I’m fond these days of the ideas of Joanna Macy and “Active Hope” which, she says, doesn’t require optimism. We need to be able to look, unflinchingly, at the truly degraded state we find ourselves in and acknowledge it as reality, with proper Buddhist respect - bowing with palms together. And then we need to acknowledge and honor the feelings that arise in us from that reality; things like despair, anger and outrage; without shame, knowing that those feelings arise from our love and connectedness to this planet we all share.
Delusional cheerleading is not helpful. Things are bad, very bad. But we can find things to be grateful for in our own personal lives, come from that gratitude, honor our feelings and live our lives in ways that are meaningful to us and make our own, little, contributions to healing according to our own talents.
So, when James Hansen, says,
It’s a fraud really, a fake… It’s just bullshit for them [Paris COP21] to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned…
and that despair within me rises, I remember that perspective.
When Kevin Anderson says,
In several important respects the modelling community is self-censoring its research to conform to the dominant political and economic paradigm. Moreover, there is a widespread reluctance of many within the climate change community to speak out against unsupported assertions that an evolution of ‘business as usual’ is compatible with the IPCC’s 2°C carbon budgets…
and I realize the truth that physical reality and the laws of thermodynamics completely undermine the current dominant economic growth paradigm upon which most of the world depends for their basic survival needs, and the hopelessness within me rises, I remember that perspective.
When Jorgen Randers says,
The short-term nature of democracy emerges as the real problem, because when you try to pass legislation which makes fuel or power more expensive in the short term, most people don’t vote for those politicians. In a democratic society it is very difficult to get the frame conditions around business decisions in such a way that businesses start to do what is socially beneficial rather than what is short-term profitable. The basic problem is that neither the capitalist machinery nor democratic society puts enough emphasis on our grandchildren’s benefits, and consequently we are basically doing things today that are for our benefit that will cost our children and particularly our grandchildren a lot. This is not necessary, it could easily have been done in a different manner, the technology exists, the costs are low, but because of the short-term nature of democracy and capitalism it won’t be done…
and I become outraged at the foolishness of the short-term blindness that seems to rule our decision making, I remember that perspective.
My despair and hopelessness arises from my love and connectedness to this planet and my fellow humans. This is an unavoidable truth; they arise because I care deeply. And that caring is a good thing. There are many others with whom I share that feeling. I know I am not alone. That, also, is a good thing.
Is this awareness going to save the planet? I don’t know. I do know that if everyone shared that awareness and everyone lived simply as I do things would be in much better shape. This isn’t arrogance, it’s an acknowledgement of how easy it could be to change the world. That’s going to have to be good enough for now.
And if the Great Unravelling tears the dominant economic growth paradigm into flaming pieces and physical reality blows apart the fantasy world of money and markets I rest content in the knowledge that the planet will survive and the laws of nature will continue to drive the natural, sustainable cycles that have operated for hundreds of millions of years. And I do believe that whatever remnants of human civilization manage to survive the collapse of that unsustainable economic growth paradigm, it will have taught us desperately needed humility and wisdom, the lack of which caused the collapse.
It is an exciting and interesting time to be alive. A time to witness the inevitable collapse of a system which views the earth as a dead warehouse of resources and a waste dump, and the inevitable humility and wisdom which must arise from that bitter experience. Wisdom and humility often arise from experiencing things we never wished to experience but which we brought upon ourselves as an obvious and direct consequence of actions we undertook without wisdom and humility.