The Future

Solastalgia in an AI World of Destinations

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment
Marsh outlet of Thompson Creek into the Otonabee River, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

On a recent walk through a vibrant local marsh quietly embedded in a community, I contemplated its tenuous position. I’d stopped on a bridge that overlooked an open pond teaming with clucking and squawking waterfowl and let my mind drift to the busy urban environment I’d left behind. Here I stood in an oasis of being, a treasure threatened by development. I cast my mind to the relentless destruction of our natural world for the sake of ‘progress’ and felt an inlking of solastalgia.

For decades I’ve served as an environmental consultant and limnologist, championing the environment against senseless destruction. I’ve witnessed too many examples of ecosystem simplification and collapse through clear-cutting, urban development, marsh destruction, and diversions of rivers or toxic pollution. All with associated loss of biodiversity and accelerating extinction. The reduction in numbers and the extinction rate of nonhuman life is truly alarming. 

I couldn’t help making the connection between our rapidly degrading environment and rapidly rising AI.

You think that a crazy connection? Let me explain. I think they are indeed connected. Artificial Intelligence and associated LLMs are tools borne of the need for efficiency; used properly, they expedite, streamline, simplify, save work time, and may even on some occasions illuminate and educate. Ultimately, these tools speed things up toward a destination. The journey to that destination is often purposely shortened, and usually unnoticed or forgotten. Efficiency isn’t about enjoying the journey; it is all about getting there, wherever that is. That’s our existence today. An existence that belongs to AI. An existence that ignores or ‘others’ Nature and sees it as an impediment to progress. The destruction of our natural world—the one that supports all life—is directly linked to the exploitive model of late capitalism that embraces AI and, at its extreme, the use of technology over (at the expense of) human labour.

I also teach writing at the University of Toronto and at my own coaching site. I recently came across a LinkedIn post by English Professor Susan Ray who mused on the concept of AI grief (of writing instructors) in acknowledging true loss in the gains made with AI: “Sometimes there seems to be kind of a misfire in the message about AI: that we just need to adapt, we need to accept, we need to move on and we need to embrace … But there’s something to grieve and we need to make space for that.”

She gave the example of her own grad school work on the 18th Century novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. “There was a quote I couldn’t find. I told one of my advisors that ‘I just hit CTRL F in Gutenburg.org and I found the quote.’ He went kind of ashen and he went ‘this is not how it’s supposed to work. You need to go back to the text; you need to reread, you need to discover something that you missed. That is the process.’ I kind of rolled my eyes—internally, not at my advisor—with the idea that I was supposed to intentionally make more work for myself. But he was trying to protect something sacred that had been taught to him and was part of his academic experience.”

Ray added that this was her experience with her students: “…using AI to brainstorm or talk out thesis statements or find sources or rephrase a passage. We [instructors] wanted something from them; we wanted what we had, which was being assigned a paper, or a project and sitting with it, fighting for that idea, and restructuring it, and revising it. That’s been lost in a lot of ways.”

She then brought up the latest statistic by the Digital Education Council that some 86% of all college students in the world admitted to using AI in their studies. This is likely an underestimate.

In response to Ray’s post, Andrew Sutter, Select Professor in Global Business at Akita International University, offered another more cynical take on AI grief: “I also wonder whether grief is a little too neat an explanation for the whole spectrum of feelings of reluctance about using LLMs … Students finding ways to hand in assignments without understanding them is nothing new … But LLMs do make this much easier. And many students welcome that … I’m really worried about what will happen when this cohort of students, ones made lazy and/or being misled by LLM use, are running the world. That’s not grief: it’s anger and apprehension.”

Beverly Pell, CEO at DuoFeed, summed it up this way: “This is a sorrowful time, a transition for many who enjoyed the discourse in the town square, the struggle, the ambiguity of the text, the nuances, the context, the process, seeing what unfolds, human imagination, and wisdom from experience. It’s a hard earned profession. And now that profession is threatened.”

Pell was talking about the journey, the slow pace of the rapt explorer who enjoys the nuanced filigrees of the minutae, the textures of experience, the colours of time.

My thought is that for every gain something is lost. In this case, the gain and loss lies in the learning process. I think that behind every ‘cheat’ or shortcut—which AI serves only too well as a tool—is a loss in potential discovery, even if that discovery is internal (the best kind) and often a surprise. Whenever we shortcut, we take away an opportunity. Ultimately, all creativity is a process of discovery. Why would you shorten it? Good writing—like a good cup of tea—must steep for a while to discover its deeper flavours.

But our capitalist-driven society is driven by efficiency (and profit) and embraces the shortcut. This is the capitalist way and so suited to the AI tool—now the authority of Google, smart phones, and social media. In a world of destinations and “getting ahead”, it’s all about finding the shortcut to get what you want. The journey fades into unimportance.

And yet, it is in that journey that true gems reveal themselves through serendipitous discovery. By choosing efficiency over experience, we rob ourselves of the journey to discover. Like engineers impatiently seeking our destination, we pave and straighten our roads into common simplification, shortening that now-boring journey.

How often have I gone through the forest and decided I need to turn back and then thought: one more stretch. That’s where I’d found my treasure. That one extra step held my unique prize. Kismet. Serendipity. These often lie in the dark folds of the less trodden path.

A LinkedIn post by Irreplaceable With AI resonated with me:

“When I look at how fast screens, algorithms, and instant entertainment have taken over childhood, I do not think the problem is technology itself. The problem is what gets squeezed out when every spare moment is filled for them (where so much real creativity begins):

  • Unstructured play
  • Boredom
  • Mess
  • Trial and error
  • The awkward, beautiful process of making something without being told what to do next”


I would add that in this unstructured space lives the opportunity to be unique and different. Something our society seems bent on destroying; and something our children appear bent on avoiding at all cost.

Here’s what matters most:

  • Curiosity over consumption
  • Creativity over passive entertainment
  • Connection over distraction
  • Critical problem solving over screen comfort
  • Cultivation of human values over digital convenience
  • Courage to confront, be different and to challenge.

Life shouldn’t be a short cut. We need to slow down and use our senses. Or someday we’ll be senselessly lost. And the worst of it will be that we won’t even sense it—even as the world burns down around us.

.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit  www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her eco-fiction clifi novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020. Her most recent novel Gaia’s Revolution was released March 2026 by Dragon Moon Press (Calgary).

.

Nina Talks to CBC About Solarpunk (in Toronto and Elsewhere)

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment
Solarpunk city imagined (image by Imperial Boy)

.

A short while ago, I was approached by a CBC reporter to discuss Solarpunk and the solarpunk movement in Toronto, specifically.

Given that my writing has significant solarpunk elements in it and I teach at the University of Toronto, in Toronto where I participated in several solarpunk initiatives, I was happy to discuss the subject with Louna Marchet.

The interview, which will air in French on CBC Radio, covered a wide range of a very interesting discussion on solarpunk generally and below, I’ve highlighted a few parts.

What is Solarpunk? Solarpunk is basically an optimistic, action-oriented subgenre of speculative fiction or art that has evolved into a social movement. The movement imagines a sustainable, post-capitalist future where humanity lives sustainably relying on renewable energy, DIY ethics, community resilience and a decentralized technology. It’s a radical hope alternative to dystopian narratives of gloom and doom.

On Eco-Fiction: I mentioned that I write mostly eco-fiction and hopeful dystopias (dystopias with solarpunk elements to them). Through its vision of our future, eco-fiction encourages conversations and an outward perspective. Eco-fiction can trigger a sense of wonder about the natural world; it may connect with our sense of loss or mourning—our solastalgia—for our changing home. Cautionary tales may nudge people to action and encourage alternative futures. Eco-fiction—whether told as dystopia, post-apocalypse, cautionary tale or hopeful solarpunk—can help us co-create a new narrative, one about how the Earth gifts us with life and how we can give in return. By encouraging empathy and imagination, eco-fiction reaches deep into our souls, where we care. It is only when we care that we act. I write more about this in my article “Why Writing and Reading Eco-Fiction Will Save the World—From Clifi to Solarpunk.”

On Changing the Narrative: I offered that we need to change our (North American society’s) current (capitalist) narrative of separation, “othering”, and exploitation toward one of participation, inclusion, and a nurturing spirit. Storytelling forms a key part of that overall narrative. That shift is happening in the emergence of a strong eco-voice by marginalized groups, those who would be most affected by things like habitat destruction and climate change. Centering the voice of the ecological other as a sympathetic character is a main feature of eco-fiction.

What we cherish, we protect. 

I write more about this in two articles that discuss character coupling to provide voice to the ‘other’, from excluded minority to the silent environment.

On the Emerging Solarpunk Movement in Toronto: When asked about whether there is a solarpunk movement in Toronto, I said absolutely! Solarpunk Toronto is an emerging movement focused on building a sustainable, equitable future through community action, green architecture, and renewable energy, specifically tailored for the city’s urban environment. It includes initiatives like sustainable fashion shows, community meetings, and innovative storytelling, aimed at merging environmental activism with optimistic technology. The mantra is to achieve a regenerative sustainable urban future.

I mentioned Lindsay Jane of the Solarpunk Scene (Youtube videos on Solarpunk projects in Toronto) and Ariel of Solarpunk Presents with podcast interviews on solarpunk efforts. People can find community on the Solarpunk Facegroup group. I also talked about the Toronto Solarpunk Meetup at the Centre for Social Innovation, where they practice “prefigurative life’: living as if the sustainable future already exists. Which it does, though not everywhere.

This reminds me of cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson’s famous quote: The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.

Examples of solarpunk initiatives practiced by individuals and small communities include the use of community gardens, setting up and looking after rooftop gardens or raingardens. Tenants can have a pollinator garden on their patio and set up a balcony solar panel (now very affordable). People are going electric; some are setting up solar rooftops or balconies. Groups and individuals are engaging in clothing swaps and sustainable fashion runways. Community-led trusts are involved in repairing items for reuse instead of adding to the throw-away culture. In my book A Diary in the Age of Water the diarist’s mother Una rides her bike all over the community, repairing all kinds of things for a community that has lost its ability to do so; something we’re losing in this digital age.

.

.

On a Solarpunk Future: We discussed the feasibility of a city like Toronto becoming 100% solarpunk. My response was a wary yes. Of course it was possible. But, in my opinion, two things have to happen for this to succeed: 1) the willingness of individuals in a community to give up a consumer-led capitalist lifestyle and adopt a lighter gentler footprint; and 2) community and city leaders to be on board with it. The enthusiastic cooperation of leaders cannot be overstressed for a paradigm shift toward a solarpunk future to succeed.

.

Artist’s concept of the marsh of the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area

.

I gave two examples of small projects that succeeded because a community and its leaders cooperated to make it happen. One was the adoption of several climate solutions in Paul Hawken’s Drawdown by the Richmond Hill community, led by Liz Couture. The second example is Mississauga’s Morphology Project of 2017 to build a 26 hectare park and marsh creation (naturalization of shoreline and extensive marsh environment), inspired by Councilor Jim Tovey.

.

Councillor Jim Tovey and Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell (photo by John Stewart)

.

A true visionary, Tovey ensured the project’s success and potential spread to other jurisdictions by documenting the stages of the marsh creation and changes to the waterfront. Aside from regular press releases and interviews, etc. he invited eleven professional photographers to photograph and exhibit how the marsh evolved over the years.

.

Tovey invited me to contribute quotes from my book Water Is…The Meaning of Water and A Diary in the Age of Water to accompany the photos in each exhibit. The Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area project was a huge success, largely because—apart from the obvious ecological benefit—it captured the imagination and interest of several communities and showed how the blending of environmental benefit and good-living can co-exist and flourish.

.

Tovey invited me to contribute quotes from my book Water Is…The Meaning of Water and A Diary in the Age of Water to accompany the photos in each exhibit. The Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area project was a huge success, largely because—apart from the obvious ecological benefit—it captured the imagination and interest of several communities and showed how the blending of environmental benefit and good-living can co-exist and flourish.

.

Quote from “A Diary in the Age of Water” at the photography exhibit

.

References:

Hawken, Paul. 2017. “Drawdown.” Penguin Books. 256pp.

Hawken, Paul. 2021. “Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation.” Penguin Books. 256pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2016. “Water Is…The Meaning of Water.” Pixl Press, Delta. 584pp

Munteanu, Nina. 2020. “A Diary in the Age of Water” Inanna Publications, Toronto. 328pp.

.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit  www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press (Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020. Her most recent novel “Gaia’s Revolution” was released in March 2026 by Dragon Moon Press (Calgary).

.

Ecologists, Deep Ecologists & Eco-Terrorists in Literature

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

I’m an ecologist. So, when I read books, particularly eco-fiction, I enjoy various authors’ representation of ecologists in literature. Portrayals have ranged quite a bit too. I’ve encountered ecologists, deep ecologists and eco-terrorists. Like real ecologists, these characters are often misunderstood, disrespected or even oppressed for their message of science. This is often by governments, organizations and individuals ruled by agendas of personal or institutional greed.   

Below are six examples. Some have explored political representations such as environmental technocracy (aka: Rogue Harvest, Gaia’s Revolution). Others have featured radical environmentalists and eco-terrorists (e.g. The Overstory, A Diary in the Age of Water), and even anti-humanists (e.g.: Three Body Problem).

.

Dune (Chilton Books, 1965) by Frank Herbert:

Dune chronicles the journey of young Paul Atreides, who according to the indigenous Fremen prophesy will eventually bring them freedom from their enslavement by the colonialists—The Harkonens—and allow them to live in ecological harmony with the planet Arrakis, known as Dune. As the title of the book clearly reveals, this story is about place—a harsh desert planet whose 800 kph sandblasting winds could flay your flesh—and the power struggle between those who covet its arcane treasures and those who wish only to live free from slavery. Place—and its powerful symbols of desert, water and spice—lies at the heart of this epic story about taking, giving and sharing. This is nowhere more apparent than in the fate of the immense sandworms, strong archetypes of Nature—large and graceful creatures whose movements in the vast desert sands resemble the elegant whales of our oceans.

.

The subtle connections of the desert planet with the drama of Dune is most apparent in the actions, language and thoughts of the Imperial ecologist-planetologist, Kynes—who rejects his Imperial duties to “go native.” He is the voice of the desert and, by extension, the voice of its native people, the Fremen.

Quotes: (Kynes thinks to himself as he is dying in the desert, abandoned there without water or protection): The highest function of ecology is understanding consequences.

.

Rogue Harvest (Red Deer Press, 2005) by Danita Maslan:

Sometime in the future, Earth is recovering from a devastating 50-year plague that has destroyed most of its natural forests and grasslands and killed two out of every three people. Environmental technocrats now run the world under strict rule: while virgin ecosystems are re-created from original templates through genetic engineering, no human is permitted to set foot in these sanctuaries. As sanctuaries grow ever larger, humanity is pressed into over-crowded cities where boredom and strife dominate.

.

The preservationist organization Emerald Coalition is run by (deep) ecologists who hire reclamation company EcoTech to “recreate the world their great, great grandparents lost.” Main characters wish to open-up the protected nature preserves to regular folk—creating a long-standing conflict between preservation (wilderness not accessed by humans) and conservation (areas where humans extract resources with some environmental risk): demonstrating that, given responsibility for actions within an ecosystem, not all humans behave as they should.

.

The Overstory (Vintage Canada, 2021) by Richard Powers:

The Overstory is a Pulitzer Prize winning work of literary fiction that follows the life-stories of nine characters and their journey with trees—and ultimately their shared conflict with corporate capitalist America. Like all functional ecosystems, these disparate characters—and their trees—weave into each other’s journey toward a terrible irony. Each in their own way battles humanity’s canon of self-serving utility—from shape-shifting Acer saccharum to selfless sacrificing Tachigali versicolor—toward a kind of creative destruction.

.

At the heart of The Overstory is the pivotal life of botanist/ecologist Patricia Westerford, who inspires a movement. Westerford—whose work resembles that of Diana Beresford-Kroeger (author of The Global Forest) and UBC’s Suzanne Simard— is a shy introvert who discovers that trees communicate, learn, trade goods and services—and have intelligence. When she shares her discovery, she is ridiculed by her peers and loses her position at the university. But, just as with Lynn Margulis and her theory of endosymbiosis, Westerford is finally validated. She is the archetypal ‘mother tree’, the metaphoric Tachigali versicolor, who ultimately brings the tangle of narratives together through meaning. What follows is a fractal story of trees with spirit, soul, and timeless societies—and their human avatars.

Quotes (Westerford writes in her book The Sacred Forest): There are no individuals in the forest, no separable events. The bird and the branch it sits on are a joint thing. A third or more of the food a big tree makes may go to feed other organisms. Even different kinds of trees form partnerships. Cut down a birch, and a nearby Douglas fir may suffer…Fungi mine stone to supply their trees with minerals. They hunt springtails, which they feed to their hosts. Trees, for their part, store extra sugar in their fungi’s synapses, to dole out to the sick and shaded and wounded. A forest takes care of itself, even as it builds the local climate it needs to survive…A tree is a wondrous thing that shelters, feeds, and protects all living things. It even offers shade to the axmen who destroy it.

.

Three Body Problem (Tor, 2014) by Liu Cixin:

Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem—set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution—follows astrophysicist Ye Wenji, disillusioned by the massive environmental deforestation in the labour camps she is initially sent to work after witnessing the execution of her scientist father in a brutal cleansing at the height of the Cultural Revolution. Already cynical about humanity’s failed culture and science—Wenjie acquires a contraband copy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The book and revelation she experiences from it sets in motion a frightening notion linking the mindset behind the Cultural Revolution and destruction of the environment. Looking from Nature’s perspective, these were indistinguishable: Is it possible that the relationship between humanity and evil is similar to the relationship between the ocean and an iceberg floating on its surface? Both the ocean and the iceberg are made of the same material. That the iceberg seems separate is only because it is in a different form. In reality, it is but a part of the vast ocean.…It was impossible to expect a moral awakening from humankind itself, just like it was impossible to expect humans to lift off the earth by pulling up on their own hair. To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race.

.

Wenjie is sent to the Chinese version of SETI where a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. Wenjie succeeds in amplifying their message to aliens on the dying planet Trisolaris. Despite a warning that the Trisolarians mean only to invade, Wenjie invites them to Earth. To ensure the arrival of the Trisolaris aliens, she collaborates with radical environmentalist Michael Evans—an oil billionaire’s son who is disgusted with humanity’s destruction of Nature. Wenjie believes the aliens will somehow ensure humanity’s transcendence; Evans, however, applauds the coming invasion as the best route to achieve the eradication of humanity and the survival of the rest of the planet and finances the ETO (Earth-Trisolaris Organization) in eco-terrorist activities to protect non-human life—by essentially annihilating humanity.

Quotes: (Wenjie observes the deforestation of an Inner Mongolian labour camp where she was sent to work): Ye Wenjie could only describe the deforestation that she witnessed as madness… Whatever they laid eyes on, they cut down. Her company wielded hundreds of chain saws like a swarm of steel locusts, and after they passed, only stumps were left. The fallen Dahurian larch, now bereft of branches, was ready to be taken away by tractor. Ye gently caressed the freshly exposed cross section of the felled trunk. She did this often, as though such surfaces were giant wounds, as though she could feel the tree’s pain… The trunk was dragged away. Rocks and stumps in the ground broke the bark in more places, wounding the giant body further. In the spot where it once stood, the weight of the fallen tree being dragged left a deep channel in the layers of decomposing leaves that had accumulated over the years. Water quickly filled the ditch. The rotting leaves made the water appear crimson, like blood.

.

A Diary in the Age of Water (Inanna Publications, 2020) by Nina Munteanu:

A Diary in the Age of Water follows the climate-induced journey of Earth and humanity through four generations of women, each with a unique relationship to water.

Centuries from now, in a dying boreal forest in what used to be northern Canada, Kyo, a young acolyte called to service in the Exodus, yearns for Earth’s past—the Age of Water, before the “Water Twins” destroyed humanity. Looking for answers and plagued by vivid dreams of this holocaust, Kyo discovers the diary of Lynna, a limnologist from a time just prior to the destruction. The diary spans a 40-year period in the mid-21st century and describes a planet in the grip of severe water scarcity. Lynna, in her work for an international utility that controls everything to do with water, witnesses and records the disturbing events that will soon lead to humanity’s demise.

.

Lynna Dresden is an aquatic ecologist (specifically a limnologist), who’s personal philosophy and world view overlaps with deep ecology. However, she demurs from activism through a fear for reprisals on her and her young daughter. This backfires for her as her daughter later embraces eco-terrorism in her radical behaviour.

Quotes: Lynna Dresden: “The slow violence of free-market capitalism isn’t so much the deliberate and focused actions of a few evil men as the accumulated negligence of an undiscriminating collective of unimaginative humans.” “When you look at a quiet deep pond, you don’t see the bottom, you see yourself reflected there. The calmer the pond the more you see of you; the less of the pond.” “Water—Nature’s herald—is talking loudly to us in the language of irony.”

.

Gaia’s Revolution, Book 1 of The Icaria Trilogy (Dragon Moon Press, 2026) by Nina Munteanu:

Monica Schlange is orphaned by the technocratic corporation, and with a vengeful heart turns to deep ecology and eco-terrorism. A remaining relative helps put her through the University of Toronto, where she studies environmental ethics under Aisha Habib, herself a deep ecologist but also a powerful member of the Technocratic Party in Canada. Schlange’s thesis topic is entitled Ethical Considerations on the Ecological Impact of Corporation Farm Anthropocentrism on the Stability of Gaia Through Ten Metrics. A techno-wiz, Schlange orchestrates a viral social media fiasco that reveals very compromising intel on the Canadian prime minister. She also exposes the environmental minister’s role in a terrible fishing scandal on the central coast of British Columbia that causes the deaths of two Heiltsuk women. Intending covert mischief, Schlange shacks up with a corporate oligarch, looking to bring him and his biotechnology firm down. After the revolution, she garners a position in the governing triad in which she fanatically promotes a ruthless deep ecology agenda.

.

Quotes (After dispatching a fearsome techno-clone—cloned weaponized hybrid-human): Monica straightens, panting out sobbing breaths, and manages a predatory smile. Ambitious men are always underestimating her. Even Techno-clones … Especially Techno-clones.

(after putting down her oligarch-lover in a late-night skirmish when he catches her stealing documents): “Don’t get up…Next time I see you, I will kill you.”

.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For the lates on her books, visit www.ninamunteanu.ca. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press (Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020. Her most recent eco-fiction thriller Gaia’s Revolution (Dragon Moon Press) released March 2026.

.

Gaia’s Revolution: Life After Capitalism—Will We Survive?

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

Gaia’s Revolution is Book 1 ofThe Icaria Trilogy, an environmental thriller released March 10, 2026 by Dragon Moon Press. This book wrote itself quickly and furiously over a few months. I wrote it in the back yard of a good friend one summer under a kind sun as I contemplated what life after capitalism would look like in Canada. I’d read Peter Frase’s book and considered his four options for the future. What I read chilled me. In some ways Gaia’s Revolution is my response.

.

The Icaria Trilogy—A Brief Description

The Icaria Trilogy by Dragon Moon Press

.

Gaia’s Revolution, Book 1 of the saga, starts in Berlin in 2022 as ambitious twin brothers Eric, a gifted engineer, and Damien Vogel, a brilliant scientist, escape the growing racial violence of Berlin, to ‘peaceful’ Canada in a rivalry to control the evolution of the human race (Books 2 and 3).  

The warring brothers trigger a violent revolution that destroys the Canadian technocratic government with an eventual migration of humanity into the enclosed worlds of Icaria. While Damien is an intellectual and scholar, believing in Naess & Sessions’s eight basic principles of deep ecology, Eric uses the principles to enact merciless ‘solutions’ through brutal acts of eco-terrorism—ultimately risking humanity’s very survival. Fanatical deep ecologist Monica Schlange insinuates herself into both brother’s plans to orchestrate her own unique vision of the world. Three orphaned children, caught in the web of intrigue and violence, will ultimately determine the direction of humanity by introducing the first veemelds (people who can communicate with machines), a new environmental disease, and a new set of rules neither brother envisioned.

By 2095, after a dictatorship of deep ecologists called Gaians seize power, humanity has escaped an unruly environment by fleeing inside enclosed cities called Icarias, where they struggle with Darwin’s Disease—a mysterious neurological environmental pandemic. In truth, the deep ecologists are keeping people “inside” not to protect humanity from a toxic wasteland but to protect the environment from a toxic humanity.

.

Ontology of a Revolution To Survive

Drawing on the unruly global environmental disturbances and poor leadership response, The Icaria Trilogy explores a collapsing late-capitalist society in Canada through ravages of climate change and a failing technology. Capitalism hasn’t been kind to the environment. Economic pundits and sociologists insist that Capitalism is devolving. But what will replace it? Cloud capital? Technofeudalism? Something else? For The Icaria Trilogy, I came up with technocracy in Canada, a social-capitalist meritocracy of technologists and social scientists who claimed they could take humanity through the changes to come. That system was, in turn, violently replaced by a revolutionary movement of radical deep ecologists called the Gaians, empowered by the growing toxic environment that eventually forced populations inside.

A hegemony that follows the hierarchal economic system of late capitalism inevitably commodifies and ‘others’ with ruthless purpose. Once something (or someone) is commodified, they are given a finite value and purpose outside their own existence. They become an object, a symbol to use and trade. They become a resource to manipulate, exchange, and dispose of with impunity. And through this surrender to utility, they become ‘othered.’ The consumer to manipulate. The trees of the forest to cut down. Water to squander and pollute. Homo sacer to hate and fear. Each has a role to play in the late capitalist narrative of digital abundance and physical scarcity.

This world of late capitalism intensifies bilateral polarization—politically, socially, and environmentally. Wealthy vs. poor. Privileged vs. indentured. Right vs. Left. Educated vs. illiterate. And so on. By its very nature, Capitalism invites separation, segregation, and ‘othering’. This is the opposite of what we need—particularly to deal with the hyperobjects of climate change and environmental sustainability, which require a united global effort to address and overcome. Polarization tears the fabric of society apart. Polarization leads to lack of consensus, greater misunderstanding, rage and violence. And fanaticism. Borne of deep frustration and fueled by relentless passion, fanaticism sparks violent change—not always good or effective, but definitely subversive. This is what we are seeing today throughout the world: unhinged fanaticism, fed by a growing polarization and exclusion. In Germany, the far-right fascist Reichsbürgers movement violently rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state. In the USA, far-right white supremacists and Christian fundamentalists enact domestic terrorist violence fed by nativism, populism, anti-communism, and ultranationalism.

In the near-future Canada of The Icaria Trilogy, radical Gaians (deep ecology fanatics) destroy the technocratic government, take autocratic control and enclose and segregate the human population from the sacred environment, permitting it to heal.

.

Is Revolution Enough?

In his book Four Futures: Life After Capitalism sociologist Peter Frase considers effects of climate change and automation in possible outcomes of a post-Trump election America. Frase envisions four scenarios based on abundance and scarcity and whether a society operates by equality and inclusion (e.g., communism under abundance / socialism under scarcity) or hierarchy and exclusion (rentism under abundance/ exterminism under scarcity).

.

Versions of all four of these systems are or have been either already in existence of are currently developing in the world. This evokes author William Gibson’s famous statement: the future is already here; it’s just unevenly distributed. An early example of rentism began during medieval times under early English capitalism when gentry enclosed land in what has been misidentified as “The Tragedy of the Commons.” The tragedy wasn’t in the commons, but in the loss of them as land reverted from being a common right of peasant farmers to private property under the restricting control of large landowners. It was the beginning of the concept of ownership and exclusion.

Given the currently growing scarcity of resources—lack of sufficient clean freshwater and rampant habitat destruction—the following scenarios are more likely to prevail: Socialism (if a society operates by equality) or Exterminism (if a society operates by hierarchy). 

Socialism may arise within an egalitarian society if driven by altruistic notions of self-limitation. Ecologists describe such a self-limiting system as K-selected (see my discussion of K-selection and r-selection in my book Water Is…). A K-selected population operates at or near the carrying capacity of the environment and favours individuals that successfully and respectfully compete for resources and produce few young.

Exclusion within a hierarchical system lies at the heart of exterminism. The Western World’s current hierarchical model of elitist wealth inequality (driven by greed and resource scarcity) favours its elite oligarchs by ‘othering’ and repressing its labour/worker population. Within a late capitalist model, the hierarchy of capitalist/owner and labourer/worker is based on mutual dependence; however, as automation, various technologies and AI supplant human labor needs, the mutuality crumbles. In his Exterminism scenario of hierarchy and scarcity, Frase proposes that: “When mass labor has been rendered superfluous, a final solution lurks…”

.

The Question of Survival …

Frase provides the final answer to my question in the title: “The real question,” writes Frase, “is not whether human civilization can survive ecological crises [such as climate change and habitat destruction] but whether all of us can survive it together, in some reasonably egalitarian way.”  

.

References:

Atwood, Margaret. 2004. “The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake ‘In Context'”. PMLA. 119 (3): 513–517.

Atwood, Margaret. 2018. “Margaret Atwood on How She Came to Write The Handmaid’s Tale”. Literary Hub. April 25, 2018.

Frase, Peter. 2016. “Four Futures: Life After Capitalism.” Verso Press, London. 150pp.

Gibson, William. 1999. “The Science of Science Fiction.” Talk of the Nation, Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio, November 30, 1999.

Munteanu, Nina. 2026. “Gaia’s Revolution, Part 1 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 369 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2010. “Angel of Chaos, Part 2 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 518 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2007. “Darwin’s Paradox, Part 3 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 294 pp.

Sessions, George, Bill Devall. 2000. “Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.” Gibbs Smith. 267pp.

Thompson, E.P. 1980. “Notes on Exterminism: the Last Stage of Civilization, Exterminism, and the Cold War.” New Left Review 1(121).

.

A small creek marsh reflects trees in a foggy spring morning, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit  www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press (Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

.

The Icaria Trilogy: The Story Behind the Prequel to the Prequel…

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment


Today my eco-fiction novel Gaia’s Revolution (Book 1 of The Icaria Trilogy) releases through Dragon Moon Press in paperback and ebook form on Amazon (and other book retailers).

Gaia’s Revolution explores a collapsing capitalist society in Canada through ravages of climate change and a failing technology. The story is told through the lives of ambitious twin brothers Eric and Damien Vogel, and the woman who plays them like chess pieces in her gambit to ‘rule the world.’ The novel starts out in Berlin—with a scuffle between police and climate activists of Letzte Generation-then moves to Toronto Canada, where an unlikely revolution is brewing… 

.

Book 2 (Angel of Chaos) and Book 3 (Darwin’s Paradox of The Icaria Trilogy are already available in bookstores worldwide in both ebook and print form.

.

The Icaria Trilogy by Dragon Moon Press

.

.

This day is special for me in a number of ways. Today is also my dad’s birthday. He passed away a while ago, but I know he is here with me as this is happening. You see, when I was just 15, I’d written my first book, an early version of Angel of Chaos. My dad, who had met and befriended an editor at Doubleday, and proud of my accomplishment, arranged a meeting with me and the editor to look at my book. I put on my highest pumps—I could barely walk in them!—and best outfit and met with the gentleman. He did not take my book for publication but praised my work and gave me some wonderful advice. “Keep writing!” he said. I have carried that meeting and advice to this day and thank my dad for his belief in me as a writer—particularly given that he had been pushing for me to become a teacher or nurse. Four decades later, a more polished version of that same book was published in 2010 by Dragon Moon Press (as Angel of Chaos, the prequel to Darwin’s Paradox, which was published in 2007). 

.

Birch forest in Ontario (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

The Icaria Trilogy by Dragon Moon Press

.

Now, with newly written Gaia’s Revolution (the prequel to the prequel) released, Dragon Moon has reissued new covers for the entire trilogy. Here they are! Oh! And look who’s already reading Gaia’s Revolution!

.

Aliens get to read everything before we do…

.

Nina Munteanu is an award-winning novelist and short story writer of eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy. She also has three writing guides out: The Fiction Writer; The Journal Writer; and The Ecology of Writing and teaches fiction writing and technical writing at university and online. Check the Publications page on this site for a summary of what she has out there. Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and has been coaching fiction and non-fiction authors for over 20 years. You can find Nina’s short podcasts on writing on YouTube. Check out this site for more author advice from how to write a synopsis to finding your muse and the art and science of writing.

.

“Gaia’s Revolution”, Life After Capitalism: The Promise & Spectre of Deep Ecology—Part 1

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

Twin brothers—a brilliant scientist and a gifted engineer—escape the growing racial violence of Berlin, to ‘peaceful’ Canada in a rivalry to control the evolution of the human race.

.

My novel Gaia’s Revolution, the first of The Icaria Trilogy—releasing March 10, 2026, by Dragon Moon Press—explores a collapsing capitalist society in Canada through ravages of climate change, water shortages, plague, and a failing technology. The story is told through the lives of ambitious twin brothers Eric and Damien Vogel, and the woman who plays them like chess pieces in her gambit to rule the world.

.

The novel starts on December 13th, 2022, in Berlin, the day several members of the climate activist group Letzte Generation* to which Damien belongs, are raided by police who seize their computers and phones. Damien is a quiet scholar, an introvert and deep ecologist*, devoted to the teachings of Arne Næss and George Sessions, who promoted an environmental philosophy of eight basic principles of deep ecology.  Næss and Sessions advocated that all living beings have intrinsic value, independent of their utility to human needs. Their philosophy has become a movement that promotes a holistic, eco-centric worldview demanding radical, structural changes to human society to prioritize nature’s flourishing.  

.

Road through a beech tree forest, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Damien later meets with his extrovert anarchist brother in Treffpunkt, near the university campus, and they argue ideology and revolution. Eric contends that the only way humanity will survive is to adapt to climate change by somehow overthrowing the bourgeois plutocrats through violent revolution: preventing the small ruling class carving out a comfortable life for itself while the rest of the world suffers terrible deprivation. Eric pulls out the worn copy of B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two from his jacket pocket, slaps it on the table and pushes it toward Damien. “That’s the answer, Dame.”

Each brother plans to create a new humanity: Eric’s plan is to control humanity through gene manipulation and behaviour engineering (aka Walden Two); Damien’s plan is to draw on deep ecology and use environmental triggers with biotechnologies to empower humanity with physical/chemical abilities to adapt to climate and its changing environment via transhumanist AI.

Neither addresses the elephant in the room: population. Only a much-reduced population will ensure success for either plan.

To this point, Eric, who is far more cynical and ruthless, thinks Damien naïve and feckless in his deep ecological view:

Damien too easily prescribes to the old leftist shibboleth of Nature being the answer to everything and Market being evil. His deep ecology utopia would spring from an atavistic rejection of modern life, a return to ‘the ancient farm.’ But how that fantasy could be achieved without a drastic population reduction is beyond his brother’s imagination. Damien fetishizes the natural world. Just like he does their mother. The naïve fool is a blind romantic, refusing to see reality right in front of him: that Nature is ultimately cruel, cold, and preoccupied with its own survival. Just like their mother.–Eric Vogel, Gaia’s Revolution

.

Foggy morning on an Ontario marsh in winter (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Eight Basic Principles of Deep Ecology*

In 1984, ecologists Arne Næss and George Sessions set out the following Basic Principles of Deep Ecology:

  • The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman Life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes.
  • Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
  • Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.
  • The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.
  • Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
  • Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
  • The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
  • Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.

.

Finn Slough old shed, BC (photo by Nina Munteanu)

.

Eric plans to address the 5th Basic Principle of Deep Ecology—present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive and the situation is rapidly worsening— by using nefarious means to meet the 4th Basic Principle of Deep Ecology: the flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population and the flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease. With a reduced population, he plans to make the remaining principles (e.g. 6th and 7th) realizable through his behaviour engineering.

But Eric hasn’t accounted for fanatical deep ecologist / eco-terrorist Monica Schlange in his plan… (More on this shapeshifting character in Part 2).

.

The Icaria Trilogy by Dragon Moon Press

.

You can pre-order the ebook of Gaia’s Revolution by Dragon Moon Press on Amazon. Release date is March 10, 2026. The print version will release soon after. Book 2 (Angel of Chaos) and Book 3 (Darwin’s Paradox) of theThe Icaria Trilogy are already available in both ebook and print form.

.

Oak leaves light up a dark pine forest in fall, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)

.

References:

Munteanu, Nina. 2026. “Gaia’s Revolution, Part 1 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 369 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2010. “Angel of Chaos, Part 2 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 518 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2007. “Darwin’s Paradox, Part 3 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 294 pp.

Sessions, George, Bill Devall. 2000. “Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.” Gibbs Smith. 267pp.

Skinner, B.F. 1948. “Walden Two” The Macmillan Company, New York. 301pp.

.

Terminology:

*Deep Ecology: An environmental philosophy and social movement advocating that all living beings have intrinsic value, independent of their utility to human needs. Coined by Arne Næss in 1972, it promotes a holistic, ecocentric worldview—often termed “ecosophy”—that demands radical, structural changes to human society to prioritize nature’s flourishing.

*Letzte Generation: a prominent European climate activist group, founded in 2021, known for its acts of civil disobedience—such as roadblocks, defacing art, and vandalizing structures—to pressure governments on climate action. The term was chosen because they considered themselves to be the last generation before tipping points in the earth’s climate system would be reached. They are mostly active in Germany, Italy, Poland and Canada. In Germany, they have faced accusations of forming a criminal organization, leading to police raids.

.

Root-covered cedar-pine forest in early winter, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For the latest on her books, visit www.ninamunteanu.ca. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press (Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

.

“Gaia’s Revolution”, Life after Capitalism: A Canadian Story…

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

A fanatical deep-ecologist, Monica Schlange, harnesses two orphans in her bid to reshape humanity and its place in the natural world.

.

My upcoming book Gaia’s Revolution (Book 1 of The Icaria Trilogy by Dragon Moon Press) explores a collapsing capitalist society in Canada through ravages of climate change and a failing technology. The story is told through the lives of ambitious twin brothers Eric—a gifted engineer—and Damien Vogel—a brilliant scientist and deep ecologist*—and the woman who plays them like chess pieces in her gambit to ‘rule the world.’

.

The brothers meet at Treffpunkt, a café near Humboldt University in Berlin, nursing Kellerbiers over a late lunch of Einsbein mit Sauerkraut. They argue ideology and reform. Canada represents an ideal canvas for revolution, argues Eric. Damien is puzzled by this. To him Canada represents a quietly reposed nation of polite intellectuals who accept a healthy multicultural society and whose practical leaders are connected with their people. Not a restive rabble ripe for change.

As if reading his brother’s mind, Eric replies:

“Because it’s a huge nation with a lot of space and few people,” Eric argues. “Did you know that Canada holds on average only 4 people per square kilometer? Germany stuffs 240 people in the same area. And China, which is virtually the same size as Canada, holds 153 people per square kilometer.” He picks up Walden Two and waves it at Damien. “Canada is a perfect place to start these [Walden Two colonies called Icarias*]. And, with global warming, we could settle in the boreal.” He then slides the book back in his pocket and leans back, eyes sparkling with purpose. “But the real reason to start a revolution there is because, like you, Canadians are naïve. Even their leaders. And this is because, unlike the rest of the world, they are still asleep…

“Climate is not our enemy, Dame; it’s our friend. Climate is our fierce archangel of change. And let’s not forget that ‘crisis is opportunity…” … He grins, self-pleased, like a wolf in a hen house. Then he practically snarls out, “We must first destroy before we can create. We must be unruly like climate. We must be relentless like climate. We must ride that wave before we can become the wave, Bruder. And then by being that wave, we change the world.”  

.

Pine cedar forest in Ontario (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

The brothers escape the growing racial violence of Berlin, to ‘peaceful’ Canada in a rivalry to control the evolution of the human race. Years later, Eric Vogel, who has created a niche for himself in the technocratic government*, sits in the Canadian prime minister’s office and imagines what a post-capitalist world will look like and how his twin brother Damien—left behind in Germany—would disagree with his vision:

Damien too easily prescribes to the old leftist shibboleth of Nature being the answer to everything and Market being evil. His deep ecology utopia would spring from an atavistic rejection of modern life, a return to ‘the ancient farm.’ But how that fantasy could be achieved without a drastic population reduction is beyond his brother’s imagination. Damien fetishizes the natural world. Just like he does their mother. The naïve fool is a blind romantic, refusing to see reality right in front of him: that Nature is ultimately cruel, cold, and preoccupied with its own survival. Just like their mother.

.

First snow in an Ontario marsh (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Each brother plans to create a new humanity: one to control through gene manipulation and behaviour engineering; the other to empower through biotechnology and transhumanist AI. The warring brothers end up in Canada and set off a violent revolution that destroys the Canadian technocratic government and whose weapons ultimately risk the survival of humanity. Deep ecologist Monica Schlange snares the brothers in her gambit to reshape humanity and its place in the natural world. Three orphaned children, caught in the web of intrigue and violence, will ultimately determine the direction of humanity by introducing the first veemelds (people who can communicate with machines), a new environmental disease (Darwin), and a new set of rules neither brother envisioned.

.

The Icaria Trilogy by Nina Munteanu

.

You can pre-order the ebook of Gaia’s Revolution on Amazon. Release date is March 10, 2026. The print version will release soon after. Book 2 (Angel of Chaos) and Book 3 (Darwin’s Paradox) of The Icaria Trilogy are already available in both ebook and print form.

.

Birch trees in a winter marsh, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

References:

Munteanu, Nina. 2026. “Gaia’s Revolution, Part 1 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 369 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2010. “Angel of Chaos, Part 2 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 518 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2007. “Darwin’s Paradox, Part 3 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 294 pp.

Sessions, George, Bill Devall. 2000. “Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.” Gibbs Smith. 267pp.

Skinner, B.F. 1948. “Walden Two” The Macmillan Company, New York. 301pp.

.

Jackson Creek in the fall, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Terminology:

*Deep Ecology: An environmental philosophy and social movement advocating that all living beings have intrinsic value, independent of their utility to human needs. Coined by Arne Naess in 1972, it promotes a holistic, ecocentric worldview—often termed “ecosophy”—that demands radical, structural changes to human society to prioritize nature’s flourishing.

*Icaria: the name of Étienne Cabet’s utopia. Cabet was a French lawyer in Dijon, who published his novel Voyage en Icarie in 1839. The novel was a sort of manifesto-blueprint of utopian socialism, with elements of communism (abolished private property and individual enterprise), influenced by Fourierist and Owenite thinking. Key elements, such as the four-hour work day, are reflected in B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two. The novel explores a society in which capitalist production is replaced by workers’ cooperatives with a focus on small communities.

*Technocracy: A form of government in which the decision-maker(s) are selected based on their expertise in a given area; any portion of a bureaucracy run by technologists. Technocracies control society or industry through an elite of technical experts. The term was initially used to signify the application of the scientific method to solving social problems.

.

Nina Munteanu is an award-winning novelist and short story writer of eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy. She also has three writing guides out: The Fiction Writer; The Journal Writer; and The Ecology of Writing and teaches fiction writing and technical writing at university and online. Check the Publications page on this site for a summary of what she has out there. Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and has been coaching fiction and non-fiction authors for over 20 years. You can find Nina’s short podcasts on writing on YouTube. Check out this site for more author advice from how to write a synopsis to finding your muse and the art and science of writing.

.

“Gaia’s Revolution”, Life After Capitalism: Will the Environment—And We Along With It—Survive?…

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

“Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.”—Rosa Luxemburg, 1915

.

I wrote my first novel in 1969 when I was fifteen. Caged in World was a hundred-page speculative story about a world that had moved “inside” to escape the ravages of a post climate-change environment. It would later become Book 2 of The Icaria Trilogy. I was already disillusioned with my world. I saw how corporations and governments and society in general—individuals around me—‘othered’ the environment by either treating it with disrespect and apathy or outright ignoring it in a kind of torpor of obliviousness. As though it didn’t exist.

.

I remember being chastised by a school teacher for thinking globally about what was happening to the planet at our hands: worldwide deforestation (e.g., clearcutting the old-growth forests of Canada), infilling saltwater and freshwater marshes, massive use of pesticides and fertilizers, contamination of lakes, unregulated mining and toxic pollution, and ultimately climate change. Stick to local concerns, he advised me; recycling and such.

I remember wondering if I was just being weird. That my odd sensibility for the planet-entire was just a nina-thing. I prayed that I was not alone and it wasn’t just a nina-thing.

.

(Photo: Nina Munteanu, Salk Institute, California)

.

For a description of how the books of the trilogy came to be (for instance, they were published in backward order!) see my article entitled “Nina Munteanu Reflects on Her Eco-Fiction Journey at Orchard Park Secondary School”.

Throughout high school and university, I read scientific papers, news articles and books on revolution. I became a student of climate change long before the term entered the zeitgeist. I studied industrial capitalism and its roots in neoliberalism and colonialism. I noted how the post-war expansion of capitalism shifted from Fordist mass production to flexible automation, technology and AI. I saw the rise of multinational corporations, income inequality, and the commodification of everything—from water to human beings (Foucault’s homo economicus).

.

I pursued a university degree in ecology and limnology to study and help protect the environment and educate industry and their governments in the process. I became an expert on water. See my book Water Is…The Meaning of Water, which celebrates water from twelve perspectives (and got a shout out from Margaret Atwood!).

.

I soon concluded that a hegemony that follows the economic system of late capitalism inevitably commodifies and ‘others’ with ruthless purpose. Once something (or someone) is commodified, they are given a finite value and purpose outside their own existence. They become an object, a symbol to use and trade. They become a resource to manipulate, exchange, and dispose of with impunity. And through this surrender to utility, they become ‘othered.’ The consumer. The trees of the forest. Water. Homo sacer*. Each has a role to play in the late capitalist narrative of digital abundance and physical scarcity.

Capitalism hasn’t been kind to the environment. Economic pundits and sociologists insist that Capitalism is devolving. But what will replace it? Cloud capital? Technofeudalism? Something else?

.

Deep Ecology* & Gaia’s Revolution

The Icaria Trilogy (Dragon Moon Press)

.

My three Icaria novels—starting with Gaia’s Revolution, (the first of The Icaria Trilogy, releasing March 10, 2026, by Dragon Moon Press)—chronicle the collapse of a capitalist society in Canada as climate change, water shortages, habitat destruction, plague and a failing technology devastate the Canadian population.

.

Gaia’s Revolution (Book 1 of The Icaria Trilogy) explores a transition in Canada from semi-socialized capitalist system to a technocratic* meritocracy of technologists and scientists. Triggered by catastrophic environmental and sociological tipping points and following violent revolution, a dictatorship of deep ecologists* called Gaians seize power. By the end of the book, enclosed cities called Icarias* now populate North America. Separated from their environment, humans now live inside domes protecting them from a hostile and toxic environment.

.

In truth, the deep ecologists are keeping people “inside” not to protect humanity from a toxic wasteland but to protect the environment from a toxic humanity.

.

How realistic is this vision? Well, it is science fiction, after all, and though it takes liberties with its narrative, it is science-based and ultimately draws on precedent. As Margaret Atwood so astutely attested of her cautionary SF book The Handmaid’s Tale: “I didn’t put in anything that we haven’t already done, we’re not already doing, we’re seriously trying to do, coupled with trends that are already in progress.”

Science fiction is itself powerful metaphor; it is the fiction of political and social allegory or satire and makes astute social commentary about a world and civilization: how it has come to be, how it works—or doesn’t—and how it may evolve.

So, it is visionary and predictive? I prefer to think as Ray Bradbury:

.

“The function of science fiction is not only to predict the future, but to prevent it.”–Ray Bradbury

.

Jackson Creek in winter, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

References:

Angus, Ian. 1012. “The Spectre of 21st Century Barbarism.” Climate & Capitalism, August 20, 2012.

Atwood, Margaret. 2004. “The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake ‘In Context'”. PMLA. 119 (3): 513–517.

Atwood, Margaret. 2018. “Margaret Atwood on How She Came to Write The Handmaid’s Tale”. Literary Hub. April 25, 2018.

Bradbury, Ray. 1991. “Yestermorrow: Obvious Answers to Impossible Futures” and “Beyond 1984: The People Machines” by Ray Bradbury, dated 1982, Page 155, Joshua Odell Editions: Capra Press, Santa Barbara, California.

Foucault, Michel. 2010. “The Birth of Biopolitics (Naissance de la biopolitique): Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979.” Picador. 368pp.

Luxemburg, Rosa. 1915. “The Junius Pamphlet: The Crisis in the German Democracy”, Marxist.org.

Munteanu, Nina. 2026. “Gaia’s Revolution, Part 1 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 369 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2010. “Angel of Chaos, Part 2 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 518 pp.

Munteanu, Nina. 2007. “Darwin’s Paradox, Part 3 of Icaria Trilogy.” Dragon Moon Press, Calgary, AB. 294 pp.

Neuman, Sally. 2006. “‘Just a Backlash’: Margaret Atwood, Feminism, and The Handmaid’s Tale“. University of Toronto Quarterly. 75 (3): 857–868.

Sessions, George, Bill Devall. 2000. “Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.” Gibbs Smith. 267pp.

Skinner, B.F. 1948. “Walden Two” The Macmillan Company, New York. 301pp.

Streeck, Wolfgang. 2014. “How Will Capitalism End?” New Left Review 2 (87): 47p.

.

Terminology:

*Deep Ecology: An environmental philosophy and social movement advocating that all living beings have intrinsic value, independent of their utility to human needs. Coined by Arne Næss in 1972, it promotes a holistic, ecocentric worldview—often termed “ecosophy”—that demands radical, structural changes to human society to prioritize nature’s flourishing.

*Homo sacer: a figure from Roman law denoting a person excluded from society who is outside human law (can be killed) and divine law (cannot be sacrificed). The term represents “bare life”: stripped of political rights, legal protection, and social value. Philosopher Giorgo Agamben popularized the term to describe individuals excluded from the political community, such as refugees, stateless persons, or camp detainees. The term illustrates the power of a sovereign in deciding which lives are worthy of protection and which are not.

*Icaria: the name of Étienne Cabet’s utopia. Cabet was a French lawyer in Dijon, who published his novel Voyage en Icarie in 1839. The novel was a sort of manifesto-blueprint of utopian socialism, with elements of communism (abolished private property and individual enterprise), influenced by Fourierist and Owenite thinking. Key elements, such as the four-hour work day, are reflected in B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two. Cabet’s novel explores a society in which capitalist production is replaced by workers’ cooperatives with a focus on small communities.

*Letzte Generation: a prominent European climate activist group, founded in 2021, known for its acts of civil disobedience—such as roadblocks, defacing art, and vandalizing structures—to pressure governments on climate action. The term was chosen because they considered themselves to be the last generation before tipping points in the earth’s climate system would be reached. They are mostly active in Germany, Italy, Poland and Canada. In Germany, they have faced accusations of forming a criminal organization, leading to police raids.

*Technocracy: A form of government in which the decision-maker(s) are selected based on their expertise in a given area; any portion of a bureaucracy run by technologists. Technocracies control society or industry through an elite of technical experts. The term was initially used to signify the application of the scientific method to solving social problems.

.

Nina Munteanu is an award-winning novelist and short story writer of eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy. She also has three writing guides out: The Fiction Writer; The Journal Writer; and The Ecology of Writing and teaches fiction writing and technical writing at university and online. Check the Publications page on this site for a summary of what she has out there. Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and has been coaching fiction and non-fiction authors for over 20 years. You can find Nina’s short podcasts on writing on YouTube. Check out this site for more author advice from how to write a synopsis to finding your muse and the art and science of writing.

.

A Proposition For the World by Denmark for Geopolitical Hygge

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

I recently came across a wonderful—though rather cheeky—proposition on LinkedIn by Christian Thalacker-Heldenstein (EU Climate Pact Ambassador) to the world—with particular relevance to the United States of America:

An Important Announcement from the Bicycling Kingdom of Denmark🇩🇰 Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Youth of Our Planet: In light of recent global events, and in the spirit of offering constructive solutions, the Bicycling Kingdom of Denmark proposes bold, compassionate, and frankly, hyggelig* action.

We are formally announcing our intention to annex the territory formerly known as the United States of America. Why? Because every human deserves clean water, trustworthy government, and happiness.

Our proposal is simple. Upon peaceful integration, all American residents will be offered:

>Seamless Path to Danish (and EU) Citizenship: No complicated paperwork. Just a pleasant 50km scenic bike ride and a short oral exam on proper bicycling hand signals.
>$150/Month Universal Healthcare: Includes preventive care, mental well-being, and a complimentary handmade candle & wool blanket at every visit (HyggeCare™).
>Scandinavian-Style Education: Forest Kindergartens, where iphone-screens are replaced with pinecones, and critical thinking is honed by building shelters from the rain.
>Western Europe-Style Hate-free Speech & Governance: Council meetings are live-streamed with free wienerbrød. Hate-speech + Corruption-convictions leads to 100 hours of community kayak sessions.

Here’s the transformation in your daily livskvalitet (quality of life):

>Bicycle Infrastructure Everywhere: Heated bike lanes in winter, solar-powered path lights, and bridges that whisper encouraging proverbs as you cross.
>Harbor Saunas & Year-Round Swimming: Every coastline and lake will be cleaned for swimming.
>Michelin-Starred Street Food: We will match our global per-capita record. Say hello to gourmet smørrebrød food trucks.
>Sensible Gun Education & Laws: As per Danish standards. All safety courses include “Conflict Resolution with Pastries.”
>The “Ming” Mandate: A national policy fostering togetherness. Loneliness will be tackled with community chess.

We will phase in key changes:

Year 1: Car-free city centers, free city bike rollout, and mandatory fika (coffee break) at 3PM.
Year 2: All waterways swimmable; polluters sentenced to 1000 hours of community kayaking.
Year 3: Wind turbines installed nationwide, each painted by local artists.

This is not a conquest. It is an intervention. An offer of hygge, clean air, and civil society.

Your guns will be respectfully exchanged for a finely-tuned custom-made bicycle. Your stress will be swapped out. Your application for a better life is waiting at your nearest full-service bakery.

We welcome you.

Med venlig hilsen,

Christian Thalacker-Heldenstein
(For the Folketing Committee for Geopolitical Hygge)

.

What interested me, besides the ingenious nature of the piece itself, was the varied response to its obvious satirical message. Most embraced the satire with creative pithy comments: “I for one welcome our new Danish overlords.” “I’m in! I may or may not already be part of an underground cell working on this…” “Great! … Make America original again!”

Said one Canadian: “If the US is taken over by Denmark, Canada will have a much more like-minded and friendly neighbour…and I won’t be afraid to cross the border to visit!” To which Thalacker-Heldenstein responded, “We need bigger red-&-white carpets.” Others fixed on the “conflict resolution with pastries” courses. Yet others offered their countries to be annexed—from the UK, France, Germany and Italy to New Zealand.

Others just didn’t get it. One American’s offended response seemed to validate the satire: “Silly Europeans, always trying to come up with solutions for what ails the United States…”

First generation Latino American, Richard M. Alva also didn’t buy that these offerings of “hygge, clean air, and civil society” would make Americans happy. In a sad thesis on the American psyche, he offered:

“‘If Americans had what Denmark has: free healthcare, free college, a year of maternity leave, five weeks of vacation, pensions, hygge, we’d suddenly be happy.’ I don’t buy it.

Those benefits only work if a culture knows how to receive them. Most Americans don’t. We’re too individualistic, too competitive, too quick to turn every gift into an advantage.

Free education requires humility, not entitlement. Paid maternity leave only matters if family actually outranks productivity. Paid vacation only works if people are willing to stop working without guilt. Universal healthcare assumes we see health as a shared good, not a competitive edge.

As a first-generation Latino ‘American,’ this feels obvious. Many of our cultures value family and rest even when money is tight. In the U.S., money quietly outranks everything.

Americans aren’t unhappy because they lack perks. They’re unhappy because they defend a rat race they secretly hate. Freedom without restraint doesn’t make you happy. It just makes you tired.”

.

.

Oh well … So much for hygge … I’d welcome a Danish-annexed United States of America as my southern neighbour; After all, I am a huge fan of cycling and trading a gun for a bike seems like a steal of a deal. I’m also not so much an apple pie fan—but give me a Honningkage and I’m yours!

.

Hygge (pronounced hyoo-guh): a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

.

Nina Munteanu is an award-winning novelist and short story writer of eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy. She also has three writing guides out: The Fiction Writer; The Journal Writer; and The Ecology of Writing and teaches fiction writing and technical writing at university and online. Check the Publications page on this site for a summary of what she has out there. Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and has been coaching fiction and non-fiction authors for over 20 years. You can find Nina’s short podcasts on writing on YouTube. Check out this site for more author advice from how to write a synopsis to finding your muse and the art and science of writing.

.

Nina Munteanu’s ‘The Way of Water’ Is Focus of Thesis on Canadian Eco-Stories

/ thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

In her masters thesis published in November 2025 at the University of Graz, Austria, Şeyma Yonar uses my short story The Way of Water, along with several others to explore and discuss the importance of eco-literature in establishing ecological awareness and ultimately ecological and sustainable action.

.

Ice-covered bay, Otonabee River, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

.

Yonar draws on the work of Maria Löschnigg to argue that “as the environmental crisis encompasses not just physical challenges but also a crisis of imagination, posing questions about life in severely degraded environments, it becomes crucial to examine how literature can inspire interest in ecological issues and foster a deeper environmental awareness.” Yonar further draws on the works of Serpil Oppermann and Susan O’Brian to note that ecocriticism tends to neglect less conventional but equally meaningful speculative or experimental fiction in its critical gaze of relevant eco-literature and to question whether realism should be the dominant mode for ecological discourse.

.

Ice-bubbles in a stream, Jackson Creek, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)

.

“The Way of Water is a strong eco-story that possesses many layers and elements that strengthen its narrative while encouraging readers to engage with its world…The notion what water constitutes the essence of life is the central theme of the story … Munteanu’s knowledge as a scientist enables her to create a convincing scientist protagonist whom she embeds into a powerful fictional story. Water, particularly in this eco-story acts not only as a symbolic entity but also as a body of force…the agency of water is presented as a dynamic, living entity, central to the narrative’s ecological themes.”

“Munteanu’s impactful storytelling highlights her significant contribution to Canadian literature, particularly through her engagement with pressing environmental issues and her commitment to fostering ecological awareness through fiction.”

.

Ice ‘pearls’ in Jackson Creek in winter, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Yonar draws on the work of Serpil Oppermann, who points out in her book Blue Humanities, that water is deeply connected to social and cultural realities, and stories that highlight its narrative role are both essential and impactful. “Non-human-centred narratives reveal the dynamic and active nature of water, making its agency understandable and natural to the reader.”

Yonar quotes beginning lines of the short story to demonstrate how a powerful metaphor can become surprisingly literal: In this passage the main character Hilda thinks: water is a shape-shifter. It changes yet stays the same, shifting its face with the climate. It wanders the earth like a gypsy, stealing from where it is needed and giving whimsically where it isn’t wanted: “A statement,” Yonar writes, “that initially appears to be metaphorical rather than literal description of water. However, as the story expands, it becomes evident that this ‘shape-shifting’ feature is not an unrealistic trait, but rather a reflection of water’s dynamic and transformative nature.” She adds that, “this characterization of water points out its agency, suggesting its ability to adapt and influence the narrative in ways that transcend traditional understandings.”

.

Icy bay, Jackson Creek, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Yonar notes that intertextuality used in The Way of Water—such as wCard, iTap and Schrödinger’s Water is a useful way to “foreground notions of relationality, interconnectedness and interdependence in modern cultural life” (Graham Allen). Intertextuality in The Way of Water reflects capitalist industrialism: the monetization, commodification and control of water by national utilities represented by CanadaCorp: the “corporate dominance, digital dependence, and pervasive nature of technology.” Yonar adds pithily, “In a manner analogous to how Apple products have become indispensable instruments in contemporary existence, the iTap within Munteanu’s narrative operates as an emblem of hyper-connectivity and authority, thereby amplifying the novel’s critique of technological dependency in modern society.” Yonar ponders that the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s Cat, reimagined through the element of water as Schrödinger’s Water, “reframes the original paradox within an ecological and environmental context, emphasizing the fluidity and uncertainty of water’s role in shaping human and non-human existence.”

Yonar shares with Meyer and Oppermann “a unified perspective on the collaborative role of writers and scientists in addressing the shared challenge of climate change.” Yonar concludes that The Way of Water introduces a powerful human-made cooperation that is at the same time political, suppresses people, and takes advantage of the scarcity of water. Even “the rain belonged to CanadaCorp,” she quotes from The Way of Water.

.

Various publications in which The Way of Water appeared

.

The Way of Water was first published as a bilingual print book by Mincione Edizioni (Rome) in Italian (La natura dell’acqua, translated by Fiorella Moscatello), and English along with a recounting of what inspired it: The Story of Water (La storia dell’acqua) in 2016. To date, The Way of Water has been published and republished eight times throughout the world and translated into Italian and German. I think this success is less a reflection of my writing than the immediacy and importance of the topic covered: growing water scarcity, its commodification, and its politicization.

.

I’ve written several articles on how The Way of Water came about. Briefly, it all started with an invitation in 2015 by my publisher in Rome to write about water and politics in Canada. I had long been thinking of potential ironies in Canada’s water-rich heritage. The premise I wanted to explore was the irony of people in a water-rich nation experiencing water scarcity: living under a government-imposed daily water quota of 5 litres as water bottling and utility companies took it all.

Latest publication of The Way of Water in Nova 37, translated into German as Der Weg des Wassers

.

.

The Way of Water, in turn, inspired my dystopian novel A Diary in the Age of Water (Inanna Publications, 2020), which chronicles the lives of four generations of women and their relationship to water during a time of severe water restriction and calamitous climate change. The novel features the main character Hilda from The Way of Water and her limnologist mother; A Diary in the Age of Water is essentially the mother’s diary embedded in a larger story. Through a series of entries, the diarist reflects on the subtle though catastrophic occurrences that will eventually lead to humanity’s demise.

.

Jackson Creek in the fall, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

References:

Löschnigg, Maria. 2014. “The Contemporary Canadian Short Story in English: Continuity and Change.” Cultures in America in Transition, vol. 7, WVT.

Munteanu, Nina. “The Way of Water” Mincione Edizioni, Rome. 113pp.

Munteanu, Nina. “A Diary in the Age of Water.” Inanna Publications, Toronto, ON. 328pp.

Meyer, Bruce. 2017. “Introduction to “Cli Fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change“

Fi: Anthology #14. Edited by Bruce Meyer. Exile Editions, Toronto.304pp.

O’Brian, Susan. 2001. “Articulating a World of Difference: Ecocriticism, Post colonialism and Globalization.” Canadian Literature vol. 170-171: 140-158.

Oppermann, Serpil. 2023. “Blue Humanities.” Cambridge University Press.

Yonar, Şeyma. 2025. “Short Texts—Long Term Effects: The Canadian Eco-Story.” Masters Thesis, University of Graz, Austria. 70pp.

.

Jackson Creek partially iced in winter, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)

.

Nina Munteanu is an award-winning novelist and short story writer of eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy. She also has three writing guides out: The Fiction Writer; The Journal Writer; and The Ecology of Writing and teaches fiction writing and technical writing at university and online. Check the Publications page on this site for a summary of what she has out there. Nina teaches writing at the University of Toronto and has been coaching fiction and non-fiction authors for over 20 years. You can find Nina’s short podcasts on writing on YouTube. Check out this site for more author advice from how to write a synopsis to finding your muse and the art and science of writing. For more on her work as a limnologist and ecologist, see The Meaning of Water.

.