From Staring at Moloch to Working on Climate: Eugene Kirpichov’s Path Beyond Capitalism

Eugene Kirpichov’s origin story is classic Climate Swings: he spent 15 years as a top-tier engineer in big tech, sent a viral farewell LinkedIn note from his job at Google that detonated a global call from thousands who wanted to do something about climate change—just like Eugene—and then founded Work on Climate, a community that turns climate grief into collective momentum. Yet Eugene’s theory of change goes well beyond “career pivot”: in this episode, he lays out a startlingly detailed, systems-level diagnosis of the polycrisis—climate, inequality, democratic backsliding, AI risk, geopolitical fracture—not as separate fires to fight, but as one underlying failure of human collaboration. With bracing honesty, he argues that “more climate jobs” and market-only solutions aren’t enough—that what we need is a new kind of movement: professionals across every industry organizing as transformation leaders, building coordinated power and rewiring incentives toward a genuinely regenerative economy. If you’ve ever wondered what real leverage looks like, Eugene offers something rare: a path from anxiety to agency—together.Notes and resources* Eugene Kirpichov’s LinkedIn* Work on Climate* Eugene’s Google farewell LinkedIn post* Climate Swings interview with Astrid Atkinson, founder and CEO, Camus Energy* Climate Swings Substack Get full access to Climate Swings at climateswings.substack.com/subscribe