Read full editorial and paper on BetterWorlds.com

On the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, we confront a stark truth: the revolutionary spirit that gave birth to the environmental movement is under siege. In this special episode, we trace the radical roots of Earth Day through the counterculture of the 1960s—and examine how today’s most powerful counter-revolutionary forces, from Christian nationalism to AI-fueled surveillance states, are working to dismantle democratic values and extinguish environmental progress.

Michael C. Mitchell unpacks how Silicon Valley billionaires, religious extremists, and authoritarian political movements are converging to replace civic engagement with centralized digital control—and what that means for the future of our planet, our politics, and our freedom.

This is more than a reflection—it’s a call to recognize the existential threat we face and to reignite the fight for ecological justice and democratic renewal.

Read the editorial here:

Earth Day, environmental justice, AI governance, Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, MAGA politics, Christian nationalism, surveillance state, climate activism, Palantir, techno-authoritarianism, democracy in crisis, civil resistance, counterculture, digital rights, environmental history, progressive politics, ecological movement, government surveillance, podcast on politics and tech

Read the Op-Ed here: https://www.betterworlds.com/ai-is-a-double-edged-sword-in-resource-extraction-and-ecological-destruction/