.
How can you do this? Organise a full-fledged conference, or motivate a small group of your acquaintances (e.g. 6 or more), and the Mobilisation team will send a rebel to meet you.
This person will have the background to answer your questions on the climate and ecological emergency, the history of civil disobedience and why and how it works, and most importantly… how to take part in the rebellion in October! Interested in the concept? Just send an email to Cécile at massmobilizationch@riseup.net !
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«They are able to see that the world is not going well. They are healthy people in a world that doesn’t know it’s mad. » Charline Schmerber, about people with eco-anxiety.
With love and rage,
Mélanie, Maria & Anaïs, for the newsletter team
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XR Newsletter team.