Douglas Rushkoff, an academic and author, was invited to speak to a group of wealthy hedge fund managers about the future technology. Although he thought they would ask him about technology's potential to improve the world's future, they wanted to talk to him more about the Event, which is their cute term for the end of civilisation. One CEO, who had just completed a underground bunker system, asked how he could maintain control over his security forces after the Event. Rushkoff outlined the rest of their conversation in a Guardian article.Although the Rushkoff piece was published in 2018, I've been thinking about it a lot these past days. Why? Because the Event is beginning to feel imminent. You don't have to be alarmist if this sounds alarmist. Just look at the weather. Detroit has been flooded by severe storms. Canada has just recorded its highest temperature: A village in British Columbia reached 46.1C (115F), on Sunday. Over the weekend, heat records were also broken in the US Pacific north-west, with Portland, Oregon reaching 44.4C (112F). Seattle, which isn't known for its sunny weather, has just experienced triple-digit temperatures for three consecutive days, breaking another record. The current heatwave has been called historic, dangerous, long-lasting, and unprecedented by the US National Weather Service of Washington.I don't think there is a word more overused than "unprecedented". Each day seems to bring new floods, heat and wildfires. It is time to stop pretending that precedent is important. This is what the Oregon Climate Office tweeted about the Portland heatwave. Climate crisis isn't far away, it's already here. Things are only going to get worse.You don't need me or the Oregon Climate Office telling you this. The most frustrating thing about the climate crisis is that it should not be shocking to anyone. It isn't a secret that the climate crisis has been around for a while. It is serious. You and I both know it. The 1% who build bunkers and worry about controlling their private militias after an environmental disaster know how serious the situation is. The billionaires who spend their fortunes on destroying the Earth and sending people to space know exactly how serious. What about the oil companies that have contributed to the crisis? They've known for decades how serious it is. Politicians, with the exception of some determined deniers are clear that they understand how critical the climate crisis. Joe Biden called it an existential danger to humanity. Boris Johnson, the most serious man on the planet, called it a threat to humanity and urged the world not to ignore climate change.However, lofty rhetoric doesn't suffice. We need to take action. And there isn't enough. Biden had promised in March that he would create a $2tn infrastructure plan to transform our ability to combat climate change. Biden seems to have opted to compromise with Republicans rather than making progress on climate change. He just released a watered down bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is not enough to address climate issues. Although I tried to be optimistic about Biden's potential, it seems that he is not the transformative figure many people expected him to be. Although we can't combat extreme weather with hot water, that is all politicians seem to be willing to offer us.Arwa Mahdawi, a Guardian columnist
