Posts
And
then what? How shall I live my life?
Guy
McPherson
7
June, 2013
And
then what?
As Garrett
Hardin pointed
out long before his death a decade ago, that’s the ecologically
relevant question. Anybody interested in individual or societal
action must be willing to answer this question.
With
respect to ongoing depletion of fossil fuels, any response to
Hardin’s question must include the matter of scale. Individuals are
able to abandon fossil fuels before they abandon us. Doing so with
grace is a bit challenging, but it’s hardly impossible, as
evidenced by numerous examples in the Transition movement.
Contemporary industrialized societies, on the other hand, are
exhibiting little interest in adapting to a world without ready
access to inexpensive fossil fuels. Apparently the people pulling the
primary levers of industry would rather continue fighting than switch
to a saner way of living.
With
respect to ongoing, accelerating climate change, any response to
Hardin’s question must include the matter of scale. Individuals are
able to abandon a fossil-fuel-fueled lifestyle with minor costs,
including the disparagement that comes from living outside the
mainstream. But, as illustrated by Jevons’
paradox and
the Khazzoom-Brookes
postulate,
individual choices do not translate to societal choices. An
individual change in consciousness rarely leads to societal
enlightenment. Jumping off the cruise ship of empire will not prevent
the ship from striking the iceberg, and it nonetheless results in
near-term death of the individual.
How
dire is the climate-change situation?
On
a planet 4° C hotter than baseline, all we can prepare for is human
extinction according to Oliver
Tickell’s 2008 synthesis in the Guardian).
Tack on aninformed
assessment published in the 30 January 2013 issue of theVancouver
Sun of BP’s Energy
Outlook 2030 concluding
that global average temperature of Earth will hit the 4° C mark in
2030, and it doesn’t look good for Homo
sapiens beyond
a few more years.
The
question then arises: What shall I do? How shall I live my life? In
other words, now that we have knowledge of the near-term
demise of our species,then
what?
There
are more than seven billion responses to the latter questions.
Recognizing that birth is lethal and that we have an opportunity
to demonstrate
our humanity on
the way out the door, I’ve chosen an eyes-wide-open,
decidedly counter-cultural approach. I’ve opted
out of empire,
and I practice and promote a gift
economy.
Beyond
my own actions, I suggest individuals take actions they never
previously imagined. I promote resistance
against the dominant paradigm,
even though — especially though — it appears too late to save our
species from near-term extinction. I propose assaulting ourselves and
others with compassion. I recommend heavy doses of creativity and
courage. I advise doing something well beyond the cultural current of
the omnicidal main stream.
At
this point, what have you got to lose? Indeed, what have we got
to lose?
Michael
Sosebee’s documentary film is available. Details and ordering
instructions for Somewhere
in New Mexico before the End of Time can
be found here.
–
Guy
McPherson, Transition Voice
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe article in the Vancouver Observer does not say, "global average temperature of Earth will hit the 4° C mark in 2030". It says that by 2030 we will have set ourselves on the path to 4°, which will be reached in 2100. Look at the chart in the article.
ReplyDelete