Hi, Yves. At its core, denying the severe and far-ahead impacts of climate change is a lot like denying death. Apart from devout religious people or those who have had near-death experiences, most people don’t want to think seriously about death or climate change. So, as you may have guessed, I don’t hold much hope. Hope that runs counter to realism, like the rainbows and unicorns of the Green New Deal, too often produces inadequate action.
By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published in God’s Spy
Even if much is taken, much remains. And
We don’t have the strength we once had.
Our existence moved the earth and the heavens.
—Alfred TennysonCrying is no use
Come to my house
Get off the cross and use wood
Come to my house
—Tom WaitsDoes death make life less joyful?
-Sincerely
I’ve been wanting to write about how we can respond to coming climate disasters for some time now. JackpotWe must respond to what, in world-historical terms, will be the most important world event since the birth of the mind and culture we call ours, in the words of William Gibson.
I started the project in a few paragraphs. here and hereBut I wanted to put these thoughts together on a neat page.
Initiatives to provide hope
First thisFrom scientist Kate Marvel:
As a climate scientist, I’m often asked to speak about hope. Especially in the current political climate, audiences want to hear that everything will be OK in the end. And unfortunately, my deep-seated need to be liked and my natural tendency to be optimistic means I get asked to speak more than I’m comfortable with. The organizers always say, “Climate change is bleak. Give us a happy story. Give us hope.” The problem is, I don’t have any hope.
“Give hope” is a constant refrain in the climate world. Consider the words of Caitlin Norton, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey: write In The Conversation: “Common sense is to give people hope — to tell them that behind one door lies disaster that can be avoided by choosing another.”
This is more than common sense. The strategic argument is this: If you bring people down with depressing stories, they will close down and not act. We need people to act. (The implied meaning: Because we can still win and maintain our vital lives.)
And this becomes almost a moral lesson, a value test, and sometimes even a shaming: “Don’t talk about the losses of millions of dollars (dollars, lives). Talk about the gains. New jobs, a greener economy. Don’t be like Debbie.”
That’s fine. But if that’s the case for you, More and more people,the The die is castWill you lie? Will you play the role of cheerleader? Or will you acknowledge the truth (as you and your audience see it) and offer something more faithful to the facts rather than hope?
Local facts
In fact, we are not doing anything about the climate. Have you noticed that?
And now you realize why: we (i.e. both parties) are run by, it has to be said, money-crazed psychopaths. They shut down the entire electoral process.from Discussion To Voting AccessThey made it so that only the candidates who were paid for could win. (Yes, Trump Money-Fed Candidates 2016.
Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. The arrogance of power-mad superiors is more than enough to sink us all. Even if the climate isn’t on our doorstep, when will we solve it? This decade? This century?
But the climate teeth The tsunami approaching us was so close that even a blind person could almost see it.
What to tell people Beginning to wake up• What will you say when you realize there is no turning back?
We can communicate that hope is a dream, but courage is something that can be done.
“What we need is not hope but courage”
Here’s a recent article by the aforementioned climate scientist Kate Marvel. First, she states the problem (emphasis added):
I have been fortunate enough to have lived a life rich in love, which means I have an infinitely gullible faith in the goodness of individuals, but no faith at all in the goodness of groups. total With so many small acts of kindness, how can the world be so powerless to stop what is stoppable? California is burning. Islands and coastlines are ravaged by hurricanes. At night, the stars are drowned out by city lights and the world is lit up by the flickering ugliness of reality TV. We burn coal and oil and gas without regard for the consequences. …
Now there is no weather that we have not touched, no wilderness that is safe from our encroaching pressure. The world as we once knew it will never return.
This is more honest than most people like her would say in public. (In private, most people know the truth. They’re panicking.)
And the answer is:
And here the sheer scale of the problem offers a perverse comfort: we are all in this together. The speed, scale and inevitability of change binds us together, encapsulating our broken hearts in a warm atmosphere.
What we need is not hope but courage, for sadness is the price of life, after all. We are all destined to live a life full of sorrow and that doesn’t make us any less worthy. Courage is the determination to do well even when there is no guaranteed happy ending.
It’s a pleasure to work together
We are in the same situation. The Romans crossed the border. Our elders may escape by death (I’m thinking of Charles G. Koch), but those in their 30s will see the children of people like them living a life very different from ours.
Terrible things happen. They happen all the time. And just as good people disappear, so do civilizations. There are miracles in the world, but we can’t call them.
we can Our task is to do what we do best: offer our wisdom, our love, and our example of courageous response to those who share our burdens and sorrows.
“What we are, we are,” said Tennyson in Ulysses. And that is not meaningless as long as we are still alive. We can achieve this together by joining the task willfully. There is joy in these acts, and we will carry it within us, despite the beast at the gate.
I would rather have the ability to act with courage than live with unfounded hope. You might need some wood.
