I'm not talking about this fire and brimstone, locusts and bloody water stuff. I'm talking about the reality of an administration - along with a large percentage of the US population - that has little to no interest in preserving life on this planet.
Whether you want to call it the Apocalypse or not, there is no doubt that the road ahead is going to be hard and bumpy. But what happens when we get over those bumps? What will the world look like then?
We can leave things up to chance, and spend all our time and energy fighting, or we can plan ahead and think about what a Progressive Paradise might look like, so that, when the time comes, we can make it happen.
Sing it with me now,
1, 2, 3, 4, whatawefightingfor?
Possible answers in the extended version.
According to writer and political theorist
Thom Hartmann we are already in the midst of the Apocalypse or perhaps even near the end of it.
I can hear the cries now... This is the Apocalypse? But we're so big and powereful! And our living standards are hella high! How can this be bad?
Yes, some people may see the wealth of the US as being something more akin to Paradise than the Apocalypse, but Hartman says (and I would have to agree) that we are in a false Paradise. This Paradise is an illusion that can be shattered far too easily by one bad investment or perhaps a fatal heart attack caused by too much of the high fat, low nutrient "royal" food we US Americans obsessively stuff ourselves with. As they say, money can't buy happiness. And money, fame, and power are all false prophets, ones that eventually lead hapless followers straight down the road to suffering.
Ok, so if we are in the Apocalypse now, what happens next? It may still get worse, or it may not. And if we aren't already in the Apocalypse, then it's definitely going to get far worse. Regardless, we will have to deal with what ever comes, and we will have to forge ahead. After 2006, and 2008, and so on, what do we want our world to look like?
Well, according to Hartmann (and my own highly scientific philosophical studies) true Paradise comes from a sustainable, yet challenging life, where communities and individuals work together to survive, rather than competitively. Political author Frances Moore Lappé seems to agree, and encourages Progressives to embrace a "Strong Communities" frame that relies on "mutual help and mutual learning", as modeled by the Open Source and Linux developers.
In a truly post-apocalyptic scenario, a la Road Warrior, there may be a short period of adjustment, and greed and competitiion may temproarily rule (Hartmann calls this the "Recovery" stage), but eventually things will settle down to a sustainable and cooperative Paradise, where there is enough for everyone. In Paradise, life is not completely effortless, but, as most other species already have figured out, we need to do very little work to maintain a fairly comfortable life. Without the illusory lure of money, fame, and power, we are happier and less driven to overwork and/or overspend. Hartmann notes that the Inuits (Eskimos!) only work for about 2 hours a day to sustain their lifestyle. He compares the Inuits to the "modern" North Americans who spend 40+ hours a week just to "make ends meet". And, of course, one glance at these two diverse types of lifestyle will tell you who is happier and healthier. All work and no play not only makes modern North Americans very dull boys and girls, but it leads to things like stress, depression, couch-potatoism, a fast food diet, and bad skin!
You know, over a hundred years ago we were promised a life of luxury, courtesy of the Industrial Revolution. With the advent of machines that could easily do in minutes what used to take human hands days to accomplish, we could relax and enjoy life. What happened? Well, the factories made all that was needed but then had extra left over. So the factory owners cooked up a scheme to sell off that extra by convincing people that they wanted more than they really needed. Thus the age of conspicuous consumption was born. It's like the infamous Doritos comercial: "Crunch all you want. We'll make more." And more, and more, and more... until we are all burried in a pile of rotting crap or we explode like the very large restaurant patron in Monty Python's Meaning of Life.
But this age of over-consumption coming to an end soon. The backlash has started and seems to be gaining steam. The Modern Luddite, complete with internet access, bicycle, organic gardening knowledge, and an appreciation of a simpler life is one of the most fast rising lifestyles. If we can harness that trend, maybe we can prepare for the coming days after the "end days".
What do you think? What sort of world do you want us to work for? And can we honestly create a sustainable Paradise given the material (humans) we have to work with?