From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Aussies are more worried their toaster will become self-aware than they are worried about climate change.

To defeat the global Goliaths devastating our planet, we must raise an army of Davids 

Peter Lewis
Wed 26 Nov 2025 11.20 AEDT

As Australians face a maelstrom of interconnected disasters, the climate catastrophe has become just one of many things to doomscroll about

…

An even bigger challenge for those of us seeking more decisive climate action could be the increasing competition among the phalanx of existential risks – pandemic, nuclear warfare, sentient AI and unparalleled inequality.

Kemp argues that these are not standalone challenges. They create a poly-crisis where each feeds the other; climate collapse drives displacement, AI guzzles energy while powering inequality, 10,000 nuclear warheads are stockpiled as the temperature rises.

“These threats are not unavoidable,” he writes, “they are consciously created by powerful groups who profit handsomely from the endeavour. Global catastrophic risk is the product of the worldwide system of extraction: the Global Goliath.”

A final poll question illustrates how the climate crisis has been subsumed by this maelstrom of interconnected disasters; not so much ignored but now one of many things to doomscroll about.

How concerned are you about the following existential threats?

	TOTAL: Concerned	TOTAL: Not concerned	Very concerned	Quite concerned	Unsure	Not that concerned	Not concerned at all
The development of AI that is self-aware	67%	24%	35%	33%	9%	18%	6%
Social upheaval through rising inequality	62%	28%	25%	37%	10%	21%	7%
Catastrophic impacts of climate change	59%	33%	28%	32%	8%	20%	13%
Nuclear warfare	57%	35%	28%	30%	8%	25%	10%
Another global pandemic	57%	35%	23%	34%	7%	26%	9%
A meteor strike	29%	60%	13%	15%	11%	28%	32%

…

Projecting the trajectory of existential risk beyond the life of current horizons, say 100 years, one of two things must happen: the Goliaths self-terminate or we find a way to work together and slay the giant.

Kemp’s prognosis is that we recognise that governments have been captured by the Goliaths and organise ourselves into an army of Davids, redistributing power through open democracy and citizen juries.

…Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2025/nov/26/climate-disasters-devastating-planet-collective-action-against-corporations

I find it hilarious greens are complaining about other doomsday narratives distracting people from their fake doomsday narratives. 59% concerned about climate change is still a lot of concern, but clearly a lot of people are moving on.

As for the “Army of Davids” citizen jury / citizen assembly idea, that appears to be the political methodology of choice for sham democracies. Fake citizen assemblies are helping to keep the Venezuelan dictator in power. It turns out when the selection of politicians is by any means other than a popular vote, the process is open to even more manipulation.

The big question – how long will global governments bother to continue to hold COP climate conferences? Reading the rest of the Guardian article, even among the climate concerned, faith that COP will deliver anything useful has collapsed. Only 6% of survey respondents were “very confident” that COP30 would achieve anything meaningful.

Holding big international summits on how to manage the threat of malevolent AI would attract far more public interest than COP. The UN might even convince US delegates to attend if they started holding interesting conferences.