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We are not all in the same boat

Today on the train to a client meeting I heard someone say, “we are all in the same boat.” As usual it felt wrong. Not just inaccurate but deeply misleading. Especially when used in the context of climate change. This phrase is a favorite of politicians and corporate executives because it sounds like empathy without requiring action. It suggests that we are all sharing the burden of the crisis equally. That we are all fighting the same battle and must unite in collective effort.

That is nonsense. If we are in a boat then we need to ask who owns it who built it who is steering and who is locked in the cargo hold hoping it doesn’t sink before they starve?

A convenient lie for the comfortable

The phrase “we are all in the same boat” turns a brutal and unfair crisis into a feel-good story about unity. It tells us that climate change is a shared human experience rather than a catastrophe shaped by power wealth and history. It is a useful bit of rhetoric if you are rich and polluting like there is no tomorrow because it makes it sound like you and the struggling farmer watching their crops turn to dust are in this together.

You hear it from world leaders who have spent decades delaying climate action. You hear it from corporations that have made billions from fossil fuels and now want to pivot to “green” solutions they also conveniently own. You hear it from billionaires flying to climate summits in private jets then shaking their heads at working-class people for eating meat or driving to work.

Some are drowning while others cash in

Climate change does not care about slogans. It is not the great equalizer some pretend it is. The people who suffer first and worst are the ones who contributed least to the problem. The ones who have been burning through resources like a bonfire at a hedge fund retreat will be the last to feel the heat.

Wealthy nations built their economies by extracting resources from the Global South then turned around and blamed those same nations for “developing unsustainably.” Corporations spent decades covering up climate science and now want to sell you carbon offsets so you can feel better about your existence. The financial sector invests in fossil fuels and green tech at the same time because no matter how bad things get they will always make money off it.

Meanwhile entire communities are being wiped off the map by rising seas and extreme weather. Indigenous activists fighting to protect land and water are criminalized while the companies bulldozing forests for profit get tax breaks. Farmers face droughts that destroy their crops while global food markets remain rigged in favor of agribusiness giants.

No one is in the same boat. Some people have lifeboats. Some are clinging to wreckage. Some are already at the bottom of the ocean.

Who is steering this thing?

If climate action were actually about collective effort the people most affected would be the ones calling the shots. That is not what is happening. Decisions are being made in boardrooms and elite conferences where the most urgent question is how to keep making money while the planet burns.

The response to the climate crisis is not being shaped by frontline communities or workers or those who have been fighting environmental destruction for generations. It is being dictated by corporations that see climate collapse as an exciting new investment opportunity. They are not trying to stop the disaster. They are trying to own the disaster.

Green energy transitions are driven by supply chains that depend on extractive mining in the Global South. Carbon offsets displace Indigenous communities so that corporations can keep polluting and claim to be carbon neutral. Wealthy nations promise climate aid while building border walls to keep out the people displaced by their emissions.

This is not a boat it is a luxury cruise for some and a sinking raft for others.

A phrase that erases history

The idea that climate change is just an unfortunate accident is comforting for those who do not want to acknowledge how we got here. It turns a system of relentless extraction and exploitation into a vague natural event. The phrase “we are all in the same boat” works best if you erase colonialism industrial expansion and the deliberate policies that made environmental destruction profitable.

It is no accident that the world’s richest countries have spent the last few decades pushing narratives about personal responsibility while blocking systemic change. If they can convince you that we are all equally at fault then they never have to be held accountable. If they can make you feel guilty about your personal carbon footprint you will forget that 100 companies are responsible for 70% of global emissions.

Colonialism never ended it just rebranded. The same corporations that once extracted resources under colonial rule now present themselves as leaders in sustainability. The same governments that justified imperial conquest in the name of “progress” now justify trade policies economic sanctions and border militarization in the name of climate adaptation.

The people suffering the worst consequences of climate collapse are not just unlucky victims of a natural disaster. They are casualties of a system that was designed to sacrifice them.

Why this phrase keeps getting used

The idea that climate change is an equalizer makes people feel better about doing nothing. If we are all in this together then no one is really to blame. If it is just the inevitable result of human activity then there is no need to change the economic and political structures that created it.

That is why international climate negotiations drag on without real results. The richest countries resist binding agreements because they know they would have to change their economies. Fossil fuel companies fund greenwashing campaigns so they can keep drilling while pretending to care. Financial markets bet on both fossil fuels and renewables so they can profit no matter what happens.

The “same boat” narrative makes all of this seem normal. It allows those in power to act like they are part of a shared struggle instead of the architects of disaster.

We are not in the same boat. We are not even in the same ocean.

The reality of climate change is not a collective struggle against nature. It is a brutal widening of inequality. Some people have lifeboats. Some are clinging to debris. Some are already underwater.

Instead of repeating empty metaphors we should be talking about who is responsible who is most at risk and who must be held accountable. Climate change is not just an environmental crisis it is a political and economic crisis. Solving it requires more than small lifestyle changes and vague appeals to solidarity. It requires a radical shift in power wealth and decision-making.

Instead of asking people to row harder we should be asking who built this boat and why are they still in charge?