Rewilding 15 Million Acres: Why True Wealth Means More Than Money
The Great Simplification #170 with Kristine Tompkins
While the wealth of the world's richest individuals continues to accumulate year after year, funding billions into AI, technology, and innovation, our true wealth—the planet's natural ecosystems—receives only a fraction of the funding needed for restoration and protection. What can we learn from those rare individuals who have dedicated their lives to conserving and rewilding the Earth, choosing to invest in nature rather than the next market breakthrough?
Today I’m joined by conservationist Kristine Tompkins, to discuss her decades of work on conservation initiatives in South America, the value of personal responsibility, and how she has cultivated a way of living without fear in taking on unprecedented environmental challenges. Kristine also reflects on the limitations of money as a metric for success and fulfillment, advocating instead for using wealth towards bettering the ecological state of our planet and rediscovering the joy of connecting with humanity’s place in nature.
How can we, as individuals, ‘earn’ hope for the future of our planet through engaging in conservation work? What can be learned from upending industrial norms to restore a personal relationship with the natural world? Finally, how can embracing individual responsibility lead us away from passive activism to usher in active and meaningful work in service of all life on Earth?
In case you missed it…
Last week, I was joined by Taiwanese Digital Ambassador at large, Audrey Tang, to explore real-world examples of how technology is being leveraged globally to address – and in some cases reverse – critical societal challenges, such as polarization, misinformation, and the erosion of trust in governments and institutions. Tang emphasized the importance of digital democracy, civic engagement, and incentivizing care in our policy making decisions to create a better experience and world for all humans.
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Great talk, what an awesome guest. I love her no bullshit attitude and take on things, especially her comments on hope. Thank you!
This was an amazing episode that I am going to need to process. What a call to action.
The earning of hope really spoke to me.
Honestly the whole conversation was full of insights that I am eager to unpack and integrate