Like Elphaba in Wicked, those who defy authority often face demonization and persecution disguised as moral justice — a poignant reminder of the cost of standing against oppressive systems.

Defying Anti-Life

15 min readDec 14, 2024

Our world is in a doom loop

Why does poverty persist while billionaires grow richer? Why do wars drag on while communities collapse? These are not isolated failures — they are part of a cycle. A deliberate mindset that prioritizes control over compassion and mindless progress over genuine well-being.

Injustice is not accidental. It stems from entrenched patterns of human decision making, which stems from human behaviours like selfishness and greed. This is not about conspiracies — it is a mindset, an Anti Life agenda, which exploits life, divides communities, and undermines empathy, equity, and real progress.

Over the past few decades, humanity has witnessed remarkable technological progress — but at a steep cost. Social media and hostile propaganda have radicalised people, amplified divisions and spread despair, leaving us all more isolated than ever. This Christmas, countless families will remain apart — not only because of war or death, but also due to manufactured distrust and hostility.

The planet grows warmer with each passing year. In Australia, another scorching summer looms, where homes poorly designed for heat rely on air conditioning powered by coal — further fuelling global warming and perpetuating this destructive cycle.

Instead of fostering solutions to advance humanity, the mainstream media operates as a “pay-to-play” service, furthering the agendas of corporations and the wealthy families who are their main shareholders. Whether it is selling products, narratives, or calls to action, the media helps to reinforce the doom loop of the Anti Life agenda by embedding its harmful patterns into every facet of modern life.

Understanding the Anti Life Agenda

The Anti Life agenda — it is a stark term, but one that encapsulates a chilling pattern. Think of the Bene Gesserit from Dune, whose meticulous plans span generations, manipulating societies in the name of a “greater good” only they define. They engineer conflict, claim wisdom, and treat individuals as pawns. Now imagine that on Earth today, where policies justified as “for the greater good” too often conceal exploitation. Whether it is corporations prioritizing shareholder profits over workers’ welfare or governments enacting austerity measures while the ultra-wealthy thrive, this mindset values systems over souls.

When servants of Anti Life choose scapegoats, their destruction becomes an unrelenting pursuit. Smear campaigns built on lies, half-truths intended to destroy reputations. Threats and acts of violence. Humiliation and bullying. Dehumanisation by using so called “experts” to medicalise a person’s behaviour. The Anti Life agenda uses the modern-day witch hunt distract frustrated peoples when their agents in power have nothing of value to offer and they do not want the wider public to catch on to their shortcomings.

Consider the contradictions — poverty persists despite the technology and resources to eliminate it, wars are prolonged rather than resolved, and safety nets dismantled even when they make economic sense. The richest 1% of the global population controls 50% of the world’s wealth, while billions struggle for necessities. These choices do not simply arise from greed; they reflect a philosophy designed to keep us locked in cycles of dependency distraction and desperation.

The Origins of Anti Life

Anti Life ideology does not have a single origin. Today’s problems are the result of generations of actions by politicians and businesspeople, especially the elite families whose criminal and immoral behaviour goes unpunished because they rig things in their favour. These elites view societal systems as their personal playthings, like how someone might view a video game: as something created for their enjoyment, with full freedom to do whatever you need to achieve your goals and no consequences for mistakes.

In countries like the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, governments have repeatedly failed to safeguard their nations from self-interest over decades. The post-World War 2 prosperity enjoyed by baby boomers in the 20th century — thanks to the sacrifices of their parents and grandparents — has been eroded by the Anti Life agenda ensuring a lack of accountability, misinformation, and rigid, dogmatic interpretations of moral codes and laws, rather than adherence to their spirit and intent.

The laws needed to protect the public from corporate exploitation already exist for the most part; they just aren’t enforced. Taxes go unpaid by multinational corporations that offshore jobs and hide profits in havens like the Cayman Islands and Swiss banks. Meanwhile, Anti Life agents commit atrocities, such as murdering people, without consequence. Conversely, any mention of retaliation against these agents invites disproportionate, punitive responses designed to instil fear. Or trigger another retaliation so they can justify a new level of oppression.

Anti Life’s origins are rooted not in overt malice, or evil, but in ignorance, selfishness, and systemic impunity. Crises like climate change, poverty, and war have escalated because elected officials prioritize self-preservation over public interest. A refusal to uphold the truth, rigid interpretations, and systemic inflexibility perpetuate the Anti Life agenda.

Control, Division, and Exploitation

The Anti Life agenda is about control — control over resources, narratives, and even imagination. It exploits noble virtues like resilience born from hardship or the selflessness of giving to others, corrupting these things that people value into tools of subjugation.

Today’s political tactics often adhere to Anti Life: divide-and-conquer strategies that pit people against one another. Whether through culture wars or scapegoating vulnerable groups, these distractions keep us from addressing systemic problems. People who question authority are smeared in the media and called ungrateful, those who prioritise their health and wellbeing are called lazy. In the U.S., billions are spent on defence contracts while crises in healthcare, homelessness, and infrastructure go unresolved. The chaos is not accidental — it is profitable.

Efforts toward positive change often face over corrective counterreactions. Argument and discussion of incompatible ideas is fundamental to an intelligent society — and yet we see so many people engage in bad faith. Mainstream media go in like George Clooney and his team in Ocean’s 11 — masterfully spinning their own narratives, spreading lies and demonising “dangerous” individuals and ideas they do not want to get ahead. Social media amplifies these tactics, where Anti Life agents engage in endless debates to frustrate and discredit. Anti Life will frequently legitimize absurd, uninformed opinions by acting as if they share equal credibility and weight to expert perspectives, e.g. flat earthers or anti-vaxxers, muddying public understanding of critical issues.

A bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone; in fact, it can be the key to motivating new heights of achievement for humanity. And yet our drive to compete, and survive, has been twisted into a source of exploitation by the Anti Life agenda — often relying on motivations of fear rather than the positive. Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world where we went to work because we wanted to be there contribute and not because we feared homelessness and starvation?

The Personal Toll of Anti Life

This is personal. A lot of us have tried to sound the alarm. We’ve warned friends and family for years, even decades, tried to show them what’s happening, but so often they don’t listen. Instead, they double down, parroting Anti Life propaganda they were fed or dismissing all evidence of the harm, control, and exploitation they are enabling. It feels like betrayal. And sometimes the only way to protect yourself is to remove those people from your life — to stop letting their toxic, narcissistic worldview from burdening your mind on a daily basis. That’s not giving up. It’s choosing your self realisation over indulging their worse qualities — to live on your own terms and not be a part of a dysfunctional system.

Going no contact with my friends, parents, siblings, and even most of my extended family was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. My family background is Polish and Filipino — both strong Catholic roots, but with deep-seated issues. When terrible things happened to me growing up, my parents refused any accountability, sympathy or remorse. Even small childhood accidents were blamed on me — splitting my head open on a wall at the age of 6, breaking my hand while riding my bike at 12 or even kebabbing my left hand on a fence spike when I was 10. When I came out as gay at 14, my parents’ marriage, which had struggled my entire childhood, finally fell apart. I was kicked out of home soon after for being home late from a gay youth centre, and although we temporarily resolved things after that, the damage was done.

Losing my innocence at such an early age made me seek love elsewhere — often the companionship and favour of older men — who only wanted me for one reason. Sadly, I felt safer with the strangers from the internet than with my family. With these people I felt unashamed and adored for the first time — even if it was only because of their lust. As if that was not bad enough, this upbringing left me vulnerable for exploitation later on in life by future employers, boyfriends and friends. My parents lack of self-reflection, unwillingness to accept blame or grow, and clinging to manipulative narratives taught me from a young age that I was the problem and to do everything possible for others approval. On good days I can maintain my inner voice and know that I was just a kid being blamed for their failings, but on bad days I hear their past speeches on repeat and inhabit memories, re-living past traumas.

Trying to mend familial relationships, I eventually realised the ‘sins’ I sought to atone for were largely imagined. As a gay person who embraces his queerness I am the black sheep to my Catholic family — the outcast, the rebel, the truth-teller. The ‘Bruno’ we don’t talk about. This was a long and painful journey to embark on only to finally realise it may be hopeless. I’m not innocent, though. I’ve been swept into reactionary emotional politics and can admit I’ve hurt people I care about. The progressive side, too, has its flaws, often selling out critical issues for corporate interests and self-promotion. Or emotional self-indulgence. These realizations taught me to recognise manipulation and betrayal, even from deep within myself and the people and ideologies I trust the most.

When I have been at my lowest in adulthood, when all I asked for was basic dignity — safety in my own home or empathy during my work and relationship issues — my friends, family and workplaces were often the first to go on the attack or turn their backs on me, calling me “too much” or blaming me. Treating my struggles as deserved punishment — usually without even knowing the details. Not everyone was like this, I have been lucky to have good experiences too — and it is those that made me realise just how widespread Anti Life was. It does not matter if someone’s beliefs or origins are progressive or conservative, atheist or religious — what I think defines a person as good or bad isn’t their mistakes — everyone makes mistakes and can be a bit shitty sometimes. What matters is what they do after — whether they demonstrate a conscience, remorse, and genuine intention to change their ways and make amends.

The Anti Life agenda thrives due to its self-reinforcing nature. Systems of control masquerade as the natural order. Poverty is framed as a personal failing rather than systemic neglect. Homelessness as mental illness. Wars are sold as necessary to protect life and peace. Divisive rhetoric is used to rally support through anger and fear, eroding trust between communities. Prejudice is sowed, cultivated and harvested like a rare exotic delicacy to be enjoyed only by the wealthy and powerful. These mechanisms maintain hierarchies where most of us remain too busy surviving to challenge the status quo.

Institutions often exemplify this hypocrisy. Religious organizations, for instance, might advocate charity while excluding marginalized groups from accessing their services and care. Governments will claim to be working on issues they were voted in on — while offering policies that are the equivalent of a single grain of rice to a starving person. These are not oversights; they reflect a deliberate choice to sustain division and human suffering under the guise of moral authority.

Violence Won’t Solve Anything

It is hard not to want to escape off the grid or imagine going feral in a world that seems so deeply unfair — where injustice is not just ignored but actively celebrated by people who benefit from it. When we see this, it is natural to want to hit back. To meet cruelty with fury. To fight fire with fire. But that path, tempting as it is, only leads to more suffering, more cycles of harm, and pushes us even further away from the kind of world we dream of.

Retaliating against an oppressor and injustice is a natural response. But this is where the Anti Life agenda reveals its insidious brilliance. It has not just prepared for the possibility of a retaliation — it is counting on it. Systems of control thrive on chaos and have perfected portraying all resistance as a negative and a threat to the group. Violent outbursts or isolated acts of defiance are amplified by multiple sources as justification for harsher oppression. Entire communities become scapegoated, and the cycle of harm continues.

This raises a tricky question: how do we resist Anti Life without playing into their hands? Science fiction offers valuable insights here. In Babylon 5, when the galaxy stands at the brink of all-out war it is only when Sheridan reveals the manipulative agenda of the Vorlons and the Shadows to the entire galaxy that everyone decides to stop fighting; to stop playing the ancient races’ game. It is my hope that by distilling this phenomenon in the human experience to a term like Anti Life and explaining its mechanics, I have given you, the reader, the tools to navigate this problem within your own life. I truly hope it goes well, for every single one of us.

Defining Anti-Life

When coining the term Anti-Life for this topic, I wanted an apolitical and fresh way to describe the problem that did not indulge old grievances. Labels such as progressive, conservative and others have too many interpretations and lately become loaded with hyperbole and baggage — disempowering all individuals from engaging in free thought and an earnest discussion. I did not want myself or anyone reading this to be tempted into the very Anti-Life mindset and patterns that this article seeks to challenge.

If you’re a bit of a nerd, or just use Google, you might know that the term “Anti-Life” has been conceived and used by various groups in recent history, and even in popular fiction. In the world of DC Comics, the evil new god Darkseid uses the Anti-Life Equation to mind control populations into servitude. In the real world, the Catholic Church has used the term Anti-Life to refer to enemies of their ideals — birth control, gay people and atheism — to name a few. In this instance, while there are some parallels this is not an intentional reference or play on any past usage of the term.

Humans think we are special on this planet — that animals and plants are just here for our enjoyment. This is justified with a dismissal of the agency, capacity and dignity of all other life other than human beings, and sometimes other human beings too — especially if they are from a different group from us.

Scientific research into fields like artificial intelligence, physics and biology are now discovering that our concept of consciousness and intelligence are deeply flawed because our notion of life is based on a limited observational dataset of one. We have a long way to go before we can define anything with scientific confidence.

I grew up watching Captain Planet and when I was a kid my favourite character was Wheeler because he was a badarse, and I thought he was attractive. But as I grew older, I began to identify with Ma-Ti and often wished I had his power of “Heart”. I loved the idea of having the ability to empathise with my enemies and solve problems peacefully by appealing to someone’s better nature.

Infant animals have evolved to be cute to trick other animals into caring for their young. We have observed inter species adoptions rooted in co-operation — even human children have occasionally been raised by animals. Fed, cared for and accepted into the group as one of their own. To me this fact alone says everything about what life is, even if we do not have a handle on the science yet.

The opposite of co-operation, empathy, and trust — that is how I would define Anti-Life. It is a commitment to aggression, to fear and to justified evils “for the greater good”. Variety is the spice of life, and Anti-Life is all about homogenising life and censoring life to champion a certain outcome. Historically, that outcome is usually determined by the most aggressive and powerful, but it does not have to be this way.

Imagining a Better World

When we focus on the things we love — those things that bring us joy, fulfilment, and connection — we contribute to bettering the world. Whether we are spending time with one special person, or our community, hobby projects, studying for a new career, playing video games, or simply taking naps, these moments matter. Yet, part of the noise we often hear is the guilt around indulging in things that bring us joy, instead of approaching life with the wisdom we are capable of. This guilt traps us in cycles of self-denial, where we never fully recover from past struggles. Instead of healing or enjoying life, we wear ourselves down, back ourselves into a corner, and become desperate. It is a tactic of Anti-Life to keep us in a constant state of dependency because that is how they maintain control.

Resisting and overcoming control by this system begins not with violence but with creation. The Anti-Life agenda cannot withstand the forces of connection, empathy, and self-awareness. This is not about deluding yourself with a false sense of righteousness and security — it is about transforming anger into constructive energy. Daring to think for yourself, and creatively, community initiatives, and acts of kindness all serve in the fight against Anti-Life.

Research supports this approach. Studies in urban planning show that involving communities in decision-making leads to more equitable outcomes. Similarly, movements like participatory budgeting empower individuals to reclaim agency within broken systems. We have the power of instant communication via the internet and untold processing power through all of the computers connected to it — we could revolutionise democracy, the management of resources and distribution of labour and bring it all into this century. All it takes is a will to change. A will that has been lacking at the heights of wealth and power for a long time now. Life is full of change, and so it is only logical that Anti-Life does not like change.

The Power of Art and Action

Artists often struggle to find steady work or funding and face hostility from certain groups because art has the rare ability to expose hidden truths and spark moments of revelation. Bob Dylan’s protest songs or The Beatles’ cultural critiques shine a light on social injustices, while movies like Slumdog Millionaire reveal harsh realities like poverty and exploitation. These works challenge systems of power, and those who thrive in control fear the disruption art can cause.

But art is not just about uncovering truth — it is the heartbeat of human expression and can be a source of inspiration and connection for others. From the raw emotions of a musician’s vibrato to the transformative magic of theatre, art connects us to one another, to our shared humanity, and to our aspirations. It nurtures empathy, fuels independent thought, and keeps hope alive, even in dark times. Through its power to inspire and unite, art remains an unstoppable force.

In today’s world, Anti-Life shackle artists to systems of control. Whether pandering to wealthy donors for funding, self-censoring to be allowed to show their work to the public, or sacrificing their creative independence for a stable income, these barriers limit artistic expression and innovation. Over time, they silence certain voices and points of view entirely, robbing society of its diversity and richness of thought.

Hope as Defiance

Resisting the Anti-Life agenda is as much about internal transformation as external action. Systems of control thrive on fear and hatred, but they falter in the face of truth and hope. Protecting our inner child — the part of us that loves without prejudice and believes in fairness — is an act of defiance. When faced with challenging situations — we must think with our better nature and choose humanity over cynicism. Enjoy our brief time on Earth, and all the wonder the world has to offer, rather than suffering through life.

For myself, science fiction again serves as a guide. In Jodorowsky’s Technopriests, the protagonist dreams of a world where progress serves humanity rather than enslaving it. Imagine a society where dignity and empathy form the foundation of governance — where growth is not measured by GDP but by well-being.

We cannot dismantle unjust systems overnight, but we can undermine their foundations by refusing to play their game. When we act with intention, build meaningful connections, and prioritize creation over destruction, protection instead of retaliation, we begin to construct an alternative. This is not weakness; its strength rooted in hope.

So, how do we create a better world than the one we currently inhabit? The answer lies in our actions — small, collective, and steadfast. By choosing to protect our boundaries and committing ourselves to what we love. Reject the calls to feel fear, isolation, and division. If we do those things, we can move closer to a reality where the Anti-Life agenda has no place. The systems of control may be powerful, but they are not inevitable. Change begins with the courage to imagine something better — and then just doing it. Even if it ruffles a few feathers.