Fire and Ice
by Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
This little gem from Robert Frost has crossed my mind at least 1000 times in the past week. Admittedly, that may be in part because of the foot of snow and ice that has had me confined to the great indoors since Tuesday. I’m sure many of you living in New England or Chicago or North Dakota or Wisconsin have had similar thoughts. In fact, the poem has been alternating with an increasingly common thought: I hate global climate change.
My recall of Frost’s vision of the future may also have been prompted by reading things like Edgar’s excellent diary Advanced Civilization: The Long Party is Over with its discussion of the politics of energy policy and the interesting discussion of water resources and drought in the comments to Mother Mags' outstanding diary Arizona Sinks, Deck Chairs Arranged. It also was most certainly a response to events in the Middle East.
Of course, in the most basic analysis, Frost is talking about the physical end of the planet and he succinctly describes the arc of global warming’s impact on polar ice:
- increased temperatures of the ocean, prompting increasingly severe weather events (droughts, tornadoes, snow storms, hurricanes) and the melting of the polar ice;
- increased ocean levels and reduced albedo, changing the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide and heat;
- destabilized methane deposits on and near the shoreline and melting of permafrost, causing a rise in methane levels that would raise temperatures further by creating a positive feedback loop;
- reduced ocean salinity from the introduction of massive amounts of fresh water, resulting in changes to the Gulf Stream’s ability to convect warm water into the north Atlantic, allowing ice to advance over the land and eventually producing another "Snowball Earth."
At another level, Frost alludes to the fall of human civilization, with fire and ice representing the two human characteristics he feels will lead to our demise: desire and hate. Symbolically, the fire of desire is consuming, while the ice of hate is cold and calculating. Fire and ice – desire and hate --destroy both individuals and whole societies where those emotions dominate.
Desire’s fire, of course, grows rapidly in relation to the fuel supply and destroys entirely. Manifestations can include a range of behaviors: from the seemingly endless pursuit of acquiring "stuff" as a marker for improved standards of living, which is apparent in most modern societies around the world; to the monumental greed evinced by almost everyone involved in the global financial meltdown, bankers and brokers and business elite; to the lust for power that dominates the lives of political and religious "leaders" who suppress their people through fear and manipulation while they bankrupt the governments and organizations they sought to "lead" and claim to love. (Mubarak’s rationale that the had to stay in Egypt to prevent its descent into violence, while his hired thugs were producing the violence he insisted he could prevent would be laughable if so many people hadn’t been injured or killed.)
Ice as a symbol of hate provokes more thought. Like ice, hate grows slowly and insidiously. While it is extremely destructive, ice initially seems to serve a useful purpose. (After all, most bigots can make themselves believe that they are just protecting their families or themselves by "preventive" distancing from "certain" people .) Perhaps because so much of it may be below the surface, hate can easily affect large numbers of people and, like ice, if it isn’t eliminated things will become increasingly dysfunctional until it is immensely destructive. It is these qualities of hatred that make the strategy of gaining political power through creating and feeding hatred for others so reprehensible. Whether it is Newt Gingrich and Glen Beck railing against muslims and mosques or Egyptian television calling pro-democracy demonstrators criminals and terrorists and spinning elaborate conspiracy theories about their allegiance to a coalition that includes Israel and Iran, the hate some politicians and pundits wield to consolidate their power is insidiously destroying the ability of many societies to have effective governments that respect human rights and try to improve the lives of the general population.
While recognizing that both fire and ice are capable of complete destruction, Frost seems to favor fire. It is a tempting choice, particularly when we already seem to be utterly engulfed in greed and political malfeasance at every hand. But Frost seems to be implying that if the fire doesn’t get us, the ice will – that our eventual destruction at our own hands is the arc of human civilization. Perhaps, but I can’t help but believe that if we can avoid the fire, we may still have time to develop strategies to cope with the ice.
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Tonight’s Top Comments . . .
From output
I want to nominate this comment from bink in Susan Gardener's Obama Discusses Government, Business Responsibilities to America. It explains a lot in a very few words.
From sardonyx
In fireflynw's diary about Cyber-bullying and Responsibility, Regina in a Sears Kit House relates how a schoolroom comment affected her behavior well into adulthood.
bluetiger remembers when you could fish in Texas in Miep's diary New Mexico Power and Natural Gas Failures; What's the Story?
From Ed Tracey:
In a front-page story about GOP health-care ignorance - Pete Rock discusses the utterings of freshman Ann Marie Buerkle and - more than once - explains her cluelessness by saying, "It gets worse" ......
From Ivan
LanceBoyle tracks the trajectory of Arizona's Gotterdammerung in Rube Valhalla, from the luring of white fundamentalists with the promise of low taxes and cheap housing, to the berserk state of the current legislature in Mother Mags' outstanding diary Arizona Sinks, Deck Chairs Arranged.
From me
shpilk provides some interesting background on organized crime in Arizona in Mother Mags' outstanding diary Arizona Sinks, Deck Chairs Arranged.
In that same diary, smeesq makes a very insightful comment on why people tend to become more conservative as they age.
Faced with a homophobia- and bigotry-free Hatemail-a-palooza, Rusty Cannon finds the remainder strangely unsatisfying, so indycam steps up to lend a hand (or two). Hilarity ensues until they finally devise a method for generating a sufficiently hateful response that they promise to debut next week. While others chime in downthread to bemoan the quality of this weeks' offerings, pgm 01 resorts to purloining from the Masters with a quote from Monty Python.
k9disc has a great illustation of the importance of self-discipline and the price we will pay for ignoring it in edgar's excellent diary Advanced Civilization: The Long Party is Over.
Tonight’s Top Mojo . . .
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday:
1 - We have always had our nuts.........dweb8231.....141
2 - I'll jump in here. It will be in in Austria, but.....Something the Dog Said.....126
3 - One of the most bizarre things about.....LeftHandedMan.....116
4 - You should get a wedgie.....kestrel9000.....108
5 - Bullshit......ZedMont.....105
6 - Oh, of course there is.....Mike Stark.....104
7 - Well, it wasn't my underwear, per se.....RoCali.....100
8 - it was probably the Obama people who.....yowsta.....100
9 - Yowsta, I so agree with you ... and I see this.....angel d.....95
10 - Finally, someone else agrees!.....Left Coast Resident.....92
11 - Boy when you list all the bills like that.....voracious.....91
12 - You bet I did......KelleyRN2.....89
13 - Good Diary, PJ.....JekyllnHyde.....89
14 - this is one of those rare diaries that.....mama jo.....87
15 - Beautiful, beautiful diary, Noelle.....nyceve.....87
16 - If Reagan Were Alive Today........JekyllnHyde.....84
17 - Thanks for posting this Patric......blue jersey mom.....83
18 - Glenn Beck is not taken as a "crazy" in Germany.....RaulVB.....82
19 - Living in London here........Puffin.....82
20 - Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!.....Lefty Coaster.....82
21 - To those who bought.....Sara R.....82
22 - called my state rep's office today.....rasbobbo.....82
23 - Oh Kelley...........princesspat.....81
24 - I heard this while deiving.....RaulVB.....81
25 - Funny you should mention that.....JG in MD.....79
26 - Or, Inviting Count Dracula.....JekyllnHyde.....79
27 - Not at fifteen!.....KelleyRN2.....78
28 - The Lounge Is Open.....TexDem.....77
29 - Thanks For Stopping By.....TexDem.....74
30 - YAY !.....Chacounne.....73
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by Mother Mags — 543
2) Tip Jar by angel d — 441
3) Tip Jar by Sara R — 372
4) Tip Jar by Mike Stark — 334
5) Tip Jar by A Siegel — 289
6) Tip Jar by CPT Doom — 230
7) Egypt is just the warm up... by Edger — 185
8) Tip Jar for Dummies by Angie in WA State — 153
9) Tip Jar by kck — 141
10) I'll jump in here. It will be in in Austria, but by Something the Dog Said — 126
11) Scritchie Jar by triciawyse — 119
12) Tips for Thinking by Miep — 108
13) Bullshit. by ZedMont — 105
14) Oh, of course there is by Mike Stark — 104
15) it was probably the Obama people who by yowsta — 100
16) Tip Jar by ericlewis0 — 96
17) Yowsta, I so agree with you ... and I see this by angel d — 95
18) tips, and other gratuities by claude — 93
19) Boy when you list all the bills like that by voracious — 91
20) this is one of those rare diaries that by mama jo — 87
21) If Reagan Were Alive Today... by JekyllnHyde — 84
22) To those who bought by Sara R — 82
23) called my state rep's office today by rasbobbo — 82
24) Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! by Lefty Coaster — 82
25) I heard this while deiving by RaulVB — 81
26) Or, Inviting Count Dracula by JekyllnHyde — 79
27) Tip Jar by conchita — 78
28) Something the Dog Said will address by angel d — 75
29) YAY ! by Chacounne — 73
30) LOL And even better: by PBnJ — 71
31) He canceld the trip. I thnk that he has visited by Something the Dog Said — 71
32) Well even if it only ends with harassment and by blueoasis — 71